Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, EDU Teaching and Learning

The prevalence and effects of lagging or delayed early literacy and motor skill development in children of low-SES backgrounds is a significant issue that can have adverse developmental consequences and affect children's ability to succeed in school (Evans, 2004; NELP, 2008; Stodden et al., 2008). This study examined the impact of the Reading and Motor Program for Preschoolers (RaMPP) on the letter knowledge, initial sound awareness, and fundamental motor skills of Head Start preschool children. RaMPP is an integrated curricula model designed to improve child outcomes in early literacy and fundamental motor skill development. The current study had two primary aims: (a) to determine the extent to which the RaMPP intervention was implemented as designed, and (b) to determine the extent to which the RaMPP intervention impacted the alphabet knowledge, initial sound awareness, and fundamental motor skill development of Head Start preschool children relative to Head Start business-as-usual instruction. The study used a two-group pre-posttest experimental design with three Head Start preschool centers and a total of 10 classrooms and 102 students. Classrooms (and children within classrooms) were randomly assigned to the RaMPP intervention condition (5 classrooms; n = 51) and or business-as-usual control condition (5 classrooms; n = 51). Overall fidelity of the RaMPP intervention was 85.41% and it was also determined that there were sufficient distinguishing features of the RaMPP intervention differentiating it from the business-as-usual instruction of the control condition. The results indicated that the RaMPP intervention was significant for lowercase letters (p = .008) and initial sounds (p = .012) outcomes when controlling for age at pretest with medium effect sizes. Results also revealed that there were significant differences between groups on posttest scores for locomotor (p = .001) and object control skills (p = <.001) with large effect sizes.

Committee: Jacqueline Goodway PhD (Advisor); Adrian Rodgers PhD (Advisor); Laura Justice PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Early Childhood Education; Education; Literacy; Pedagogy; Physical Education; Preschool Education; Reading Instruction

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, EDU Teaching and Learning

Little evidence exists on how best to support children's alphabet knowledge, which is a foundational early literacy skill. In this study, I investigated the impact of multisensory alphabet instruction on the alphabet learning of English monolingual and emergent bilingual (EB) children aged 3:5 to 5 years old. My primary aim was to examine whether multisensory alphabet instruction would improve young children's lowercase letter-name and letter-sound knowledge compared to non-multisensory alphabet instruction. One of my two secondary aims was to investigate whether children's language status, either EB or not EB, moderated the impact of multisensory alphabet instruction. For my other secondary aim, I examined whether the effects of instruction on lowercase letter learning were moderated by having knowledge of uppercase letters. I utilize an experimental, within- and between-subjects, pretest-posttest study design to address these aims. Thirty-six children were enrolled in the study and received 1:1 alphabet instruction on two sets of four letters, either using a multisensory or non-multisensory approach, with a final set of four letters serving as a control. Findings have shown that young children benefited from explicit and systematic alphabet instruction, whether multisensory or non-multisensory, in terms of improving their lowercase letter knowledge. EB and English monolingual children experienced a similar benefit from alphabet instruction, perhaps because they have similar background, including SES and language and literacy exposure. Children in general were more likely to know lowercase letters if they knew the corresponding uppercase letters.

Committee: Shayne Piasta Dr. (Advisor); Peter Sayer Dr. (Committee Member); Jessica Logan Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Early Childhood Education; Literacy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science

This multiple baseline design study evaluated the efficacy of a Tier 2 early literacy intervention on low-income preschool children's phonological awareness (PA) skills. The intervention was delivered three to four days a week by a trained interventionist to small groups of children using an interactive approach with frequent opportunities to respond and contingent feedback. Groups participated in 28 to 36 lessons that lasted about 10 minutes and focused on PA and alphabet knowledge. Seven children, across three groups, participated in the lessons and weekly progress monitoring assessments. All children demonstrated gains on the primary outcome measure of first sound identification as a result of the Tier 2 intervention. Most children also demonstrated gains on secondary and distal measures of PA and alphabet knowledge. Results provide support for the application of Response to Intervention (RTI) in early childhood and signify the potential benefits to learners who need instruction beyond the core curriculum.

Committee: Howard Goldstein (Advisor); Cynthia Buettner (Committee Member); Shayne Piasta (Committee Member); Diane Sainato (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Early Childhood Education; Literacy; Preschool Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Speech and Hearing Science

Considerable evidence has shown that kindergarten measures of phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge are significant predictors of word decoding ability in many typically developing children. Many children with speech sound disorder (SSD) have been found to exhibit poor phonological awareness; however, very few studies have provided a thorough investigation of their knowledge about letter names and letter sounds. The current study was thus designed to examine alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness, and their relationships, in kindergarten children with SSD (n = 16). Alphabet knowledge was assessed by comparing accuracy in naming of all 26 letter names and letter sounds, and was further evaluated to determine differences as a function of letter name category. Two levels of phonological awareness on an elision task (larger vs. smaller units) were compared. Finally, correlations between alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness levels were calculated. Overall, participants knew more letter names than letter sounds, and their letter sound knowledge varied according to letter name categories. Participants exhibited greater accuracy when deleting larger sized units, as compared to smaller units. Furthermore, children whose speech errors were atypical or severely delayed for their age had the lowest scores on the elision task, but performed as well as others on both measures of alphabet knowledge. Outcomes from this study suggest that some children with isolated SSD would have acquired knowledge about letter names and sounds in their kindergarten year, but may encounter difficulty in developing deeper levels of phonological awareness.

Committee: Rebecca McCauley PhD (Committee Chair); Laura Justice PhD (Committee Member); Monique Mills PhD (Committee Member); Shayne Piasta PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Early Childhood Education; Speech Therapy