A COMPARISON OF COMPOSITION SCORES OF THIRD-GRADE CHILDREN WITH READING SKILLS, PRE-KINDERGARTEN VERBAL ABILITY, SELF-CONCEPT, AND SEX

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between composition ability, measured with both a checklist and a normed test of writing, and variables of reading ability, pre-kindergarten verbal ability, self-concept, and sex. In addition, teacher evaluation of composition was compared to the results of a normed composition test. The following instruments were utilized: the Test of Written Language (Hammill and Larsen, 1978), Written Expression Checklist (designed for this study), Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests (Woodcock, 1973), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Dunn, 1959), and Piers-Harris Children\u27s Self-Concept Scale (Piers and Harris, 1969). The sample used was an intact group of 81 third-graders within the Seward, Nebraska, School District who had taken the PPVT before entering kindergarten. Correlation analysis of the data employing the .05 level of significance was selected as the best method to determine the precise relationship among the variables, using a t-test with the variable of sex and Pearson product-moment correlations for the other variables. Results of this study of third-grade children indicated the following: (1) a significant relationship (p \u3c .001) existed between composite skills of writing and composite skills of reading; (2) a significant relationship (p \u3c .01 or better) existed between pre-kindergarten verbal ability and third-grade writing performance; (3) a significant relationship (p \u3c .05 or better) existed between self-concept and composition ability; (4) no significant difference (p \u3c .05) was evident between the composition skills of boys and girls at third-grade level; (5) a significant relationship (p \u3c .001) existed between teacher evaluation of composition using a checklist and the results of a normed composition test. The findings in this study lend support to the conclusion that language arts skills are interrelated and reciprocal, giving substance to the theory underlying methods which combine reading and writing, such as the language experience approach