The Effects of Direct Instruction Flashcard System and Model, Lead, and Test on Numeral Identification for a Nonverbal Preschool Girl with Developmental Delays

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the Direct Instruction (DI) flashcard system combined with model, lead, and test on the mastery of numerical identification for a nonverbal preschool girl with developmental delay. The research was carried out in a self-contained preschool classroom. The classroom enrolled children with delays in the skill areas of pre- academic, expressive communication, receptive communication, gross motor, fine motor, or adaptive. Our participant was a 4-year-old girl scheduled to be placed into an integrated preschool containing a combination of children with delays in one or more area and their typically developing peers the following year. She was behind her typically developing peers in the area of numeral identification. A single-subject, multiple baseline design across three sets of target numerals was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the DI flashcard procedure. A functional relationship was shown between numeral recognition and the implementation of our intervention. Suggestions for future research were made.

Keywords: DI flashcards, model, lead, and test, numeral identification, developmental delays.