Rosner tests of auditory & visual analysis skills : their relationship to children’s word recognition ability in grades 1 & 2

A wide variety of screening instruments are currently available for identifying students who are 'at risk' in learning to read. Many involve considerable administration time and many do not provide information on developing specific programs for children with special needs. Priorities in devising such screening instruments must include ease and speed of administration, together with the development of valid instruments that will lead to specific programming information. The Rosner Test of Visual Analysis Skills and the Rosner Test of Auditory Analysis Skills are immediately appealing as screening instruments because of their simplicity and the availability of specific programming materials that can be used within the regular classroom. This study examines the relationship of the T.A.A.S. and T.V.A.S. to word recognition (as measured by the W.R.A.T. reading subtest) at the grade 1 and grade 2 levels. The P.P.V.T. was given to the subjects as a measure of verbal intelligence. A sample of 60 students was drawn randomly from grade 1 and grade 2 classes in 5 city elementary schools in Dawson Creek, B. C. These subjects had no known sensory defects and all had English as their first language. Intelligence and achievement were found to be reasonably representative of the general school population (from examination of school records.) Tests were administered using standard procedures. Some modification of scoring procedures was used on the W.R.A.T., but standard procedures were otherwise used. Using raw scores, Pearson Product Moment correlations were calculated and their significances were estimated, using the two-tailed 't' test. The pairs of variables correlated were: P.P.V.T. and W.R.A.T.; T.A.A.S. and W.R.A.T.; T.V.A.S. and W.R.A.T.; T.A.A.S. and P.P.V.T.; T.V.A.S. and P.P.V.T. The results revealed that scores were approximately normally distributed, although there was an indication of negative skew on the T.A.A.S. The correlations of the T.A.A.S. with the W.R.A.T. (reading subtest) were positive and were significant at the 1% level. Correlations of the T.V.A.S. with the W.R.A.T. (reading subtest) were positive but were not significant at the grade 1 level or the grade 2 level. When grade 1 and 2 scores were combined, however, there was a positive significant relationship at the 5% level. This study has revealed a strong, positive relationship at the grade 1 and grade 2 levels, between the T.A.A.S. and word recognition as measured by the W.R.A.T. reading subtest. The initiation of a pilot project to develop the Rosner Auditory Training Program would therefore seem appropriate. This could be developed with the intention of providing data on the transfer of training of auditory analysis skills to word recognition skills at the grade 1 and grade 2 levels. Further studies of the T.V.A.S. are recommended before initiating training sessions in the development of Visual Analysis Skills.Education, Faculty ofEducational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department ofGraduat