Emergent literacy is the foundation upon which childrens conventional reading and writing abilities

1
Preliteracy Instructional Practices in CT
Preschools Survey Results
Rhea Paul, Daniel Blanchard, Jennifer Ingersoll,
Allison Klein, Kathryn Massey Southern
Connecticut State University
Introduction
Distribution of ERGs of Schools Completing Survey
Results, continued
Conclusions

• There is not a great deal of difference among the
  three ERG categories in
• Reported education/experience of teachers
• Reported time spent in preliteracy activities
• Exceptions Low ERGs report spending MORE time
  reading aloud, LESS time in literate language
  activities
• On average 20-30 min./day are spent on
  teacher-directed preliteracy activities, 6 min.
  on child interaction w/ books
• On average, teachers report weekly presentation
  of Alphabet Knowledge, Literate Language,
  Meta-linguistic Awareness, and Print Concept
  activities
• BUT only monthly presentation of phonological
  awareness activities

• Emergent literacy is the foundation upon which
  childrens conventional reading and writing
  abilities are built.
• Many components of preliteracy skills have been
  studied and noted to correlate with later reading
  development.
• Children who lag behind early on in literacy
  development often fail to catch up to their
  peers.
• Studies have shown that more than 1 in 3 children
  struggle with early reading skills.
• Low socio-economic status may put preschoolers at
  elevated risk for preliteracy skill development.

Time Spent in Preliteracy Activities by ERG.

• 1. High ERG schools 58 Surveys (28 surveys
  19.9 pop.)
• 2.Medium ERG schools 53 Surveys (25 surveys
  23.2 pop.)
• 3. Low ERG schools 99 Surveys (47 surveys
  56.9 pop.)

Interpretations

• CT teachers in licensed preschools are highly
  educated (mean 3-4 years of college) and
  experienced (mean 10-15 years).
• Report data suggests preliteracy activities are
  not consistently part of daily routines in CT
  preschools.
• Phonological awareness activities are presented
  infrequently.
• Non-significant trend for more emphasis on oral
  language, literate language and integration of
  books in classroom activities tends to be seen in
  high ERGs.

Time Spent Addressing Preliteracy Domains Over
All ERGs
Procedures
Results

• Procedures.
• 200 surveys mailed to a stratified random sample
  of CT licensed preschool facilities
• Economic Reference Groups (ERGs) were used to
  stratify the sample
• Original response was less than 20
• Phone calls were made to schools that didnt
  respond after initial mailing
• approximately 5 success rate on phone re-call
• Additional surveys were mailed until a total of
  200 were collected (gt1 year of data collection)
• Incentive of entrance to prize drawing was used
• Response was greatly increased by use of
  incentive
• The distribution of ERGs represented by the 200
  surveys returned closely resembles Connecticuts
  demographics.
• Demographics CT School districts are grouped
  into Economic Reference Groups, based on
• median family incomes,
• percentages of families below the poverty level,
• percentages of students living in single-parent
  families or non-family households,
• percentages of families with a non-English home
  language,
• percentages of families in which one or both
  parents have a bachelors degree,
• percentages of families in managerial
  occupations.

Mean Years of Teaching by ERG

•  

Implications for SLP Preschool Practice

• Encourage teachers in schools at ALL SES levels
  to embed more preliteracy within daily preschool
  activites.
• Especially encourage the embedding of
  phonological awareness activities within common
  classroom routines and story book reading.
• In low SES schools, encourage more attention to
  oral language development i.e., vocabulary,
  complex syntax, narrative skills, and
  metalinguistic awareness.

Time Spent Addressing Preliteracy Domains by ERG
Mean Years of Teaching Experience by ERG
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the SCSU School of
Graduate Studies and the Zigler Center for Child
Development at Yale University