Enhancing phonological awareness in kindergarten and first grade Montessori students

Project (M.A., Education (Language and Literacy)) -- California State University, Sacramento, 2013.Research has shown positive correlational and causal relationships between a student???s phonological awareness and later reading achievement (Adams, 1990; Bradley, 1989; Bradley & Bryant, 1978, 1983, 1991; Ehri et al., 2001; Lonigan & Shanahan, 2008; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000; U. S. Department of Education, 2012; Yopp & Yopp, 2009). Kindergarten and first grade students at the researcher???s school site showed a critical need for instruction in First Sound Fluency and Phoneme Segmentation Fluency according to initial reports by teachers using scoring criteria set by Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Skills assessments (DIBELS; Good & Kaminski, 2002). One purpose of the study was to examine the DIBELS assessments to ensure proper administration and accurate scoring by the teachers, and then describe and compare the student???s progress in the three classrooms at the beginning, middle, and end of year. A second purpose was to examine the school???s curriculum and Montessori teaching manuals for phonological awareness materials and lessons and to interview the teachers regarding their instructional practices for teaching and practicing phonological awareness tasks. The last purpose was to make research-based recommendations for enhancing the students??? phonological awareness and meeting California Common Core State Standards. \ud Sources of Data\ud Quantitative data for this study was collected from 95 students??? DIBELS assessment booklets. Qualitative data included descriptive analysis of the school???s curriculum and Montessori teacher???s manuals, and teacher interviews for instructional practices and any additional materials they used to teach phonological awareness skills.\ud Conclusions Reached\ud The study revealed significant weaknesses in students??? phonological awareness in identifying the first sound in a word at the kindergarten level and in segmenting the sounds in vowel-consonant and consonant-short vowel-consonant words. Across all three-kindergarten classes??? scores of First Sound Fluency rose from 32% of the students showing need for intensive or strategic instruction at the beginning of the year to 90% by middle of the year. This higher percentage at the middle of the year indicates instruction was not taking place. There were also differences in scores between the classrooms. Phoneme Segmentation Fluency scores indicated 70% of kindergarten students needed intensive instruction, while 89.5% of first graders were in the intensive range, using the same criteria. Examining the school???s curriculum, teaching manuals, and through interviewing teachers, the researcher found: \ud 1. Several tasks for phonological awareness were not being taught, including identifying the first sound in a spoken word, and \ud 2. curricular support and professional development in assessing and teaching phonological skills needed to be enhanced. \ud Finally, recommendations are made for assessing and teaching the phonological awareness skills within California???s Common Core State Standards.Education (Language and Literacy