A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken with Sinhala speaking students from grades 1 and 2 in the Gampaha District of Sri Lanka to determine how akshara graphical features influence emerging reading skills. A battery of locally validated assessments evaluated akshara knowledge (recognition and production), word reading (accurate and…

There is confusion among teachers in a school district in a southeastern state about the instructional use of the state-mandated Dominie assessment for word-level reading and phonemic awareness skills for kindergarten and first-grade students. Recent assessment data indicated that 20% of students tested in kindergarten and first grade needed…

Despite the reading research over the past forty years, there is a dearth of research in early literacy skills for Native American students. More specifically, there is a shortage of quantitative research for this population. The purpose of this quantitative causal comparative study was to determine if there is a significant difference in the oral…

First grade teachers play a critical role in shaping the foundation for early literacy skills acquisition of primary students. Past research studies have indicated that primary students whose teachers followed the"Big 5 Ideas" to teach reading had higher reading abilities when compared to other students. The purpose of this current…

A survey of 549 kindergarten and first grade teachers examined attitudes toward, and knowledge of, beginning reading practices that have been shown to prevent reading failure, including explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and word identification skills. Teachers generally had positive attitudes toward explicit reading approaches, especially…