The primary objective of this project is to develop and evaluate a group administered screening test for phonological awareness in kindergarten aged children, as well as a self-contained, small-group, training module in phonological awareness skills. Both of these products have direct application in reducing the incidence of reading failure in the elementary grades.
The specific aims of Phase II are to: 1) complete the development and standardization of the screening test for kindergarten aged children; 2) determination of test structure, development of items, and standardization of the screening test for first and second graders; 3) collect data concerning the predictive validity of the screening test; 4) complete the development and evaluation of the training module; and, 5) collect data measuring the impact of phonological awareness training in kindergarten on reading in first grade. This proposal is based on a solid research attainment of early reading skills. Since there are presently no group measures of phonological awareness available, nor are formal training materials widely available, both of the products from this grant should have extremely broad commercial possibilities
