Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Carol Scheffner Hammer, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

215-204-7593

Biography

Carol Scheffner Hammer, Ph.D. is Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Temple University. She received a B.A. in Speech Pathology and Psychology from Augustana College, an M.A. in Speech Pathology from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in Speech Pathology. She was a faculty member in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Penn State University from 1997-2009. She was also a Visiting Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Center for Developmental Science.

Dr. Hammer is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She has been the recipient of three additional important awards: 2007 Editor’s award for her article in Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 2002 Editor’s award for her article in Contemporary Issues in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and specialty recognition in child language disorders. She presented the keynote speech for the Head Start 2008 Dual Language Learner Institute General Session. Also, she was an invited speaker a workshop convened by the National Research Council in 2009 entitled, The Role of Language in School Learning: Implications for Closing the Achievement Gap. See link below.

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cfe/Role_of_Language_Workshop_Agenda_October_15-16_2009.html

Dr. Hammer is the Editor for the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (2011-2013) and served as the Associate Editor for the Journal from 2008-2010. In addition, she is on the editorial board of The Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders, and has served as a reviewer for a number of journals in speech-language pathology and child development including the Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research; Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools; Child Development; and Early Education and Development. Dr. Hammer has also served on grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health, Institute of Education Sciences, and the Administration for Children and Families. Currently, she is a principal member of the Institute of Education Sciences’ Early Intervention & Early Childhood Education Scientific Review Panel (2013-2015).

HammerCV

Course Involvement

Dr. Hammer teaches courses on child language development and disorders, literacy, and services to multicultural populations.

Publications/Presentations

Select Publications

Davison, M.D., & Hammer, C.S. (in press). Development of 14 English Grammatical Morphemes in Spanish-English Preschoolers. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics.

Hammer, C.S., Komaroff, E., Rodriguez, B., Lopez, L., Scarpino, S., & Goldstein, B. (in press). Predicting Spanish-English Bilingual Children’s Language Abilities. Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research.

Hammer, C.S. (in press). Dual language learners’ language development: A range of possibilities. Young Exceptional Children Monograph Series, 14, 1-14.

Mason, L.H., Dunn Davison, M, Hammer, C.A., & Miller, C.S. (in press). Knowledge and language outcomes for a reading comprehension and writing intervention. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal.

Hammer, C.S., & Rodriguez, B. (2012). Bilingual language acquisition and the child socialization process (pp. 31-46). In B. Goldstein (Ed.), Bilingual development and disorders in Spanish-English speakers (2^nd Ed). Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishers.

Davison, M.D., Hammer, C.S., & Lawrence, F.R., (2011). Associations between Preschool Language and First Grade Reading Outcomes in Bilingual Children. Journal of Communication Disorders, 44, 444-458.

Hammer, C.S., Rodriguez, B.L., Davison, M.D., Lawrence, F.L., & Miccio, A.W. (2011). Changes in Language Usage of Puerto Rican Mothers and Their Children: Do Gender and Timing of Exposure to English Matter? Applied Psycholinguistics, 32, 275-297.

Hammer, C.S., Jia, G., & Uchikoshi, Y. (2011). Language and Literacy Development of Dual Language Learners Growing Up in the United States: A Call for Research. Child Development Perspectives, 5, 4-9.

Hammer, C.S., Scarpino, S., & Davison, M.D. (2011). Beginning with language: Spanish-English Bilingual Preschoolers’ Early Literacy Development (pp. 118-135). Dickinson, D., & Neuman, S. (Eds.),Handbook on research in early literacy(Vol. 3). NY: Guilford Publications.

Hammer, C.S., Farkas, G., & Maczuga, S. (2010). The language and literacy development of Head Start children: A study using the Family and Child Experiences Survey Database. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 41, 70-83.

Hammer, C.S., & Rodriguez, B. (2010). Individual differences in bilingual children’s language competencies: The case for Spanish and English. In A.L. Weiss (Ed.). Individual Differences Affecting Therapeutic Change in Communication Disorders (57-80). New York, NY: Psychology Press.

Hammer, C.S., Davison, M.D.*, Lawrence, F.R., & Miccio, A.W. (2009). The effect of home language on bilingual children’s vocabulary and emergent literacy development during Head Start and kindergarten. Scientific Studies of Reading - Special Issue, 13 (2), 99-121.

Miccio, A.W., Hammer, C.S. & Rodríguez, B.L. (2009). Code-switching and language disorders in young bilingual children (pp. 241-252). In J. Toribio & B. Bullock (Eds.), Handbook on linguistic code-switching. New York, NY:Cambridge University Press.

Rodríguez, B., Hammer, C.S., & Lawrence, F.R. (2009). Parent reading belief inventory: Reliability and validity with a sample of Mexican-American families. Early Education and Development, 20, 826-844.

Hammer, C.S., Lawrence, F.R., & Miccio, A.W. (2008). The effect of summer vacation on bilingual preschoolers' language development. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 22 (9), 686-902.

