Spotlight on Dr. Allison Haskill

When preschool students speak, Augustana College students listen and learn. Dr. Allison Haskill and her students analyze language development in children at a Rock Island preschool, and families benefit from their findings.

Kids say the darndest things! But Dr. Allison Haskill and students in her CSD 220 Speech and Language Development class know it’s not just what they say—it’s also how they say it. 

For the past 17 years, Dr. Haskill’s students have worked with the Rock Island Park Board Preschool (and parents who signed a permission form) to use computerized language analyses that can serve as a screening of children’s language samples. If a child’s language development is behind age expectations, the preschool teacher lets parents know. Parents may choose to follow up with Augustana’s Barbara A. Roseman Center for Speech, Language, and Hearing—or with any other speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the community. 

Seventeen years of learning and serving in the community translates to success — both long-term and in the moment. Through immersive learning in real-time, Dr. Haskill’s students gain skills for their future work. And the timely screening for children with possible language development delays means early intervention that can make a difference in the children’s communication, learning and confidence.

Bold & Boundless in action

Prioritize engaged learning: “Giving students the chance to work with data that they collect and analyze brings learning to life,” said Dr. Haskill. “Even though logistics can be challenging, their learning is so deep when they are able to interact with real children.” 

Furthermore, working with “typically developing” children is a rare benefit for students—both undergraduates and graduate students in CSD. Experience with children who are meeting milestones helps future SLPs develop perspective and basic interaction skills for working with children dealing with speech and language disorders.

Partner with community: Children who participate enjoy having the undivided attention of eager college students; their families appreciate receiving information about their child’s development if possible concerns are identified, and the teachers appreciate hosting the college students to give them exposure to different settings in which SLPs may work. 

Working with these partners in our Rock Island neighborhood, the Augustana students’ work strengthens community ties and reinforces Augustana’s role as a regional hub for health and wellness education.

More on Dr. Haskill’s community impact: In 2013 Dr. Haskill, her husband Daniel and their four children together founded QC Closet2Closet, a nonprofit devoted to providing clothing to kids living in foster care. In that first year, the organization helped 55 children. In 2024 Closet2Closet provided more than 1,300 foster children—infants to 20-year-olds—with care packages of clothing and personal items.

Outcomes from the student perspective

Because of the experience and applications to their future careers, many CSD majors consider the Speech and Language Development course to be one of their favorites at Augustana:

“What surprised me most was how directly the knowledge Dr. Haskill taught us about early language development carried over into my interactions with the preschooler. When I collected my language sample for the semester project, I was shocked at how seamlessly the behaviors, skill levels, and eliciting techniques she taught us showed up in real-time. It was one of the first moments I truly felt like I was stepping into the role of a future clinician.” — Rachel Byrne ’26

“Dr. Haskill made sure to give us amazing tools and knowledge of language and literacy disorders that was relevant and crucial to our future as SLPs in a way that made it fun to learn and apply in different settings …. The opportunity to do language screenings with preschool kids was an amazing learning experience and gave me a little insight on what the field of speech- language pathology looks like in practice.” – Grace Gustafson ’26

“I learned how to effectively interact not only with young clients, but also with my peers, which is an essential skill to have in such an interdisciplinary field. Dr. Haskill provided us with practical strategies for eliciting language from children, which I have already found incredibly useful in my experience as a mentee at the Roseman Clinic last semester.” — Maddie Noon ’26 

The Bold & Boundless Spotlights shine a light on Augustana faculty and staff members whose work embodies the college’s strategic goals and values through research and/or teaching, advising and mentorship, experiential learning or service. 

The spotlights also showcase how Augustana prepares students for dynamic lives and careers, and reinforce the college’s reputation as a private liberal arts college providing innovative preparation for the future.