(2000) Effects of Preschool Phoneme Identity Training After Six Years: Outcome Level Distinguished from Rate of Response

Byrne, B., Fielding-Barnsley, R, and Ashley, L. (2000).  Journal of Educational Psychology, 92 (4), 659-667

After 6 years, children trainined in phoneme identity (preschool) outperformed untrainined controls on irregular word reading; a composite list of pseudowords, regular words,and irregular words, and on another nonword test. Those who were poor readers in gr 5 were slow in making progress in phonemic awareness in preschool. The rate of achieving PA in preschool accounted for variance in school literacy progress as well as the level of PA achieved. PA training had modest but detectable effects on later reading skill.

"It is awareness of the phonemic constituents of words that underpins an understanding of the nature of alphabetic writing because alphabetic letters represent these constituents" (p. 659).

Learning to read alphabetically does not necessarily develop PA or guarantee that rules relating print to speech will be applied to new words.

Evaluation Study of Original experimental materials

64 preschoolers were trained with the "Sound Foundations" program used in 1991, for 1/2 hr per week for 12 weeks. Training = learning to classify items in color picture posters, on worksheets, and with games - e.g., search the s poster for things that begin with /s/.  Small groups were employed for intensive instruction and monitoring. The control group (62) did not receive instruction in phoneme identity, They learned to classify items semantically (color, shape, animacy, edibility). Random assignement to groups with constraints: equal numbers of children from each preschool, equivalent PPV scores, & equivalent pretests on PA. Same teacher conducted experimental and control procedures. Experimental group had greater gains in PA including untaught phonemes and they outperformed on a decoding test. 1 yr later, (gr K), experimental group were ahead of controls on pseudoword decoding but not real word identification or spelling. Concluded that the training taught phoneme sharing among words and supported the development of  decoding skills (660).

In the 1st and 2nd grades, the experimental group outperformed controls on pseudoword decoding but not on real words or spelling. However, the ex group outperformed contols on reading infrequent but regular words, giving validity to their superior decoding skills and their reading comprehension was superior in grade 2 while there was no variance in listening comprehension scores - indicating equal ability. Superior word identification was thought to provide the edge in reading comprehension.

In the thrid grade, only pseudoword reading was different (experimental suuperior). No significant differences in word id, reading or listening comp and a "Title Recognition Test" (from Cunningham & Stanovich, 1990).

Vaccination model
Shanahan & Barr proposed a model where a targeted treatment guarantees freedom from future reading problems. The vaccination effect seemed a good explanation for this treatment and was consistent with Stanovich's phonological core model of reading disability (1988).