Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Markus Berndt

Abstract

Approximately 33% of U.S. prekindergartners have trouble recognizing the English alphabet and their associated sounds. To compete and succeed globally today, children start early with English alphabet recognition and phonics instruction to develop fluent reading skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parental recollection of at-home reading literacy activities of prekindergartners and beginning kindergarteners’ reading literacy scores. Vygotsky’s theory of social interaction and Piaget’s theory of child development provided the theoretical basis for this study. The key research question focused on the relationship between parental recollection of at-home reading literacy activities of prekindergarteners and beginning kindergarteners’ reading literacy scores. Using an ex-post-facto quantitative design, data from 67 parent and student dyads were collected through a parent recollection survey and beginning kindergarteners’ archival I-Ready literacy scores. A simple linear regression was calculated, which showed parental recollection of at-home reading literacy activities to be a significant, moderate, and positive predictor for beginning kindergarteners’ reading literacy scores (β = .473, t (65) = 28.57, p < .001). Parental recollection of at-home reading literacy activities explained 22.4% of the variance in beginning kindergarteners’ reading literacy scores (R2 = .224). The results of the study provide further empirical evidence for the importance of incorporating at-home literacy activities to promote early childhood literacy and, hence, a basis for positive social change for kindergarten students and their parents.

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