The Effects of Instruction (Direct Instruction Flashcard Procedure and Letter Writing) on Letter Name Fluency in Preschool Children

This study looked at comparing the impact of an intervention that utilized a Direct Instruction flashcard system with a Model, Lead, Test error correction procedure with one group of students. The same Direct Instruction flashcard system with a Model, Lead, Test error correction procedure intervention was used with an added writing component for another group. Letter naming fluency is one of the predictors of later reading development. There are many different interventions that have been used to help children progress with their letter naming abilities. This study took place in two separate inclusive classrooms with 4 and 5 year-old children. The participants were eight 4 and 5 year-old children who demonstrated lower scores in the area of alphabetic knowledge from the Preschool Early Literacy Indicators (PELI) assessment. A comparison single subject design was used for the study and the researchers ran two single subject designs parallel to each other. The findings of the study showed that participants in Group 1 did improve their letter naming skills during the intervention phase based on data from the PELI Quick Checks. Participants in Group 2 did show improvement from their lowest score to their highest score on the PELI Quick Checks. There is insufficient data to conclude whether the added writing component made a difference in the participants letter naming abilities as 2 out of the 4 participants in Group 2 missed interventions and data point days