Kindergarten Language Benchmark Assessment
User Research & Product Design
The Kindergarten Language Benchmark Assessment is a screening and progress monitoring tool for early language skills. Prior to the KLBA, there was a lack of research-backed and normed-referenced screening tools that effectively identified kindergarten students with language delays.
I worked alongside two school-based Speech-Language Pathologists, to take their series of informal screening questions and visuals through a formal design process, completing user research and delivering a final product design.
The KLBA tool was acquired by Northeastern University in 2016 and has been sold to schools and Universities throughout the country.
UX RESEARCH PHASE
Teachers and Speech-Language Pathologists were asking for a comprehensive, yet efficient tool to screen kindergarteners at risk for language delay
As the UX researcher, I completed market research, identified user pain points, outlined goals, drafted prototypes accounting for confounding variables, and completed usability testing.
Identifying Pain-points
SLPs and teachers were relying on a compilation of several informal screening measures to assess incoming kindergarten students’ language skills. The measures available were not comprehensive, took too long to administer, and did not allow for tracking change throughout the year. All these factors lead to a lack of consistency in testing protocols, and missed opportunities to identify and evaluate students whose language skills were lagging- both earlier and later in the year.
Creating Goals
After interviewing teacher and SLPs at the school and observing their current screening methodologies, I identified that the priorities were to create a new tool that improved both the content and experience:
Content
Support the Response To Intervention Model - enable progress tracking
Comprehensive - cover areas that correlate to future reading comprehension success
Norm-referenced - verified against students with typical language development
Experience
Time Efficient - less than 5 minutes to administer
Easy to score - easy to tally scores and track changes in score during the year
User Stories
We identified four user stories given an incoming Kindergarten class:
1. Students already identified as language delayed - came with diagnosis
2. Students learning English - Bilingual students or English Language Learners
3. Students with possible language delay - parents/teacher expressed concerns
4. Students identified with age appropriate language skills - high level skills
Prototyping & Usability Testing
I drafted prototypes and created pilot designs, and completed several rounds of usability testing. I accounted for natural language development over the course of a year by conducting tri-annual usability testing over 2 years.
Fall ------ Winter ------ Spring
PRODUCT DESIGN PHASE
Iterative Design
Usability testing informed multiple iterations of the design, improving testing and scoring methodologies including:
Test questions - (ex. modify questions all students answered incorrectly)
Clear testing structure
Scoring
Separate administration manual
Final Product Design
After a year and a half of prototyping and testing, I put the finishing touches on the:
Testing booklet
Scoring booklet
Administration manual
I created a logo for the tool and created a visual brand using color and type faces.
RESULTS
KLBA was acquired by Northeastern University, and has continued to be adopted and implemented in Kindergarten programs throughout the United States.
The KLBA tool was piloted by several elementary schools in the Fall of 2016 and was marketed at the American-Speech Hearing Association Annual Conference. After overwhelming positive feedback, the tool was made available for purchase, and was bought by school districts across the country. As the tool continued gaining popularity, KLBA was officially acquired by Northeastern University in Spring of 2017, and has continued to be adopted and implemented in Kindergarten programs throughout the United States.
Testing Booklet
Scoring Book Prototype
Administration Manual
