Child Development and Language Lab  

Dr. Spencer is a certified school psychologist, a board certified behavior analyst, an early childhood special educator, and language intervention and assessment researcher.  She earned her PhD at Utah State University in Disability Disciplines with an emphasis on language development. Dr. Spencer has worked with children with disabilities, their teachers, and their families for 12 years. She currently serves as the Research Director at the Institute for Human Development at Northern Arizona University. Dr. Spencer has a broad range of interests and experiences; however, her current research involves the development and validation of language and literacy assessment instruments, tiered narrative interventions for children who are at risk of reading problems, and social communication interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).  She writes extensively about evidence-based practice and promotes synergistic interdisciplinary relationships.

In the Child Development and Language Lab, Dr. Spencer and her team conducts research with young children with disabilities and children who are at risk of language and reading problems. Families, teachers and other professionals are often involved in their studies. Researchers employ high quality experimental designs to determine the effects of innovative classroom interventions and clinical treatments. They develop and validate practitioner-friendly measurement tools. Dr. Spencer recruits undergraduate and graduate students from education, psychology, and communication science to be research assistants and work collaboratively on projects. Student researchers receive mentorship from Dr. Spencer in both research and practice and get hands-on experience with children.  

• Dr. Spencer’s CV
• The tools developed through Dr. Spencer’s research are available at LanguageDynamicsGroup.com
• To become a research assistant and register for DIS 485 Research Internship, contact Dr. Spencer at Trina.Spencer@nau.edu

2012-2013 Studies / Projects

• Implementation of a multi-tiered intervention system in Head Start (feasibility/usability)
• Assessment of Story Comprehension (ASC): Validating a progress monitoring tool that measures preschoolers’ language comprehension
• Systematic review of Evidenced-based Health Promotion Curricula. Funded by the Arizona Office of Children with Special Heath Care Needs.
• Systematic review of behavioral interventions for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders
• Development of Spanish Narrative Language Measures for preschoolers.

Select References

Spencer, T. D., & Slocum, T. A. (2010). The effect of a narrative intervention on story retelling and personal story generation skills of preschoolers with risk factors and narrative language delays. Journal of Early Intervention, 32(3), 178-199.

Spencer, T. D., Petersen, D. B., Slocum, T. A., & Allen, M. M. (in press). Large group narrative intervention in Head Start classrooms: Implications for response to intervention. Journal of Early Childhood Research.

Spencer, T. D., & Higbee, T. S. (2012). Using script training and transfer of stimulus control procedures to increase meaningful language. FOCUS on Autism and Developmental Disabilities. Online First.

Petersen, D. B., & Spencer, T. D. (2012). The Narrative Language Measures: Tools for language screening, progress monitoring, and intervention planning. Perspectives on Language Learning and Education, 19(4), 119-129.

Spencer, T. D., Detrich, R., & Slocum, T. A. (2012). Evidence-based practice: A framework for effective decisions. (Special Issue) Education and Treatment of Children, 35(2), 127-151.

Gardner, A. W., Spencer, T. D., Boelter, E. W., DuBard, M., & Jennett, H. K. (2012). A systematic review of brief functional analysis methodology with typically developing children. (Special Issue) Education and Treatment of Children, 35(2), 313-332.

Slocum, T. A., Detrich, R., & Spencer, T. D. (2012). Evaluating the validity of evidence based practice review systems. (Special Issue) Education and Treatment of Children, 35(2), 201-233.

Slocum, T. A., Spencer, T. D., & Detrich, R. (2012). Best available evidence: Three complementary approaches. (Special Issue) Education and Treatment of Children, 35(2), 153-181.

Spencer, E., Spencer, T., Goldstein, H., & Schneider, N. (2012). Identifying early literacy learning needs: Implications for child outcome standards and assessment systems. In T. Shanahan & C. J. Lonigan (Eds.), Early Childhood Literacy: The National Early Literacy Panel and Beyond (pp.45-70). Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

Spencer, T. D., & Slocum, T. A. (2011). Maximizing conversational independence using script training: Generalizing outside the research base. EBP Briefs, 6(1), 1-8.