Teachers' Phonological Awareness Assessment Practices, Self-Reported Knowledge, and Actual Knowledge

To minimise the number of students at-risk of reading difficulties it is essential that early identification approaches be put into place in order to support all students to become independent and successful become readers. One of the key foundation skills for early reading success is phonological awareness (PA- the ability to manipulate the sound structure of spoken words) and so it is a key variable to measure.

It is in the preschool setting (4-5 year olds) and early schooling years that teachers must have a strong understanding of PA as well as the ability to self-reflect on their own knowledge and accurately apply this knowledge to assessment, teaching, and learning.

This Australian study in a capital city investigated the relationship between early childhood (EC) and early years’ primary school (EYPS) teachers’ PA assessment practices, self-reported PA knowledge, and actual PA knowledge. Notable in the data were widely varied assessment practices and an over-estimation of self-reported PA knowledge by teachers yet they had low levels of actual PA knowledge. It was also found that teachers had a high usage of observations and professional judgement as assessment methods despite them having limited PA knowledge.