Early Literacy Measures Research Articles

Construct and Predictive Validity Evidence for Curriculum-Based Measures of Early Literacy and Numeracy Skills in Kindergarten

The assessment of early literacy and numeracy skills can provide useful and important information in pursuance of the goal to increase student academic achievement. At present, there have been promising results using curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for evaluating early literacy and early numeracy. There has been little research investigating the use of both early literacy and numeracy CBM-type skills assessments in a comprehensive battery. This research extends previous research by investigating the internal validity of an assessment battery of literacy and numeracy skills assessed at the end of kindergarten and external validity in the form of predictive validity for second-grade outcomes in reading and mathematics. Results suggest that correlated factors representing early literacy and numeracy skills are being measured. Evidence of convergent and incremental predictive validity with respect to later reading and mathematics outcomes was strong, but discriminant validity was not substantiated.

Measuring Response to Early Literacy Intervention With Preschoolers at Risk

Response to intervention (RTI) is characterized as a logical science of decision making that has applicability for early childhood, particularly in the context of multitiered intervention models. This study examined the utility of using curriculum-based early literacy measures as screening tools and for evaluating whether growth in early literacy skills was altered following brief interventions. Thirty-five preschool-age children at risk for learning difficulties participated in a 5-week intervention focused on key phonemic awareness skills delivered in classwide and individual formats. Curriculum-based measurement probes were administered each week to all children. Results showed the curriculum-based measures led to enhanced decision accuracy about children at risk for learning difficulties, particularly when combined with brief classwide interventions designed to systematically address opportunities to learn. For children who were initially low performers, weekly progress monitoring combined with classwide early literacy interventions appeared to be related to accelerated growth toward early literacy targets. Implications for the expansion of RTI decision-making frameworks in early childhood are discussed.

Early Literacy Measures for Improving Student Reading Achievement: Translating Research Into Practice

The importance of early literacy instruction and its role in later reading proficiency is well established; however, measures and procedures to screen and monitor proficiency in the area of early literacy are less well researched. The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the technical adequacy and validity of early curriculum-based literacy measures, Letter–Sound Correspondence, Onset Phoneme Identification, and Phoneme Segmentation, developed for use within the problem-solving model in the Minneapolis Public Schools and (b) describe the district-wide implementation of these measures. In general, these measures were found to have adequate reliability and validity, have moderate to moderately high correlations with criterion measures (oral reading, report cards), and be sensitive to growth across the school year. A case study of how these measures are used for screening and progress monitoring to improve reading achievement within 1 school is included. Limitations and future directions are also presented.

Predicting curriculum and test performance at age 11 years from pupil background, baseline skills and phonological awareness at age 5 years

Phonological awareness tests are amongst the best predictors of literacy and predict outcomes of Key Stage 1 assessment of the National Curriculum in England at age 7. However, it is unknown whether their ability to predict National Curricular outcomes extends to Key Stage 2 assessments given at age 11, or also whether the predictive power of such tests is independent of letter-knowledge. We explored the unique predictive validity of phonological awareness and early literacy measures, and other pupil background measures taken at age 5 in the prediction of English, Maths, and Science performance at age 11. Three hundred and eighty-two children from 21 primary schools in one Local Educational Authority were assessed at age 5 and followed to age 11 (Key Stage 2 assessment). Teaching assistants (TAs) administered phonological awareness tasks and early literacy measures. Baseline and Key Stage 2 performance measures were collected by teachers. Phonological awareness was a significant unique predictor of all nine outcome measures after baseline assessment and pupil background measures were first controlled in regression analyses, and continued to be a significant predictor of reading, maths, and science performance, and teacher assessments after early literacy skill and letter-knowledge was controlled. Gender predicted performance in writing, the English test, and English teacher assessment, with girls outperforming boys. Phonological awareness is a unique predictor of general curricular attainment independent of pupil background, early reading ability and letter-knowledge. Practically, screening of phonological awareness and basic reading skills by school staff in year 1 significantly enhances the capacity of schools to predict curricular outcomes in year 6.

Continuity in children’s literacy achievements: A longitudinal perspective from kindergarten to school

This study examined continuity in literacy achievements from kindergarten to school, among low SES Israeli children, controlling for family factors. Kindergartners’ early oral and code-related language skills as well as family measures were assessed at age 51/2. In school, 21/2 years later, their literacy achievements were evaluated. Correlations emerged between all kindergarten literacy measures and school literacy achievements. Oral and code-related early literacy measures similarly predicted all school literacy achievements. Moreover, early literacy predicted literacy achievements at the end of second grade beyond home environmental measures. Results highlighted the stability in children’s learning through the kindergarten-to-school transition, confirming the importance of promoting early literacy in kindergarten, especially among low SES children.

