The goal of the proposed study is to directly and rigorously address current scientific controversy about phonological awareness intervention content and timing for prekindergarten and kindergarten children. Using an experimental design, we will compare the relative impact of phonological sensitivity + phonemic awareness intervention versus phonemic awareness intervention on children's phonemic awareness and later reading and spelling abilities. We expect that both types of intervention will lead to impacts beyond business-as-usual instruction but do not have directional hypotheses as to which type of intervention will be most effective. Also, we will determine the relative efficacy of intervening in prekindergarten versus kindergarten, examine child characteristics that might moderate effects, and explore whether a transition point can be identified as to when phonemic awareness intervention may be most effective. Ultimately, our findings will help optimize early phonological awareness instruction.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Parent consent
• Child assent
• Enrollment in prekindergarten or kindergarten
• At least 4 years old
• Score below the 50th percentile on the Phonological Awareness Component Score of the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing 2 (CTOPP 2).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe sensory impairment that interferes with the capacity to hear instructions or see visual stimuli as reported by parents on the initial Child/Family Survey.
• Inability to speak or understand English at a basic level, as indicated by a criterion score < 6 on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-3 Screening Test (CELF:PS).
• Severe behavior issues as indicated by (a) a score 3 on the aggressive behavior item of the externalizing subscale of the Student Risk Screening Scale-Early Childhood (SRSS-EC) or (b) a total score ≥ 16 on the externalizing subscale of the SRSS-EC.

The study will generate (a) longitudinal data concerning children's phonological awareness, reading and spelling, and other early literacy skills; (b) data concerning children's speech/language skills, working memory, and problem behavior at screening/pretest; and (c) descriptive data concerning child demographics, participating centers/schools, and intervention implementation/fidelity. We will share child behavioral data (raw scores plus normative scores when available), child demographic data (with age at first assessment rather than birthdate), center/school descriptive data, and summative scores for intervention implementation/fidelity data. We will make deidentified study data publicly available via LDbase. We will also use the Open Science Framework for sharing project protocols and analytic code, along with preregistrations for specific analyses related to main (or supplemental) aims.

Scientific data will be made available to other users no later than when we first publish findings addressing any of the specific aims or the end of the project period, whichever is sooner. Data will remain publicly available indefinitely via LDbase.

Data will be publicly available and accessible via LDbase. Datasets posted in LDbase.com are reusable under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial (CC-BY-NC) license. The data may be accessed by anyone for any types of analyses by downloading the datafiles from LDbase (i.e., there are no restrictions).

Dr. Schatschneider, who will have no role in recruitment/enrollment, no communication with participants/parents/teachers, and will be blind to children's pretest/screening assessment results, will randomly assign participating children within each center/school to study conditions. All child measures will be administered individually at the children's school by trained research assistants who are blind to the child's experimental condition to the extent possible.