How Letter-Sound Instruction Mediates Progress in First-Grade Reading and Spelling

Abstract

Children in six 1st-grade classrooms (N = 80) differing in amount of daily letter-sound instruction were administered tests of phonemic segmentation and of reading and spelling 60 regular and exception words 3 times during the year. Repeated measures results indicated no classroom differences in phonemic segmentation. However, classrooms with more letter-sound instruction improved at a faster rate in correct spellings and readings. Individual growth models analysis indicated that phonemic segmentation scores obtained in October predicted overall performance in reading and spelling. Growth in segmentation predicted overall performance in spelling but only predicted end-of-year differences in regular- and exception-word reading. Finally, better reading of regular words in October was associated with faster growth in spelling, and better spelling of regular words in October was predictive of May word reading. © 1991 American Psychological Association.