The Use of a Dynamic Screening of Phonological Awareness to Predict Reading Risk for Kindergarten Students

Abstract

Response to intervention has been proposed as a framework for early identification and intervention. In such a framework, all students receive periodic screening (i.e., universal screening) for risk for reading disabilities; those identified as at risk are provided with supplemental intervention. In order for such an approach to be successful, universal screening measures must correctly identify students truly at risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness and predictive validity of a dynamic screening of phonological awareness. In Study I, the dynamic screening measure was administered to students at the beginning of kindergarten. The results demonstrated that the dynamic screening measure can be administered by school personnel with high reliability. Additionally, the distributional characteristics of the dynamic screening of phonological awareness were compared to those of other phonological awareness measures. Although the dynamic screening measure had a low skewness statistic, many students scored a zero on this measure. However, the other phonological awareness measures showed more of a floor effect. In Study II, a revised dynamic screening measure was administered to two samples of kindergarten students. Results showed the distribution of the dynamic screening measure did not have a floor effect. The predictive validity of the dynamic screening measure was compared to a static measure containing the same test items. The results indicated that the dynamic screening measure significantly improved the prediction of reading outcomes over and above the static measure, suggesting that the dynamic nature of the former contributed to the prediction accuracy. The predictive validity of the dynamic screening measure was also compared to a commonly used phonological awareness screening measure. Results showed that the dynamic screening measure added significantly to the prediction of reading outcomes. Additional analyses examined the use of the dynamic screening measure as a supplemental measure. The findings demonstrated that the dynamic measure reduced the number of false positives, and in some cases, predicted reading outcomes as well as a combination of the two measures. The results of this study provide preliminary support for the usefulness of a dynamic screening of phonological awareness within an RTI framework for kindergarten students.