The Development of a Pre-Literacy Skills Checklist

Background

Pre-literacy skills are the foundation of future literacy learning. However, children with developmental delays often struggle with acquiring pre-literacy skills. Early intervention is crucial, highlighting the need for screening tools to identify preschoolers at risk of learning difficulties.

Purpose

The study aimed to create checklists of pre-literacy skills and related cognitive skills. It also explored how individual factors affect pre-literacy skills, and examined the relationship between pre-literacy and cognitive skills.

Methods

Two sample groups were used: a preliminary test sample of 62 preschoolers and a formal test sample of 193 preschoolers. Teachers of the preschoolers completed checklists for pre-literacy skills and related cognitive skills. The preliminary checklists were developed based on literature review and tested for content validity. Final checklists were established through item analysis, reliability, and validity testing. The relationship between pre-literacy skills and cognitive skills was examined using t-tests and ANOVA.

Results

The pre-literacy skills checklist consisted of 52 items in 5 subscales, including phonological awareness, oral comprehension, oral expression, pre-reading and pre-writing. The pre-literacy related cognitive skills checklist consisted of 20 items in 3 subscales, including visual perception, attention, and perceptual motor skills. Both checklists are able to discriminate between typically developing children and children with developmental delays. Furthermore, there’s a significant difference in the pre-literacy and cognitive skills in children of different ages, sexes, and socioeconomic status.

Conclusions

Early identification of preschoolers at risk for learning disabilities is crucial for timely intervention. The checklists developed in this study aimed to screen children for potential learning difficulties, helping determine eligibility for early intervention. Further collection of samples is needed for establishing the norm of the checklists. Implications for early intervention specialists, preschool teachers and caregivers are discussed.

References

Iyer, S., Do, D., Akshoomoff, N., Malcarne, V. L., Hattrup, K., Berger, S. P., Gahagan, S., & Needlman, R. (2018). Development of a brief screening tool for early literacy skills in preschool children. Academic Pediatrics, 19(4), 464-470.

van Kleeck, A. (1998). Preliteracy domains and stages: Laying the foundations for beginning reading. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 20(1), 33–51.