Is reading important in reading-readiness programs? A randomized field trial with teachers as program implementers

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness and feasibility of phonological awareness training, with and without a beginning decoding component. Thirty-three teachers in 8 urban schools were assigned randomly within their schools to 3 groups: control, phonological awareness training, and phonological awareness training with beginning decoding instruction and practice. Following training, teachers in the 2 treatment groups conducted the treatments for about 20 weeks. In each teacher's class, pre- and posttreatment data were collected on 12-14 children (N = 404); 312 children were tested again the following fall. At the end of kindergarten, the 2 treatment groups performed comparably and outperformed controls on the phonological awareness measures. On alphabetic (reading and spelling) tasks, however, the group participating in phonological awareness training with beginning decoding instruction did better than the other 2 groups. In the fall of the next year, many of these between-group differences remained but were less impressive. Implications are discussed for bridging research and practice.