Screening Early Reading Skills in Preschool Children: Get Ready to Read

This study examined a new screening tool (Get Ready to Read) for assessing early reading skills in 73 three-year-old and 79 four-year-old children from low-income families and relating performance to more extensive assessments of phonological sensitivity and language skills (vocabulary and print knowledge) that have been found to be related to the development of reading skills. GRTR scores correlate with scores on the cognitive assessments, with vocabulary skills most strongly related to performance. Phonological sensitivity accounted for less variance than vocabulary, but both were stronger predictors than environmental print. GRTR is one option for early childhood educators seeking to identify a developmentally appropriate assessment tool to screen preschool children's progress in acquiring reading-related skills. Further research linking GRTR performance with later reading skills is needed.