Treiman R, Hulslander J, Olson RK, Samuelsson S, Elwér Å, Furnes B, Byrne B. Predicting Later Spelling from Kindergarten Spelling in U.S., Australian, and Swedish Children.
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF READING : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF READING 2023;
27:428-442. [PMID:
37981996 PMCID:
PMC10655956 DOI:
10.1080/10888438.2023.2186234]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
Purpose
Using data from 1,868 children from the US, Australia, and Sweden who took a 10-word spelling test in kindergarten and a standardized spelling test in Grades 1, 2, and (except for the Australian children) Grade 4, we examined two questions. First, does the quality of a child's errors on the kindergarten test help predict later spelling performance even after controlling for the number of correct responses on the kindergarten test? Second, does spelling develop at a faster pace in Swedish than in English?
Method
We measured kindergarten error quality based on the number of letter additions, deletions, and substitutions needed to transform each error into the correct spelling. Using mixed-model analyses, we examined the relationship of this and other variables to later spelling performance.
Results
Kindergarten error quality contributed significantly to the prediction of later spelling performance even after consideration of the number of correct spellings in kindergarten and other relevant variables. The Swedish children showed more rapid growth in spelling than the U.S. and Australian children, a difference that may reflect the greater transparency of spelling-to-sound links in Swedish.
Conclusion
Information from a spelling test that is typically discarded-information about the nature of the errors-has value.
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