The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), was first launched in 1997 as a periodic longitudinal study of program performance. Successive nationally representative samples of Head Start children and their families,…

Examined the reliability and validity of the Individual Reading Readiness Inventory (IRRI) and determined that it could be used with confidence as a measure to predict the extent to which children would profit from formal reading instruction in kindergarten. (Author/RWB)

By exploring the kindergarten program found in two public elementary schools in a middle-class neighborhood in central Alabama, a study examined age at school entry as a critical factor in achievement in Alabama kindergartens. The sample consisted of 100 kindergarten students (53 boys/47 girls; 96 white/4 black)--77 were 63 months or older, and 23…

This study investigated (1) the difference, if any, between the achievement in reading readiness of younger kindergarten children (4 years 9 months to 5 years 1 month upon school entrance) and older children (5 years 5 months to 5 years 8 months at entrance), (2) whether kindergarten positively affects the reading readiness achievement of children…

Findings concerning the relationship of perceptual-motor and oral-language organization to later reading achievement are discussed in relation to a predictive battery of 15 tests. It was concluded that the predictive efficacy of the tests depends on the degree to which they measure integrative ability rather than on the specific skills measured.…

Teachers make false assumptions about concepts five-year-olds can understand. (JH)

The Concepts about Print (Sand) and Record of Oral Language (ROL) tests were administered three times to 29 male and 27 female kindergarten children as part of a study to determine the reliability and concurrent validity of the tests. The Sand and Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) were administered to the returning participants (27 males and 24…

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of a systematic auditory training program on the auditory discrimination ability and reading readiness of 55 white, middle/upper middle class kindergarten students. Following pretesting with the "Wepman Auditory Discrimination Test,""The Clymer-Barrett Prereading Battery," and the…

This research was done to determine whether formal kindergarten training in alphabet and number names would result in a higher reading level for children at the end of grade 1. As part of an earlier research project, two classes of primarily middle-class kindergarten children received 8 weeks of training in alphabet and number names. Two control…

This study compared actual and recommended practices in reading readiness programs in kindergartens and first grades of New York State public schools as reported by classroom teachers and as advocated by chairmen of departments of early childhood and elementary education in the 54 teacher-training institutions in New York State offering…

Parents are their children's first and foremost important teachers. This paper presents some ways parents can help their children "get ready to read" during the ages of 2, 3, 4 and 5. This paper also offers several checklists for parents of kindergartners, first graders, second graders, and third graders.

This report reviews and evaluates the tradition of assessing early literacy with formal tests. It begins with a historical account of the readiness movement, focusing on the development of formal measures of early literacy and tracing the development of the movement into the 1980s. Next, the paper analyzes in depth tests that are currently…

THE RESULTS OF 17 STUDIES ON READING READINESS ARE SUMMARIZED AND INTERPRETED. ALL BUT ONE OF THE STUDIES WERE COMPLETED SINCE 1957. READING READINESS IS DEFINED, AND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND CURRENT THEORY ARE DISCUSSED. STUDIES OF FORMAL READING READINESS INSTRUCTION IN KINDERGARTEN ARE DESCRIBED. CONCLUSIONS ABOUT KINDS OF…

The Pre-Reading Skills Battery is a group-administered diagnostic battery measuring skills considered to be prerequisite to beginning reading instruction. Three major areas of skills are included: language, visual perception, and auditory perception. Within each of these three areas several skills are tested through two or three sub-tests. In some…

FOURTEEN STUDIES IN THE AREA OF READING READINESS ARE SURVEYED. MUCH OF THE RESEARCH IS DIRECTED AT THE CHILD WHO NEEDS A PERIOD OF READINESS, PARTICULARLY THE CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED CHILD. THE VALIDITY OF READINESS TESTS, THE IMPORTANCE OF SEX DIFFERENCES, AND BEGINNING READERS ARE OTHER TOPICS DISCUSSED. REFERENCES ARE GIVEN. THIS ARTICLE IS…