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Reading DifficultiesBehavioralChildren's healthBehavioral

What this study is

The goal of the proposed study is to directly and rigorously address current scientific controversy about phonological awareness intervention content and timing for prekindergarten and kindergarten children. Using an experimental design, we will compare the relative impact of phonological sensitivity + phonemic awareness intervention versus phonemic awareness intervention on children's phonemic awareness and later reading and spelling abilities. We expect that both types of intervention will lead to impacts beyond business-as-usual instruction but do not have directional hypotheses as to which type of intervention will be most effective. Also, we will determine the relative efficacy of intervening in prekindergarten versus kindergarten, examine child characteristics that might moderate effects, and explore whether a transition point can be identified as to when phonemic awareness intervention may be most effective. Ultimately, our findings will help optimize early phonological awareness instruction.

What's being tested

  • phonemic awareness intervention (PA)

    Intervention · BEHAVIORAL

    All 12 weeks of lessons will exclusively focus on instruction at the phoneme level (i.e., the individual sounds in words), with activities addressing the blending of sounds to form short words. Other activities may include counting the number of sounds heard in a word, matching letter tiles to the sounds heard in the word, and separating short words into their component sounds.

  • phonological sensitivity + phonemic awareness intervention (PSPA)

    Intervention · BEHAVIORAL

    The first six weeks of intervention will include a focus on being able to manipulate (separate and blend) parts of words larger than the individual sounds. This will include manipulating compound word components, syllables, and initial sounds and rhyming components of words. Activities may include matching pictures of words, assembling/disassembling puzzle pieces that represent words, and sorting pictures (words) by their first or ending sounds. The second six weeks of intervention will focus on phonemic awareness, as described for the PA intervention condition, and be the same as what the children in the DPA intervention condition experience.

  • delayed onset phonemic awareness intervention (DPA)

    Intervention · BEHAVIORAL

    The six weeks of intervention will focus on phonemic awareness, as described for the PA intervention condition, and be the same as the second six weeks of lessons that the children in the PSPA intervention condition experience.

Study details

Sponsor
Ohio State University
Conditions
Reading Difficulties
Enrolling
720 people
Starts
2025-09-12
Est. completion
2029-07
Design
Double-blind, randomized, parallel groups
Record
View on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