SBIR-STTR Award

The primary objective of this project is to develop and evaluate a group-administered screening test for phonological awareness in kindergarten aged children, as well as a self-contained, small group, training module in phonological awareness skills. Both of these products have direct application in reducing the incidence of reading failure in the elementary grades.The specific aims of Phase I are to: (1) determine the optimal structure for a quick, simple-to-administer, group-screening test for phonological awareness; (2) validate the group-screening instrument against standard, individually administered phonological awareness tests; and (3) prepare prototypic training materials for small-group instruction in phonological awareness and provide experimental evidence of their effectiveness. This project is based on a solid research consensus concerning the importance of phonological awareness in the attainment of early reading skills. There are presently no group measures of phonological awareness available, nor are there any formal training materials widely available.

Anticipated Results:
This project will produce a screening test and training module for phonological awareness that should be very attractive for use in kindergarten and other preschool programs. There are currently no products on the market that would offer direct competition to those developed in this project.National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development

The primary objective of this project is to develop and evaluate a group-administered screening test for phonological awareness in kindergartenaged children, as well as a self-contained, smallgroup, training module in phonological awareness skills. Both of these products have direct application in reducing the incidence of reading failure in the elementary grades. The specific aims of Phase II are to:(1) complete the development and standardization of the screening test for kindergarten-aged children;(2) determine test structure, development of items,and standardization of the screening test for first and second graders;(3) collect data concerning the predictive validity of the screening test;(4) complete the development and evaluation of the training module; and(5) collect data measuring the impact of phonological awareness training in kindergarten on reading in first grade.This project is based on a solid research consensus concerning the importance of phonological awareness in the attainment of early reading skills. There are presently no group measures of phonological awareness available, nor are formal training materials widely available.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:This project will produce a screening test and training module for phonological awareness that should be very attractive for kindergarten and early primary grades. There are no competing group tests currently available, and training materials are very limited. These materials will fill a recognized educational need.National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)