Added Value of Early Literacy Screening in Preschool Children

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Developmental Psychology
• Early Childhood Education

Background:

• Early identification of literacy delays is crucial for intervention.
• Standard developmental screens may not fully capture emergent literacy needs.
• The Early Literacy Screener (ELS) was developed as a targeted assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the added value of the ELS in identifying emergent literacy delays.
• To compare the ELS with established developmental screens (ASQ-3, SWYC).
• To assess agreement rates between the ELS and other screening tools.

Main Methods:

• Parents of 4- and 5-year-olds completed the ELS, ASQ-3, and SWYC.
• Agreement metrics including Cohen's kappa (κ), positive agreement (PA), and negative agreement (NA) were calculated.
• Analysis focused on children who passed other screens but might have literacy concerns.

Main Results:

• Early literacy delays were found in 51% of children passing ASQ-3 and 38% passing SWYC.
• ELS showed moderate agreement with SWYC (κ = 0.42) and low agreement with ASQ-3 (κ = 0.18).
• The ELS identified significant numbers of children with potential literacy delays missed by ASQ-3 and SWYC.

Conclusions:

• The ELS provides unique value in detecting emergent literacy delays.
• Integrating the ELS alongside ASQ-3 or SWYC can improve early identification rates.
• This comprehensive screening approach supports timely intervention for at-risk children.