Growth modeling of phonological awareness.

In a longitudinal study following prereading kindergartners through first grade, the variables verbal memory, IQ, and speech perception (SP) together predicted 26 % of growth in and 42% of the final status of phonological wareness (PA). The correlation between i itial status and growth in PA was.51, suggesting that hose who begin with high PA develop that skill more quickly than those who begin with lower PA. Although those low and high in SP in kindergarten had substantially different word-decoding scores by the middle of first grade (low: M = 6.8 words; high: M = 18.1 words), this difference was no longer significant once phonological processing was controlled, suggesting that he effect of SP on word decoding is mediated by phonological processing ability. Phonological awareness is one of the two strongest longitudinal predictors of reading in children. Its ability to predict reading is paralleled only by knowledge of the letter names and sounds of the alphabet. Indeed, phonological awareness i an even better predictor of subsequent reading success than is general cognitive ability, typically measured