The WellComm Toolkit: Impact on Practitioner Skills and Knowledge and Implications for Evaluation Research

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript titled 'The WellComm Toolkit' is relevant to the scope of the Journal Education Sciences, specifically the section on Early Childhood Education and the Special Issue on Emergent Literacy in the Early Years.

Impact on Practitioner Skills and Knowledge and Implications for Evaluation Research examines the effects of implementing the WellComm toolkit on early-years practitioners in the UK, with a focus on their ability to support children with speech, language, and communication needs.

The evaluation of the paper is generally positive, but there are some areas for improvement.

- In the Materials and Methods section, it is essential to state and cite the research design and methodological approach before presenting the data sources. Please clarify the type of research design used.

- On line 94, did you mean to say, "As of December 2023..."?

The manuscript shows potential for publication.

Author Response

In the Materials and Methods section, it is essential to state and cite the research design and methodological approach before presenting the data sources. Please clarify the type of research design used.

Thank you for your comment. We have now added the research design and methological approach to lines 157-158. 

On line 94, did you mean to say, "As of December 2023..."?

Thank you for your comment. Yes, we can confirm that we did mean December 2023. These are the latest results pubmished by the council. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors of this paper present the findings of an interesting study that addresses the issues concerned with the implementation of the  WellComm Toolkit, which is used across many areas of the UK to support early years children with their speech, language, and communication. The results certainly highlight a number of issues that are worth considering as they may affect the validity and interpretation of the conclusions drawn (as is the case with children in an EAL context). The study is presented in a fairly well-organized way. This goes both for the results and the discussion sections. However, the paper needs further attention so as to read from the point of view of the reader as it seems that at times it becomes rather difficult to follow due to the great number of abbreviations (some of them are not needed as they are used only once, and some others are used but not explained what they stand for - in certain cases the reader ought to get to the results section to find out what they stand for). Furthermore, the presentation of the study needs further attention to somehow present the instruments used as issues regarding quantitative and qualitative data are not self-explanatory.

Author Response

...the paper needs further attention so as to read from the point of view of the reader as it seems that at times it becomes rather difficult to follow due to the great number of abbreviations (some of them are not needed as they are used only once, and some others are used but not explained what they stand for - in certain cases the reader ought to get to the results section to find out what they stand for).

Thank you for your comments. Please see attached for the abreviations which have now been amended. 

the presentation of the study needs further attention to somehow present the instruments used as issues regarding quantitative and qualitative data are not self-explanatory.

Again, thank you for your helpful comments. We have now added further information about the instruments used in the study and made it clear which are the qualitative and quantitative elements (line 162 - 171).

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

All changes that were suggested during the reviewing process have been addressed in this revised version of the manuscript.