Sixteen Head Start classrooms, involving 128 children, were randomly assigned to three approaches for augmenting early literacy instruction: (a) instruction in phoneme segmentation, blending, and letter-sound relationships, (b) rhyming instruction and (c) vocabulary instruction. The phoneme segmentation approach was more effective in promoting…

Preschoolers were supplied with tokens and given an opportunity to "purchase" various items by recognizing the designated color and letter-sound information on each token. It was concluded that the token-exchange period itself can serve as an effective adjunct to classroom instruction, providing supplemental practice on troublesome…

The authors conducted a national survey of Head Start preschool teachers to assess their views and practices related to emerging literacy. Results indicated that Head Start teachers use a variety of strategies to promote emerging literacy, with a major focus on book knowledge/appreciation and print awareness skills. The teachers indicated that…

Investigated the effect of developmentally appropriate literacy interventions integrated into circle time in a Head Start setting on the detection of rhyme by 4-5 year olds. Found that the group receiving phonological-awareness treatment performed better on a rhyme detection test than the semantic intervention group. (JPB)

A program to teach young children about phonological structure was evaluated with 64 experimental group and 62 control group preschoolers in Australia. Results support the efficacy of the program and the principle that phonological awareness and letter knowledge are necessary but not sufficient for acquisition of the alphabetic principle. (SLD)