Graduate Program

School Psychology

Degree Name

Specialist in School Psychology

Semester of Degree Completion

2006

Thesis Director

Assege HaileMariam

Thesis Committee Member

Matthew Sidarous

Thesis Committee Member

Christine McCormick

Abstract

Phonological processing skills are an accurate predictor of pre-readers' reading performance years later. Historically, children have not been required to demonstrate phonological processing skills until kindergarten. Due to the importance of these early reading skills, it is critical that deficits within this area are remediated utilizing research based interventions. Recent research has demonstrated that preschool age children could be taught some early reading skills through direct instruction techniques known as Picture Sorts and Sound Boxes. However, little research exists on the efficacy of such methods with a Head Start population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the two different techniques for teaching phonological processing skills to Head Start children. Results indicated that there was a significant main effect of time of testing for rhyming [F (1, 18) = 12.00, p = .003]. Regardless of the type of intervention used, rhyming scores at posttest were significantly higher (M= 5.14, SD = 3.93) than those at pre test (M = 3.14, SD =3.90). Although the findings were not significant for all conditions, the data showed trends towards an increase in phonological awareness skills. These trends and further discussion of the implications of this study are presented.

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