Graduate Program

School Psychology

Degree Name

Specialist in School Psychology

Semester of Degree Completion

2008

Thesis Director

Christine McCormick

Thesis Committee Member

Ronan Bernas

Thesis Committee Member

J. Michael Havey

Abstract

This study examined whether or not exposure to Rhyme and Letter Little Books significantly increased the rhyming and initial sound/alliteration recognition skills of academically at-risk preschool children. Twice a week for eight weeks, students in a Head Start program listened to a researcher present a lesson with either the Rhyme and Letter Little Books or the original Little Books. It was hypothesized that statistically significant differences in the rhyming and initial sound recognition skills between the two groups would exist at the end of the intervention because the Rhyme and Letter Little Books were created to foster phonological awareness skills in pre-readers, while the original Little Books that were designed to make print concepts in pre-readers. The Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDis) were used as a general outcome measure for pre- and post-testing to expand our knowledge of best practices under a Response to Intervention (RTI) approach within early education. Two subtests from the Phonological Abilities Test (PAT) were also used for pre- and post-test comparisons. Results indicated that growth was observed across each of the literacy measures for both conditions from the beginning to the end of the eight-week intervention. Implications drawn from this exploratory study and towards the field of early literacy assessment and intervention are discussed.

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