Socioeconomic status differences in preschool phonological sensitivity and first-grade reading achievement.

Abstract

Two groups of 5-year-old children whose fathers' occupations differed markedly in education and skill levels were seen in preschool, where they were given tests of performance IQ, receptive vocabulary and grammar, verbal working memory, phonological sensitivity, letter knowledge, and novice reading ability. At the end of first grade, academic achievement was assessed. Marked group differences were observed on most measures. Most differences remained after performance IQ effects were controlled. When general verbal ability effects were controlled, differences in phonological sensitivity and word-level reading and arithmetic achievement remained. When phonological sensitivity effects were also controlled, differences remained only in arithmetic performance. The same general pattern of results was observed in converging hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Overall, the results are consistent with the view that socioeconomic status differences in word-level reading achievement are mediated partly through preexisting differences in phonological sensitivity.Relative to the enormous literature on socioeconomic status (SES) differences in language development (see Feagans & Farran, 1982), there has been little research investigating the development of phonological abilities as a function of parental SES. 1 This is a somewhat surprising state of affairs, given the well-documented differences in academic achievement in children varying in parental SES (e.g.,

Socioeconomic background modulates cognition–achievement relationships in reading

“…For instance, Raz and Bryant (1990) reported SES differences in word reading, but found that controlling for PA eliminated such differences. Similarly, Bowey (1995) found that SES differences on both word and non-word reading were eliminated after covarying PA, suggesting that SES may impact decoding via its effect on phonological skill.…”

“…For instance, Raz and Bryant (1990) reported SES differences in word reading, but found that controlling for PA eliminated such differences. Similarly, Bowey (1995) found that SES differences on both word and non-word reading were eliminated after covarying PA, suggesting that SES may impact decoding via its effect on phonological skill.The Independent Factors Model, suggesting that PA and SES each explain a unique portion of the variance in reading ability, was also supported in part by Raz and Bryant (1990). Although these authors found that PA mediated the association between SES and word reading, they reported that, after controlling for PA, a significant difference remained across SES in reading comprehension, implying that both PA and SES exert unique effects on this skill.…”

“…Reading development is an aspect of language skill that bears a strong influence on academic and life achievement; correlations between SES and word reading ability typically fall within the range of 0. 3-0.7 (White, 1982), and evidence has suggested that SES is predictive both of decoding single words and non-words, as well as reading comprehension (Bowey, 1995;Hecht et al, 2000;Raz & Bryant, 1990). …”

“…Although these authors found that PA mediated the association between SES and word reading, they reported that, after controlling for PA, a significant difference remained across SES in reading comprehension, implying that both PA and SES exert unique effects on this skill. Interestingly, Bowey (1995) found that controlling for verbal ability eliminated SES differences on reading comprehension, although SES associations with PA remained. Together, these results imply that verbal skills mediate the link between SES and reading comprehension, and are distinct from the association between SES and PA. Further support comes from Hecht et al (2000), who found that SES continued to account for unique variance in both decoding and comprehension skills, even when PA, verbal abilities, prior decoding, rapid naming and print knowledge were taken into account.…”

“…Adams, 1990;L. Bradley & Bryant, 1983;Wagner & Torgesen, 1987) with reading development, surprisingly few have considered these two factors together (Bowey, 1995;Hecht, Burgess, Torgesen, Wagner, & Rashotte, 2000;Raz & Bryant, 1990), and none has examined how a child's social background may interact with PA in predicting reading ability. Such approaches implicitly make strong assumptions about the independence of these two factors.…”