Assessment and Evaluation of Phonological Awareness, Concepts of Print, and Early Reading and Writing in Young Chilean Children: A Comparison with International Results

The development of early literacy was studied in Spanish-speaking children aged 5 to 7 years from disadvantaged backgrounds in Santiago, Chile. The findings are compared to applications of similar tests in other contexts to suggest some universal and specific conclusions about the assessment and evaluation of early literacy. The study used the type of linguistic unit that these Chilean children at this stage of development (kindergarten and first grade) would be able to manipulate. Individual assessments were done of 115 students using the Test of Early Literacy, or the Prueba de Alfabetizacion Inicial, developed to evaluate phonological awareness, concepts about print, reading, and writing in their early stages of development. The data show promising results for the instrument. The results support the idea that the development of early literacy has begun in these kindergarten children even though they have not yet started the process of formal teaching about literacy, where formal literacy instruction is not considered appropriate before first grade. The development of these capacities appears greater in the first grade children, but it is possible to affirm that there is developmental continuity between the two grade levels that reflects the literate context in which these children are raised, rather than differences in teaching methods between the two grade levels in Chile. (Contains 7 tables and 12 references.) (SLD)