Graduate Program

School Psychology

Degree Name

Specialist in School Psychology

Semester of Degree Completion

2002

Thesis Director

J. Michael Havey

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the degree to which three measures of phonological awareness (Test of Phonological Awareness (TOPA), Torgesen & Bryant, 1994; Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), Kaminski & Good, 1996; Read America Diagnostic Tests, McGuinness & McGuinness, 1998) correlate with each other and with selected measures of reading skills (Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Basic Skills, Brigance, 1976, 1977; Woodcock Diagnostic Reading Battery (WDRB), Woodcock, 1997). The study also evaluated which of the measures of phonological awareness best predicts reading skills in a first grade population. The current study is an extension of the study conducted by Havey, DeJarnette, and Mulcahy, 2000, which examined these phonological and reading measures among kindergarteners. Analysis revealed that fewer significant correlations were found among phonological awareness measures and between phonological awareness and reading achievement measures than in the Havey et al. (2000) study. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the TOP A accounted for a significant portion of variance in the Brigance Basic Sight Word scores and in the Letter-Word Identification subtest scores of the WDRB, while Onset Fluency of the DIBELS accounted for the significant portion of variance in the Word Attack WDRB reading subtest scores. This study will help readers develop an understanding of phonological awareness subskills that predict first grade reading achievement and how these findings compare to findings among the same participants in their kindergarten year, thereby allowing for more efficient identification of children with potential reading problems and swifter development of interventions for those children.

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