Shayne B. Piasta|Yaacov Petscher|Laura M. Justice
How many letters should preschoolers in public programs know? The diagnostic efficiency of various preschool letter-naming benchmarks for predicting first-grade literacy achievement.
Florida State University|The Ohio State University|Florida State University|The Ohio State University
review current federal state standards indicates little consensus empirical justification regarding appropriate goals often referred benchmarks preschool lettername learning present study investigated diagnostic efficiency various letternaming benchmarks using longitudinal database 371 children attended publicly funded preschools childrens uppercase lowercase letternaming abilities assessed end preschool literacy achievement 3 standardized measures assessed end 1st grade diagnostic indices sensitivity specificity negative positive predictive power generated examine extent attainment various preschool letternaming benchmarks associated later risk literacy difficulties results indicated generally high negative predictive power benchmarks requiring children know 10 letter names end preschool balancing across diagnostic indices optimal benchmarks 18 uppercase 15 lowercase letter names identified findings discussed terms educational implications limitations future directions