Wellcomm Secondary v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Is the WellComm Secondary Screening Tool (WSST) a clinically accurate and reliable tool to identify language needs in young people aged 11-16 years old?
IRAS ID
278799
Contact name
Kay Baker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
The WellComm Secondary Screening Tool (WSST) has been developed as a tool that can be used by educational professionals to screen young people aged between 11-16 years old to identify the presence of language difficulties. The tool aims to enable education settings to investigate children’s language skills and make a judgement as to whether language difficulties are present. The screen does this via direct test items covering sections on comprehension, narrative, vocabulary and auditory memory.
In this study, we intend to establish whether the WSST is a valid screening tool when compared to standardised language assessments. The assessments for this study will be the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – 5 and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Metalinguistic assessment.
This study will consist of:
1. A pilot study where the screen is carried out on typically developing mainstream-schooled young people to identify and correct the logistical testing issues with the tool itself.
2. A small-scale validity study consisting of screening children with already identified language difficulties using the WellComm screen to ensure that the screen identifies the presence of language difficulties.
3. A larger scale validity study consisting of randomly selected mainstream-schooled young people who complete the WellComm screen and the CELF-5 Core Language Score and CELF Metalinguistics Multiple Meaning and Figurative Language subtests to ensure consistency of the WellComm results in comparison to standardised assessment tools
4. An inter-rater reliability study consisting of a random sample of study 3. Participants re-screened using the WellComm carried out with a different administrator to establish consistency in results between different administrators.
The principle research objective is to assess whether participants identified as having significant language needs or no difficulties with language on standardised assessments, are identified as having significant language needs or no difficulties respectively on the WSST.
REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/PR/1200
Date of REC Opinion
19 Jan 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion