A Brief Screening Tool for Literacy Skills in Preschool Children: An Item Response Theory Analysis

Abstract

In a large-scale study conducted in 4- to 5-year-old French-speaking preschoolers ( N = 12,162), early literacy skills were assessed with four short tasks designed to investigate three domains related to learning to read: letter knowledge, phonological skills, and vocabulary. This tool was developed in response to the lack of available literacy screening tools for this population. Item response theory (IRT) analyses were used to examine the discrimination and difficulty parameters of each item. Then, a structural model confirmed that all the scores contributed to a latent ability, namely, early literacy. Three variables, namely, sociodemographic zone, age, and gender, are related to performance on literacy skills. Finally, an IRT with these variables as covariates confirms that all of them explained the difference in the scores in each domain except for zone in the case of letter-name knowledge (without significant link). This initial tool for French-speaking preschoolers could be used to identify children with early difficulties and help promote early language interventions to combat subsequent difficulties in learning to read.

Learning to Name Uppercase and Lowercase Letters in Preschoolers and Kindergarteners: An Investigation of the Effects of Child- and Letter-Related Factors

“…However, conflicting findings have been reported. Some experiments indicated that girls outperformed boys (Ecalle et al, 2020;Evans et al, 2006;Sigmundsson et al, 2020;Treiman et al, 2007), while others reported no significant difference between girls and boys (Herkner et al, 2021;Worden & Boettcher, 1990). Further research therefore seems warranted.…”

“…A major motivation for this interest is that a substantial body of research has shown that LNK assessed during the preschool years is a reliable predictor of later reading ability (e.g., Catts et al, 2002;Foulin, 2005). It can even be used to identify children at risk for reading difficulties (Ecalle et al, 2020). This early literacy skill has been studied in children of different native languages, although most research has focused on English-speaking children.…”

Examining the relations between early language skills and environmental variables and literacy skills: A longitudinal study from 2 to 9 years

“…Literacy skills (LitSk5y). Four tasks were used for three domains (see Ecalle et al, 2020). In the letter-name knowledge task (/10), children had to choose the named letter among seven possible options.…”

Profiles of learner readers and their early literacy skills and environmental predictors: a large-scale longitudinal study from preschool to grade 1

“…This is one of the limitations of this study. In fact, a short screening tool (Ecalle et al, 2020) was required for the researchers in cognitive psychology, meaning that there were only a small number of items in three domains in preschool (phonological awareness, letter knowledge and vocabulary) and in four domains in Grade 1 (phonemic segmentation, word reading, and listening and reading comprehension). Other literacy skills data would have been useful, in particular listening comprehension in preschool and reading fluency, rapid automatized naming and short-term verbal memory in Grade 1.…”