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Language, Literacy and Numeracy Instruments, Story and Print Concepts
I. Background Information
Measure/ Source:
- Story and Print Concepts
- Original FACES measure modified from the Story and Print Concepts
task in: Jana M. Mason and Janice Stewart (1989), The CAP Early Childhood
Diagnostic Instrument (prepublication edition), American Testronics
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Books used to assess child’s story and print concepts are as
follows:
- English version 1: Goodnight Moon, written by
Brown, M. W. (1947). New York, NY: Harper Collins
- Spanish version 1: Buenas Nochas Luna, written by Brown, M. W. (1947). (T. M. Lawer, Trans.). New York, NY: Harper Collins
- English version 2: Where’s My Teddy?, Written
by Alborough, J. (1992). Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press
- Spanish version 2: ¿Dónde Está Mi Osito?, written by Alborough, J. (1992). (M. Castro, Trans.) Compton, CA: Santillana.
- English version 1: Goodnight Moon, written by
Brown, M. W. (1947). New York, NY: Harper Collins
Purpose of Measure:
As used in the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES): These scales were designed to assess basic story concepts, such as comprehension of story content, print concepts such as where the name of the book is written, as well as the mechanics of reading.
Population Measure Developed With:
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2479 children in the FACES sample between the ages of 3 and 5.
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The FACES sample was randomly drawn from a stratified probability sample of 43 Head Start programs selected to represent the universe of Head Start programs in the 50 states, excluding migrant programs and American Indian programs.
| African American |
White | Hispanic | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
| Male | 343 | 13.8 | 471 | 19.0 | 363 | 14.6 | 65 | 2.6 | 1242 | 50.1 |
| Female | 383 | 15.4 | 415 | 16.7 | 371 | 14.9 | 68 | 2.7 | 1237 | 49.9 |
| Total | 726 | 29.3 | 886 | 35.7 | 734 | 29.6 | 133 | 5.4 | 2479 | 100 |
Key Constructs of Measure:
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Book Knowledge. Children’s familiarity with storybooks and publishing conventions by asking the child to show where the front of a book is, open it to where reading should start, and differentiate print from pictures. The score is based on the number of items answered correctly and ranges from zero to five.
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Print Knowledge. Children’s pre-reading skills by asking the child to show where a reader should read next when he or she gets to the end of a page or a paragraph. Tests child’s awareness that English print is read from left to right and top to bottom. The score is based on the number of items answered correctly and ranges from zero to two.
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Reading Comprehension. Children’s comprehension of story plot by asking the child to infer information based on the situations in the story, such as how the main character is feeling when he goes into the woods alone. The score is based on the number of items answered correctly and ranges from zero to two.
Norming of Measure (Criterion or Norm): Criterion
II. Administration of Measure
Who is the Respondent to the Measure?:
These tasks are designed to assess understanding of book and print concepts of preschool-aged children.
Who Administers Measure/ Training Required?:
Trained assessors. Training is required for the standardized administrative procedures of the tasks.
Setting (e.g. 1 on1, group level, etc): 1 on 1
III. Functioning of Measure
Reliability:
Reliability with FACES data
Internal Consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha)
- Book Knowledge: .55
- Print Knowledge: .71
- Reading Comprehension: .42
Test-Retest (6-9 month interim period) - Book Knowledge: .41
- Print Knowledge: .17
- Reading Comprehension: .29
Validity: For first cohort of FACES study (1997-1999), we conducted validity analyses for entire FACES battery, which included the book knowledge scale. Two outcome variables were used in these analyses: ECLS-K Reading Scale and ECLS-K General Knowledge Scale.
Predictive Validity:
- Correlation between book knowledge scores at end of Head Start year
(spring 1998) and ECLS-K Reading scale scores at end of kindergarten
year (spring 1999): r = .39
- Correlation between book knowledge scores at end of Head Start year
(spring 1998)and ECLS-K General Knowledge scale scores at end of kindergarten
year (spring 1999): r = .52
- In multivariate regression analyses with the scale scores from entire FACES battery at the end of Head Start year predicting ECLS-K General Knowledge scores at end of kindergarten year, book knowledge was a significant predictor (beta = .06).
Sensitivity to Environmental Variation (specify if intervention):
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Book knowledge scores did not increase over course of Head Start year.
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In FACES, the Color Names and Counting tasks have been found to identify the differential school readiness skills of preschool children from low income families (Zill, Resnick, McKey, Clark, Connell, Swartz, O’Brien, & D’Elio, 1998; Zill, Resnick, Kim, McKey, Clark, Pai-Samant, Connell, Vaden-Kiernan, O’Brien, & D’Elio, 2001)
Concerns, Comments & Recommendations:
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In FACES, the Story and Print Concepts scales are part of a battery of tests used to assess school readiness in disadvantaged preschool children.
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Short test with face validity, however reliabilities are low.
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Children enjoy tasks and results are easily explained to teachers and parents.
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Scores are given as raw scores.
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