The Use of a Dynamic Screening of Phonological

Awareness for Kindergarten Children

Mindy Sittner Bridges, Hugh W. Catts

Introduction Methods Results Table 1: Classification indices for the logistic regression
involving the ISF and DSPA
Recently, response to intervention (RTI) has been The criterion measures included the Dynamic Screening Figure 2 shows the distribution of scores for the two Outcome measure B SE Wald p level
proposed as a model for the early identification and of Phonological Awareness (DSPA)1 and the ISF (ISF) predictor variables. The ISF was characterized by a positive Word Identification
prevention of reading disabilities (RD). For RTI to administered in the sixth week of kindergarten. The skew indicative of a floor effect whereas the DSPA did not • ISF alone -.114 .036 9.980 .002
work effectively and efficiently as an early identification outcome measures were the Word Attack and Word have a floor effect. • DSPA alone -.034 .010 11.878 .001
model, universal screening measures must successfully Identification subtests from the Woodcock Reading
Hierarchical logistic regression:
identify children at risk for RD. However, many early Mastery Test-Revised/NU administered in May of Figure 2: Distribution of ISF and DSPA 1. ISF -.075 .040 3.425 .064
literacy screening measures have high false positive rates. kindergarten. 2. DSPA -.022 .012 3.692 .045
8 8
These screening measures are typically static measures,
The DSPA utilized a syllable/phoneme deletion task. Word Attack
in which students answer test items with little or no
Graduated prompts were provided to make the task more 6 6
• ISF alone -.167 .043 15.109 .001
feedback. Such assessments may lead to floor effects in the
appropriate for kindergarten students. When students gave • DSPA alone -.044 .011 17.704 .001

Frequency

Frequency
distribution associated with the measure. An alternative
an incorrect response to an item, the examiner provided a 4 4
screening approach that may improve the distributional Hierarchical logistic regression:
series of prompts until the item was answered correctly or
characteristics and accuracy of early identification is 1. ISF -.117 .046 6.499 .011
until the answer was provided by the examiner. (See Figure 2 2
dynamic assessment (O’Connor & Jenkins, 1999; Spector, 2. DSPA -.029 .012 5.824 .016
1.) Each item was assigned 0 to 4 points, with a higher score
1992). In a dynamic assessment, the examiner takes an
on an item indicating the need for fewer examiner prompts. 0 0

active role by teaching a task or providing explicit prompts. 0 10 20 30 40 0 20 40 60 80

Supporters of dynamic assessment believe that it can
provide information about a child’s ability to respond to
instruction that is not obtainable through more traditional
static assessments.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the
distributional characteristics and predictive validity of a
dynamic screening of phonological awareness.
Participants
Participants were 96 kindergarten children in a Midwest
school district. Approximately half of the sample (N=47)
was considered to be at risk for RD based on performance
on the DIBELS Initial Sound Fluency (ISF) measure
administered at the beginning of kindergarten.
Therefore, the procedure for scoring reflected the degree ISF
of independence that a student achieved in performing the
task.
Figure 1: Prompt protocol
The predictive validity of the DSPA and the ISF was
examined. For this study, we were particularly interested
in the use of the DSPA as a supplemental measure to the
ISF. Logistic regression was conducted to examine the
relationship between the predictor variables (ISF and
DSPA) and the reading outcomes (Word Identification and
Word Attack). For these analyses, good and poor readers
were identified using the 25th percentile cutoff score on
reading outcome measures. As seen in Table 1, both the
ISF and DSPA were significant single predictors of reading
outcomes. Furthermore, when the ISF was entered first and
then the DSPA, the DSPA was found to significantly predict
both reading outcomes over and above the ISF.
Note. ISF= Initial Sound Fluency; DSPA= Dynamic
DSPA
Screening of Phonological Awareness
Implications
The results of this study provide preliminary support for
the usefulness of a dynamic screening of phonological
awareness within an RTI framework for kindergarten
students. Future analyses will examine outcome measures
obtained at later elementary grades and will compare the
predictive validity of the dynamic screening to other early
literacy measures.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported in part by a National Institutes
of Health Institutional Traineeship (T32 DC000052)
awarded to Mindy Sittner Bridges and an Institute of
Education Sciences grant (R324 A080118) awarded to
Hugh Catts. We would also like to thank the Lawrence,
Kansas school district for participating in this research.

A revised version of this assessment is under contract by Linguisystems. The authors

1

have a financial interest in this assessment.