Teaching phonological awareness and print knowledge improved decoding performance even without decoding instruction, and adding decoding instruction more than doubled the weighted effect size¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · quant-synthesis r2 · q3 · i1–i2
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 Thirteen interventions teaching phonological awareness and print knowledge but not decoding significantly improved decoding performance (weighted effect size 0.22). → Sarah Herrera 2021 q3 i2 When phonological awareness, print knowledge, and decoding instruction co-occurred, the weighted effect size for decoding increased to 0.52, though not significantly different from 0.22. → Sarah Herrera 2021 (2)

Evidence¶

Sarah Herrera 2021¶

Sarah Herrera, Beth M. Phillips, Yi-Chieh Newton, Jennifer L. Dombek, and James A. Hernandez. (2021). Effectiveness of Early Literacy Instruction: Summary of 20 Years of Research. Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast, REL 2021-084. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs

q3 · i1 · quant-synthesis · r2

Weighted synthesis of 13 interventions teaching phonological awareness and print knowledge but not decoding. These interventions "significantly improved decoding performance (weighted effect size 0.22)," suggesting decoding can improve without direct decoding instruction.

"Thirteen other interventions taught phonological awareness and print knowledge but not decoding and were evaluated in studies that included decoding outcomes; these interventions significantly improved decoding performance (weighted effect size 0.22; see table B15 in appendix B)."

Sarah Herrera 2021 (2)¶

Sarah Herrera, Beth M. Phillips, Yi-Chieh Newton, Jennifer L. Dombek, and James A. Hernandez. (2021). Effectiveness of Early Literacy Instruction: Summary of 20 Years of Research. Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast, REL 2021-084. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs

q3 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r2

Figure 7 comparison across the 4 interventions teaching all three domains versus 13 teaching phonological awareness and print knowledge only. The weighted effect size for decoding reached 0.52 when all three domains were taught, though the review notes the two effect sizes were not significantly different.

"However, when phonological awareness, print knowledge, and decoding instruction co-occurred, the weighted effect size for decoding increased to 0.52."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Decoding — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Phonemic Awareness Training Improves Reading — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Language and early writing interventions showed larger effects on researcher-developed than standardized outcome measures, while phonological awareness, print knowledge, and decoding effects were comparable across measure types — related
• Instruction in language, phonological awareness, and decoding improved performance in the taught domain, while interventions teaching print knowledge or early writing exclusively did not — related
• Teaching phonological awareness and print knowledge improved early writing performance with or without early writing instruction — related
• Peer pairing, peer tutoring, and small collaborative/cooperative groupings improved MLs' English phonological awareness, decoding, and fluency across grade levels — related
• In a Los Angeles RCT, Earobics® plus Open Court improved phonological awareness but not letter knowledge, phonics, or fluency — related