DESCRIPTIVE-DEVELOPMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF AT-RISK PRESCHOOLERS ON EARLY LITERACY TASKS

A total of 2,161 4- to 5-year-old children were administered seven criterion-referenced early literacy tasks as part of statewide screening. Tasks included measures of alphabet knowledge, print knowledge, concept of word, name writing, rhyme awareness, beginning sound awareness, and verbal memory. Five-year-old children outperformed 4-year-old children on six out of seven early literacy tasks. African-American and Caucasian children performed similarly on the majority of early literacy measures. Both African-American and Caucasian children performed better than Hispanic children; effect size estimates showed this advantage consistent with medium to large effect sizes. Girls outperformed boys on all tasks except for rhyme, with effect size estimates in the small range.

Use of a Parent Questionnaire in Emergent and Early Literacy Assessment of Preschool Children

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the use of a parent questionnaire in the assessment of emergent and early literacy skills of preschool children with language impairments (LI) and their typically developing (TD) peers to determine the relationship between parent report and more formal measures of early literacy, as well as to compare home literacy practices of these two groups of children. Preschool children with LI (n = 17) were referred by area school district speech-language pathologists, and age-matched peers (n = 20) were recruited from local preschools. Examiner-administered measures of early literacy included assessment of rhyme, knowledge of environmental print, knowledge of print conventions, and letter-name and letter-sound knowledge, as well as analyses of narrative abilities. The parent questionnaire included 31 closed questions with responses chosen on a 5-point scale that addressed a number of domains of knowledge: phonological awareness, response to print in the environment, alphabet knowledge, interactions around books, writing, orientation to literacy, and parent practices, in addition to a number of open-ended questions. Results revealed a strong relationship between examiner-administered measures of early literacy and parent report for the children with LI only. Parents of children with LI rated their children more poorly across domains of literacy knowledge than did parents of the comparison group. Finally, a comparison of home literacy practices found differences between the groups in time spent watching television, age parents began reading to the child, and number of books owned by the child. Findings support the use of parent report as a tool in the assessment of emergent and early literacy knowledge and skills for children with LI.

The role of maternal mediation of writing to kindergartners in promoting literacy in school: A longitudinal perspective

The current study follows up on Aram andLevin's (2001, Cognitive Development, 16, 831–852)analysis of the role of maternalwriting mediation among low SES Israelikindergartners. That study's main findingindicated that the quality of maternal writingmediation correlated concurrently withkindergartners' literacy skills aftercontrolling for socio-cultural measures. Thepresent study followed up the participants tothe second grade in school, and evaluated theirlevel of Spelling, Reading Comprehension, andLinguistic Knowledge two and a half years later. Theresults indicate that the children's literacymeasures in school were predicted by maternalwriting mediation in kindergarten beyond SESand the early literacy measures assessed in thekindergarten (Word Writing and LinguisticKnowledge). These results highlight thesignificance of early maternal writingmediation as a major factor in literacydevelopment.

The consistency of baseline assessment schemes as measures of early literacy

Ninety‐one baseline assessment schemes were approved by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority for use by schools for the assessment of all children in England in their first seven weeks in school (age 4 to 5 years). Analysis of the content of a sample of 42 of the schemes (comprising all the schemes supplied in full to the researchers) showed considerable variation both in the level of ability demanded and of the content. This paper examines the range and balance of content across baseline assessment schemes with particular reference to literacy, and particularly writing ability. The implications of the variability demonstrated are considered with reference to the purposes of baseline assessment and to political decisions regarding changes from a system of accreditation of 91 schemes at school entry to a single national scheme at the end of the foundation stage scheme implemented in England from 2003.

The Relative Effect of a Code-Oriented and a Meaning-Oriented Early Literacy Program on Regular and Low Progress Australian Students in Year 1 Classrooms which Implement Reading Recovery

A within-school study of the effects of two different early literacy instructional programs on the reading proficiency of Year 1 students was undertaken in three schools in New South Wales, Australia all of which used Reading Recovery. The first program under examination was a "meaning"-oriented program used by six Kindergarten and Year 1 classrooms in the three schools. The second program, a "code"-oriented one, was implemented in the same six Kindergarten and Year 1 classrooms one year later. The code-oriented program, known as Schoolwide Early Language and Literacy (SWELL), stresses the explicit instruction of phonological awareness and the alphabetic code in context. All students, including both regular and Reading Recovery students, in the six non-SWELL classrooms were tested on four early literacy measures at the end of Year 1 when they had completed two years of schooling (comparison group). At the end of the following year, all Year 1 students in the six SWELL classrooms were tested on the same early literacy measures, when they had completed two years of schooling (experimental group). Results indicated that all regular and Reading Recovery students in SWELL classes significantly outperformed their regular and Reading Recovery counterparts in non-SWELL classes on tests measuring pseudoword decoding, reading connected text, invented spelling, and a standardised reading measure at the end of Year 1. However, Reading Recovery students as a group, whether in SWELL or non-SWELL classes, did not reach the average level of their peers on any of the four literacy measures used. Implications for the most effective combination of whole-class and tutorial programs for children at-risk of literacy failure are considered in the discussion.

