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Letter knowledge, phonological processing, and print knowledge: skill development in nonreading preschool children
Victoria J Molfese1, Arlene A Modglin, Jennifer L Beswick
1Center for Research in Early Childhood, College of Education and Human Development, University of Louisville, KY 40014, USA. tori@louisville.edu
Journal of Learning Disabilities
|August 10, 2006
Summary
Many preschoolers showed minimal reading skill gains, with 30 children making no progress in letter identification. This highlights a need to understand variations in early literacy development for targeted classroom interventions.
Area of Science:
- Early Childhood Education
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Reading skill development is crucial for academic success.
- Children from low-income backgrounds may face unique challenges in early literacy acquisition.
- Prekindergarten programs aim to support foundational skills for school readiness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the development of reading skills in 4-year-olds from low-income homes.
- To compare gains in letter identification with other early literacy skills.
- To identify factors influencing varied skill development in prekindergarten.
Main Methods:
- Assessed fall-to-spring changes in letter identification.
- Compared letter identification gains with phonological processing, rhyme detection, and environmental print skills.
- Utilized the 'Get Ready to Read!' screening tool for performance evaluation.
- Analyzed the influence of age and general cognitive skills on task performance.
Main Results:
- A significant group of 30 children demonstrated little to no improvement in letter identification.
- In contrast, 27 classmates showed average gains of 7 letters in identification.
- Letter identification gains correlated positively with phonological processing, rhyme detection, environmental print, and 'Get Ready to Read!' scores.
- Age and cognitive abilities impacted performance on specific literacy tasks.
Conclusions:
- Prekindergarten participants exhibited unexpected variations in letter identification development.
- Early literacy skills and cognitive factors are associated with reading skill progression.
- Further research into characteristics of children with diverse skill development is needed.
- Insights can inform curriculum adjustments to better support targeted skill enhancement.
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