Story Friends(tm) Specialist's Kit

Story Friends is a tier 2 literacy intervention for use in preschool programs for children at risk for reading difficulties. The program focuses on building oral language skills, specifically vocabulary, key concepts, and comprehension. It is delivered in 10- to 15-minute sessions in small groups and in a narrated storybook reading format with embedded interventions.

Howard Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a nationally known scholar in the field of child language intervention research and the author of two books and more than 100 scholarly articles. His recent work has sought to enhance the language and literacy development of students in high poverty schools who are at high risk for language and reading disabilities. A certified speech-language pathologist and former ASHA Vice President for Science and Research, Dr. Goldstein is currently Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences at University of South Florida in Tampa.

Elizabeth Spencer Kelley, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor of Communication Science and Disorders in the School of Health Professions at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is a certified speech-language pathologist. Dr. Kelleyâ (TM)s research focuses on language and early literacy skills in young children with limited oral language skills, and her recent work has sought to identify effective approaches for vocabulary intervention for preschool children. She has also conducted projects to examine word learning in young children with oral language difficulties.