The role of literacy in school readiness

Abstract

School readiness is a problem for Kindergarten and grade one teachers and for school administrators who may not have a clear understanding of what the term includes or how it is measured. This problem of confusion of concept and measurement of "school readiness" leads a reading specialist to ask the question, what does research indicate to be the role and measurement of school readiness especially as related to literacy development? To address this question, an extensive literature review and synthesis were conducted. Results indicate four findings. First is that there appears to be no universally accepted definition for the term "school readiness." Second is that school readiness appears to be defined in one of three ways: as a measurement of certain literacy skills (frequently oral language skills, letter recognition, letter sounds, phonological awareness, knowledge of print); as a measurement of certain behavioral skills (generally: emotional coping, problem solving, self-regulation); or as a measurement of a combination of behavioral and literacy skills. The third finding is that only a few researchers define readiness exclusively in terms of literacy skills, many define it exclusively in terms of behavioral skills, and some define it in terms of a combination of literacy and behavioral skills. The fourth finding is that when including literacy skills in the definition, there is no one literacy skill or set of skills that universally determine school readiness, and no one measurement or set of measurements for measuring those skills. These findings will be disseminated through an informational professional development brochure. [from author's abstract]