An investigation of treatment scheduling for phonemic awareness with kindergartners who are at risk for reading difficulties.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined 2 schedules of treatment for phonemic awareness.


METHODS
Forty-one 5- to 6-year-old kindergartners, including 22 English learners, with low letter-name and first-sound knowledge received 11 hr of phonemic awareness treatment: concentrated (CP, 3x/wk to December), dispersed (DP, 1x/wk to March), and dispersed vocabulary control (CON).


RESULTS
English learners performed similarly to native English speakers. Participants with moderate deficits in letter-names and first sounds showed significant benefits after both treatment conditions. Three times the intensity had no additional effect on phonemic awareness. CP continued to increase significantly during the no-treatment interval. In March, CP and DP were significantly greater than CON, but the 2 conditions did not differ other than with a minor DP advantage on last sounds. By May, there were no significant differences among the 3 conditions in meeting grade-level expectations for phoneme segmenting.


CONCLUSIONS
For phonemic awareness, over the course of a school year, with concomitant classroom instruction, the gains made from short, intense treatment were similar to those made from continuous weekly treatment. At-risk kindergartners with moderate deficits benefited more than those with mild deficits. Children, particularly those with mild deficits, may improve substantially with only classroom instruction and incidental self-regulatory gains from treatment for another area.
Division of Communication Disorders, University of Wyoming, Department 3311, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071-3311, USA. tukraine@uwyo.edu
Teresa A
TA
Ukrainetz
Catherine L
CL
Ross
Heide M
HM
Harm
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004410:Dyslexia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D007808:Language Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D010700:Phonetics; D011932:Reading; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*