Estimating the Risk of Future Reading Difficulties in Kindergarten Children: A Research-Based Model and Its Clinical Implementation.

Speech-language pathologists have the skills and knowledge needed to play an important role in the early identification of children who are at risk for reading difficulties. Whereas research has identified language and other factors that may be predictive of future reading problems, studies have not provided the statistical models and classification data needed for the implementation of early identification programs. In this paper, we report the results of a longitudinal study that examined kindergarten predictors of second-grade reading outcome. Six hundred and four children were given a battery of language, early literacy, and nonverbal cognitive measures in kindergarten as part of an epidemiologic study of language impairments in children. Follow-up testing of reading achievement was completed in second grade. Participants were divided into those children with and without reading difficulties. Findings indicated that five kindergarten variables (letter identification, sentence imitation, phonological awareness, rapid naming, and mother's education) uniquely predicted reading outcome in second grade. A logistic regression formula and classification data based on these results are provided. Suggestions are offered concerning how this information could be used in an early identification and intervention program for children who are at risk for reading difficulties.

An Evaluation of Schoolwide Early Language and Literacy (SWELL) in Six Disadvantaged Schools

A within‐school evaluation of Schoolwide Early Language and Literacy (SWELL) was undertaken in six disadvantaged schools in NSW in 1995 and 1996 using a sample of Kindergarten students in each school before (control group) and after (experimental group) the implementation of SWELL. As many control and experimental students as could be accessed were tested on four different early literacy measures when they were mid‐way through Year 1. Assessment at the end of the Kindergarten year and mid‐way through Year 1 indicated that experimental students significantly outperformed their control counterparts on tests measuring pseudoword decoding and reading connected text at the end of Kindergarten, and on tests measuring pseudoword decoding, reading connected text, invented spelling, and a standardised reading measure mid‐way through Year 1.

The use of a structured literacy program to facilitate the inclusion of marginal and special education students into regular classes

A preliminary study was carried out to evaluate the use of a whole class early literacy program with disadvantaged and at risk children. This program, Schoolwide Early Language and Literacy (SWELL) is based on an interactive-compensatory theory of literacy acquisition. Results indicated that by the end of kindergarten, children in SWELL schools outperformed their counterparts in control schools on tests measuring reading connected text but not on other early literacy measures. In addition, marginal children in the mainstream, including those targeted as having mild intellectual disability, were able to master partial phonetic cue reading, in contrast to marginal students in control schools who did not attain this skill. Follow-up studies indicated that by the end of Year 1, all children in SWELL schools outperformed their counterparts in control schools on four early literacy tests, but the effect of the fifth, reading connected text, was only evident in large disadvantaged schools. Marginal students who had received individualised Reading Recovery outperformed marginal students in SWELL schools and control schools who had received small group intervention on reading connected text and on reading pseudowords, but not on tests of segmentation, spelling and writing. No children classified as developmentally delayed received individualised Reading Recovery, but were included in both SWELL small class and control schools small group intervention. Further follow-up mid-way through Year 2, on marginal children only, no longer indicated any differences among the individualised Reading Recovery, SWELL small class or control schools small group. The implications of the use of a structured program such as SWELL, as a whole-class program and the most effective individualised program for inclusion of at risk students are discussed.

The use of a structured literacy program to facilitate the inclusion of marginal and special education students into regular classes

A preliminary study was carried out to evaluate the use of a whole class early literacy program with disadvantaged and at risk children. This program, School wide Early Language and Literacy (SWELL) is based on an interactive‐compensatory theory of literacy acquisition. Results indicated that by the end of kindergarten, children in SWELL schools outperformed their counterparts in control schools on tests measuring reading connected text but not on other early literacy measures. In addition, marginal children in the mainstream, including those targeted as having mild intellectual disability, were able to master partial phonetic cue reading, in contrast to marginal students in control schools who did not attain this skill. Follow‐up studies indicated that by the end of Year 1, all children in SWELL schools outperformed their counterparts in control schools on four early literacy tests, but the effect of the fifth, reading connected text, was only evident in large disadvantaged schools. Marginal students who had received individualised Reading Recovery outperformed marginal students in SWELL schools and control schools who had received small group intervention on reading connected text and on reading pseudowords, but not on tests of segmentation, spelling and writing. No children classified as developmentally delayed received individualised Reading Recovery, but were included in both SWELL small class and control schools small group intervention. Further follow‐up mid‐way through Year 2, on marginal children only, no longer indicated any differences among the individualised Reading Recovery, SWELL small class or control schools small group. The implications of the use of a structured program such as SWELL, as a whole‐class program and the most effective individualised program for inclusion of at risk students are discussed.