Hammer, C.S., Lawrence, F.R., & Miccio, A.W. (2008). Exposure to English before and after entry into Head Start: Bilingual Children’s Receptive Language Growth in Spanish and English. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 11 (1), 30-56.

Grants & Contracts

FUNDING SOURCES

Dr. Hammer’s work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health –National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Institute of Education Sciences, the Administration for Children and Families, and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Examples of Current and Completed Grants include:

Tools of the Mind: Promoting ELLs’ Language, Self-Regulation & School-Readiness

NIH-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1U01HD060296-01), 2009-2014

Role: Principal Investigator

This project is designed to test the efficacy of an innovative preschool curriculum, Tools of the Mind, through a randomized controlled trial. Tools of the Mind is designed to enhance children’s language and self-regulation development and promote children's early academic and social-emotional competencies. The language, reading, math, social-emotional and self-regulation outcomes of bilingual children are being investigated.

Center for Early Care and Education Research: Dual Language Learners Administration for Children and Families

Administration of Children and Families, OPRE (90YR0041), 2010-2013

Role: Co-Principal Investigator

The goals of the Center are to improve the state of knowledge & measurement in early childhood research on young DLLs, identify and advance research on best practices & strategies in early care and education programming, and develop and disseminate products to improve research on young DLLs.

Exceptional Coaching for Early Language and Literacy-Enhanced.

US Department of Education, Investing in Innovation (U411C110111), 2012-2016

Role: Co-Principal Investigator

The goal of thisdevelopment grantis tocreate Exceptional Coaching for Early Language and Literacy-Enhanced (ExCELL-E), a research-based pre-k through first grade professional development model. ExCELL-E integratesweb-based technology with targeted coaching facilitated by structured lesson plans to promote the school readiness of children who attend high-poverty schools serving linguistically diverse populations.

Risk Factors and Services for Language Delays in Early Childhood: Population Based Estimates

Institute of Education Sciences (R324A120046), 2012-2014

Role: Co-Principal Investigator

The aims of this grant are to determine the extent to which children’s learning of oral vocabulary prior to school entry contributes to their academic and behavioral readiness for kindergarten and to identify potentially malleable factors (e.g., parenting practices, high quality child care, intervention services) that may moderate the relationship between children’s oral vocabulary knowledge and their school readiness.

Assessing Bilingual Phonological Development in Young Children

National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Education (R01-HD051542-01), 2005-2012

Role: Principal Investigator

The aims of this project are: (1) To develop a valid and reliable measure to identify phonological disorder in bilingual Spanish and English speaking children and to distinguish disorder from phonological variation due to typical bilingual phonological development and change (2) To assess change in multiple aspects of bilingual children's phonological development in order to identify characteristics of young bilingual children's phonological systems that are indicators of disorder later in development (3) To develop training materials and a screening tool for use by speech-language pathologists. The phonological assessment project is funded jointly by the National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, The Administration for Children and Families and the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs.

Promoting the Emergent Literacy Development of English Language Learners: A Culturally Informed Approach

Administration for Children and Families (90YF0065), 2007-2011

Role: Principal Investigator

The purpose of the project is to develop and evaluate a home-based, culturally-informed emergent literacy intervention that is designed to promote Latino parents' abilities to support the language and literacy development of their children who are learning English. The intervention is based on a socio-cultural perspective that recognizes that families operate from a cultural model when raising children; an emergent literacy perspective that emphasizes the importance of language, print concepts, phonological awareness, and letter knowledge; and a view of language which argues that support of children's first language is essential when they are learning a second. Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Forming Outreach Community University Systems for Engagement (FOCUS) Kellogg Foundation

Role: Investigator (PI: Bierman, Penn State University), 2005-2008

Bilingual Preschoolers: Precursors to Literacy

National Institute of Child Health & Human Development Institute of Education Sciences (R01 HD39496), 2000-2007

Role: Principal Investigator

Research

Dr. Hammer’s research interests focus on cultural and environmental influences on young children’s language and literacy development and on promoting preschoolers’ school readiness, with an emphasis on bilingual populations. Currently, Dr. Hammer and her colleagues are developing a test that can be used to assess the phonological development of Spanish-English bilinguals. She is also developing a culturally informed intervention for Latina mothers to promote the language and literacy development of their bilingual children. In addition, she and her colleagues are conducting a randomized controlled trial of the preschool curriculum, Tools of the Mind, with a focus on the outcomes of bilingual children. Dr. Hammer is also a Core Research Advisor to the Center for Early Care and Education Research: Dual Language Learners. As part of her work with the Center, she is directing a critical review of research on young dual language learners’ language and literacy development.

Language and literacy development and disorders in bilingual children

Cultural and environmental influences on language and literacy outcomes of children from diverse backgrounds

Parental beliefs about language and literacy development and disorders

Language development and disorders