PALS-PreK

Overview Administration & Scoring Training Ordering Questions & Answers

Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening What is PALS? Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening A measure of young children’s understanding of emergent literacy fundamentals A direct means of matching early literacy instruction to specific literacy needs A means of recognizing those children who are relatively behind in their emergent literacy development Explain difference between PALS and PALS-PreK: PreK is for you

PALS-PreK History Developed as part of the Virginia Preschool Initiative 2000 Original PALS-PreK released 2004 Revised PALS-PreK released Administered to over 13,000 children in Virginia in each of the last two years

PALS-PreK Administration One-on-one, administered by teacher Conducted Fall & Spring Alphabet Knowledge section takes about 5-10 minutes per child They don’t have to administer the whole thing all at one time, can break up tasks, administer one task to all the children on each day for six days; Alphabet Knowledge section takes 5-10 minutes

Teacher’s Manual Child Packet Print and Word Awareness Booklet Beginning Sound Cards Child Summary Sheet Materials packaged in box; Chapter two tells you how to administer the assessment – pages 15-17 discuss the alphabet knowledge section

Teacher Checklist of Literacy Practices Sections Oral Language and Vocabulary Phonological Awareness Print functions and Units Writing Knowledge of the Alphabet General Practices On back of “News You Can Use” sheet in box of materials

PALS-PreK Tasks Name Writing Alphabet Knowledge Upper-case Alphabet Recognition Lower-case Alphabet Recognition Letter Sounds Beginning Sound Awareness Print and Word Awareness Rhyme Awareness Nursery Rhyme Awareness Each task represents an emergent literacy fundamental that is predictive of future reading success; Rhyme & Beginning Sounds = adapted from PALS-K; given in individual format. Don’t administer next to each other

Name Writing Maximum score = 7 Score=2 Score=5 Score= 0 Scoring came from Liberman’s research on Preschoolers’ name writing attempts (1985) Child is asked to draw a picture and write his or her name. This skill is not an all-or-nothing skill, it develops over time You can tell a lot about a child’s level from this task. Name Writing is a proxy to emergent literacy development and highly correlated with both phonological awareness and print awareness. Janelle = 0 0 points- Scribble or picture represents both picture and written name Taylor =2 2 points-Picture is separate from written name but is unrecognizable scribble Linear

Alphabet Knowledge Scoring Administration Upper Case Alphabet Recognition Lower Case Letter Sounds Alphabet recognition has consistently been the best predictor of later reading achievement. Child is shown a page of letters and asked to name them. Start with Upper Case letters because they have more distinctive features. Turn to page in materials booklet Introduce task-”point to letter, tell me the name of the letter. If you come to a letter you don’t know, you may say “I don’t know” and move on to the next letter. Ready?” Child or teacher may point Use another sheet or create a magic window to show only a few letters at a time Scoring Administration

Part A: Upper-Case Alphabet Recognition Note directions and show VIDEO CLIP (1:06)

Part A: Upper-Case Alphabet Recognition Scoring Sample Follow up with scoring sample and when to move on to Lower-Case

Part B: Lower-Case Alphabet Recognition Note directions and show VIDEO CLIP (:36)

Part B: Lower-Case Alphabet Recognition Scoring Sample Note scoring sample and when to move on to Letter Sounds

Part C: Letter Sounds Note directions and show VIDEO CLIP (:55)

Part C: Letter Sounds Scoring Sample Note scoring sample – Alphabet Knowledge section complete

Alphabet Knowledge Proceed to Beginning Sound Awareness Task Conditional Task Sequencing 16 or greater 9 or greater 15 or fewer 8 or fewer Proceed to Beginning Sound Awareness Task

Beginning Sound Awareness Administration Show the picture Say what it is Ask for the beginning sound Score the item Say the correct answer and Sort the card This task gets directly as phonological awareness by requiring initial phoneme segmentation in an oral production format. Can help teach the task, model teaching method – “instructionally transparent” Do not administer Rhyme and Beginning Sound next to each other

Beginning Sound Awareness Scoring Score based on child’s first oral response Letter sound OR letter name are both acceptable If child gives letter name, use prompt in manual

Print and Word Awareness Natural book-reading format Use script to ask questions as indicated Administration and Scoring unique for each item Materials management Reading books with kids and calling attention to print are things that should be done every day. sample graphic removed

Rhyme Awareness Important aspect of phonological awareness, children enjoy this! For practice and scored items, ask child to look at target picture say names of all pictures, pairing words and ask child to identify one that rhymes with target picture; Child can point or say word Practice can be used as a teaching exercise, guide child to correct answer on these items Child’s ability level may determine level of support- I.e. complete scripted instructions or minimal instructions. Do not administer Rhyme and Beginning Sound next to each other

Nursery Rhyme Awareness Administered orally Bryant, Bradley, MacLean and Crossland – found a significant relationship between early knowledge of nursery rhymes and success in learning to read and spell over the next three years, “even after differences in social background, IQ, and the child’s phonological skills at the start of the project” were taken into account.

Class Summary Sheet Codes on page 12 Leave No Blanks ‘NA’ is Not Administered Score of zero means task WAS administered Other must always be specified Multiple race/ethnicity is other & must be specified

Optional to use

Spring Developmental Ranges for four-year-olds PALS-PreK tasks Spring Developmental Range Maximum Score Name Writing 5-7 7 Upper-Case Alphabet 12-21 26 Lower-Case Alphabet 9-17 Letter Sounds 4-8 Beginning Sound Awareness 5-8 10 Print and Word Awareness 7-9 Rhyme Awareness Nursery Rhyme Awareness 6-10 Chapter 3 in the TM talks about interpreting results. Instructs you to look at the scores and identify areas where children could benefit from further instruction. Developmental ranges were identified using longitudinal data End of Year Goals for rising kindergarteners

Training to Administer PALS-PreK Recommended that teachers administer Prior to administration: Read the Teacher’s Manual Watch the PALS-PreK Assessment Training video Directions for returning data

Ordering PALS-PreK Materials Teacher Set ($55) – one needed for each administrator to screen 20 children in the fall and spring Consumable Set ($15) – includes additional materials to screen 20 more children in the fall and spring Assessment Training Video ($15)

Ordering PALS-PreK Materials Info on PALS website (http://pals.virginia.edu) under “Order PALS” Through the UVA Bookstore Phone: (434) 924-1066 Fax: (434) 924-3284 Email: textmailorder@virginia.edu

Activities for Teachers PALS Web site Instructional resources http://pals.virginia.edu

Please contact the PALS office if you have any questions: 1-888-UVA-PALS pals@virginia.edu