Optimizing Phonological Awareness Learning in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten to Improve Later Reading and Spelling

Conditions

• Reading Difficulties

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

4 Years - 9 Years

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• phonemic awareness intervention (PA) — 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) — 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) — 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

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.

Key Dates

Start date

Sep 12, 2025

Status verified

Aug 2025

Primary completion

Jul 31, 2029

Completion

Jul 31, 2029

Study Design

Enrollment

720 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Arms

• Experimental: phonemic awareness intervention (PA)
  In the PA condition, children will receive 12 weeks of intervention, approximately 15 minutes per day, for 4 or 5 days per week, for a maximum of 48 lessons.
• Experimental: phonological sensitivity + phonemic awareness intervention (PSPA)
  In the PSPA condition, children will receive 12 weeks of intervention in 15- minute lessons, with a maximum of 48 lessons, 4 or 5 days per week.
• Experimental: delayed onset phonemic awareness intervention (DPA)
  In the DPA condition, children will receive intervention that includes identical types of lessons to the PA condition but with a delayed onset to match the start of week 7 for other conditions. The difference will be that they receive instruction for only 6 weeks, or for a total of 24 maximum lessons. These also will be delivered for approximately 15 minutes each day, for 4 or 5 days per week.
• No Intervention: Instruction-as-usual control (BAU)
  In the BAU condition children will receive only their typical general education classroom instruction as provided by their classroom teacher. This will vary naturally from classroom to classroom.

Primary Outcome Measure

Test of Preschool Early Literacy: PA subtest [ Time Frame: screening/pretest (within first 3 months of school year prior to intervention), midtest (within 2 months following the first 6 weeks of intervention and before starting the second 6 weeks of intervention), posttest (within 3 months of intervention end) ]

Central Contacts

• Shayne B Piasta, PhD
  614-688-4454
  [email protected]
• Caitlin Florek
  614-247-9944
  [email protected]

Locations (2)

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