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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Direct Instruction (DI) flashcards with its model, lead, and test procedure for teaching three preschool students with developmental disabilities to recognize the letters in their names. The study was conducted in a self-contained special education preschool classroom located in the Pacific Northwest. The number of correct letters in a student's name was the dependent variable. The number of letters varied because each participant's first and last name contained differing numbers of letters. During baseline, the frequency of correct letter recognition was low for all three participants. When DI flashcards with model, lead, and test error correction was in effect, letter recognition increased for each participant. One participant (Participant 3) reached mastery with his first name letters quite early in this condition, and then was taught to recognize the letters in his last name. The other two participants demonstrated large increases in letter recognition over the course of the investigation. The procedures employed in this study were easy to implement and cost efficient.
Keywords
direct instruction flashcards, preschool, letter recognition, developmental disability, children
Reading proficiency is a fundamental skill critical to most, if not all, academic learning and success in school (Catts & Kamhi, 2005). Knowing the alphabet is an important early literacy skill. Letter naming fluency, the speed at which students can name a particular letter or group of letters, has been found to be a good predictor of reading achievement (Daly, Chafouleas, & Skinner, 2005). Findings have suggested that rapid naming of letters and words can differentiate good and poor readers at an early age, with weaker readers demonstrating slower letter and word naming speed (Catts & Kamhi, 2005). Letter identification is a crucial pre-skill to reading success. Correct labeling and identification of letters allows children to store the information necessary for reading using long-term memory (Gibson, 1969; Howard, Williams, & Lepper, 2010). Children documented as having delays in the area of cognitive development and communication development, typically benefit greatly from intervention on pre-reading skills. Specifically, research has shown that early reading abilities are a strong predictor of an individual's long-term success in school (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997).
Direct Instruction (DI) flashcards provide a researched based, systematic, effective form of...