SHELL: Oral Language and Early Literacy Skills in Kindergarten and First-Grade Children

Abstract Since learning to read is a complex process, there are a diverse set of prerequisite skills, including both language and literacy related skills. This article reports on a battery of oral language and early literacy tests, called the SHELL. The battery contains measures of oral language development (a narrative production task, a picture description task, a definitions task, and a superordinates task), as well as comprehension, vocabulary, and early literacy measures (both emergent literacy and early reading and spelling.) In addition to presenting the tasks and the scoring systems for the SHELL, we also provide information about performance on these tasks by participants in the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development, a longitudinal project that is collecting interview, interactional, and outcome data on low-income children from age three to age ten at home and at school. Descriptive, correlational, and predictive analyses based on scores for SHELL-K (when the children were five years old) and SHELL-1 (when the children were in first grade) are presented.

Defining phonological awareness and its relationship to early reading.

Phonological awareness (PA) has been operationally defined by many different tasks, and task comparisons have been confounded by differing levels of linguistic complexity among items. A sample of 113 kindergartners and first graders completed PA tasks designed to separate task difficulty from linguistic complexity. These measures were, in turn, compared with measures of early literacy. Results indicated that the measures loaded on a single factor and that PA measured by differences in linguistic complexity, rather than by task differences, seemed to be more closely related to that factor. A logical analysis suggested that alphabet knowledge is necessary for children to separate onsets from rimes and that awareness of onsets and rimes is necessary both for word reading and for more complex levels of phonemic analysis. The relationship between phonological awareness1 and early reading has been well established since the 1970s (see Adams, 1990, for a review). Phonological awareness is an awareness of sounds in spoken (not written) words that is revealed by such abilities as rhyming, matching initial consonants, and counting the number of phonemes in spoken words. These tasks are difficult for some children because spoken words do not have identifiable segments that correspond to phonemes; for example, the word dog consists of one physical speech sound. In alphabetic languages, however, letters usually represent phonemes, and to learn about the correspondences between letters and phonemes, the child has to be aware of the phonemes in spoken words. Evidence for the importance of phonological awareness

Relationships between early literate experience and knowledge and children's linguistic pragmatic strategies

A three-year study of 67 three- and four-year-olds assessed the impact of literate aspects of home environment and early knowledge about literacy upon strategies for comprehension of directive illocutionary acts. It was hypothesized that children inclined toward what Olson has termed a ‘literate bias’ in language use would tend to locate meaning within the linguistic element of illocutionary acts rather than making appropriate use of context in the comprehension process. Baseline measures of literate experience and knowledge were administered in the first year of the study. These included Shapiro's Home Literacy Environment Index, Clay's Concepts About Print test, and two subtests of Downing's Linguistic Awareness in Reading Readiness battery. Metaliteracy factors were then derived from these and several additional early literacy measures. An illocutionary act comprehension task employed puppet play set in realistic contexts, with the linguistic element of each task item presented both in full and in phonologically-distorted form. This provided a means of assessing the extent to which subjects required intact linguistic information in order to assign illocutionary force to an utterance. Children on the higher ends of the home literacy environment scale and several of the measures of print concepts demonstrated more linguistic rather than contextual dependence, and did so up to a year sooner than children on the lower ends of the scales, regardless of chronological age. The results offer support to the claim that there is a bias in one general pragmatic process for those children who have been more extensively socialized into literate uses of language.

Early Literacy: Linkages Between Home, School and Literacy Achievement at Age Five

Abstract This article reports the findings relating the predictor variables identified through the analyses discussed in the previous articles to the outcome measures of early literacy from the test battery administered to the children in the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development at age five. The test battery, called the SHELL-K (School Home Early Language and Literacy), uses a variety of assessment procedures to develop a componential view of each child's language and literacy development. The results demonstrate that both home and school measures contribute to children's literacy achievement at age five. Finally, profiles of the three selected children are presented demonstrating the variability in the experiences and outcomes for these children.

A Longitudinal Study of the Predictive Relations Among Symbolic Play, Linguistic Verbs, and Early Literacy

The intent of this study was to examine the predictive relations among dimensions of symbolic play (i.e., object and ideational transformations), linguistic verbs, and measures of early literacy (i.e., Concepts of Print, Emergent Reading and Writing). A sample of 12 preschool children (3-1/2-years-of-age) was observed for two years during free play and in a variety of literacy events. Results indicated that use of linguistic verbs predicted Concepts of Print scores. Further, symbolic play and linguistic verbs predicted emergent writing and reading, respectively. Results are discussed in the terms of the separate ontogenies of writing and reading