A longitudinal study determined if children's invented spelling served as a viable predictor of reading achievement and compared the predictive value of assessing children's invented spelling relative to other notable predictors, such as letter names, letter sounds, a concept of a word, and phonemic awareness. Subjects, 52 kindergarten children…

A study investigated whether predictions of reading achievement could be improved by studying the relative contributions of alphabetic knowledge and invented spelling over time. Subjects, 38 upper middle-class children enrolled at an elementary school in the Midwest, were administered an alphabetic knowledge task (measuring letter names and letter…

This study compared the concepts of oral and written language of 4-year-old, preschool children from low- and middle-class homes. Subjects were 64 children from 3 preschools serving families at poverty level, and 3 preschools serving middle-income families. Children's understanding of the function of print was measured by three tasks: recognizing…