Phonological awareness and beginning reading: evaluation of a school-based screening procedure

Experimental phonological synthesis and analysis tasks were administered to children in the spring preceding their kindergarten entry. End-of-kindergarten, end-of-first-grade, and end-of-second-grade measures of beginning reading were collected for the group of 76 children (39 boys, 37 girls). Screening data for the 76 children were correlated with interim measures and standardized reading-performance measures that were administered at the end of second grade. The first experimental task, a phonological-synthesis task (sound blending), was significantly related to most of the interim and outcome measures. The phonological analysis task (rhyme detection) was related to fewer measures of beginning reading.