Florida Center for Reading Research awarded $3.6 million grant to advance early literacy education

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $3.6 million grant to researchers at Florida State University and Ohio State University to develop effective interventions that support early phonological awareness in young children to help prevent reading difficulties.

Over the next five years, Florida State University’s Beth Phillips and Ohio State University’s Shayne Piasta will lead Project OPAL (Optimizing Early Phonological Awareness Instruction to Support Reading and Spelling Acquisition). They will conduct two studies to identify the best approaches for improving reading and spelling skills in preschool and kindergarten students.

The studies aim to resolve scientific debates on what content should be included in interventions, when they should be administered and ultimately provide guidance toward more effective solutions.

Phillips and Piasta have a long-standing professional relationship. Piasta earned both her master of science and doctorate in developmental psychology from FSU and the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). Both scholars specialize in early literacy and language development, preschool curriculum and instructional methods. They are known for their contributions to establishing early literacy learning standards.

“I am thrilled to be collaborating on this grant with Shayne Piasta at OSU; we have worked together on writing projects previously and are looking forward to combining our expertise on this new project,” said Phillips. “I am also very excited to have received this award with my long-time colleague professor Chris Schatschneider and newer colleague professor Lakeisha Johnson. This is truly a whole team effort.”

Decades of research show that phonemic awareness is critical for learning to read. However, there’s still much to learn about the best ways and times to support phonological awareness development in children. Using randomized controlled trials, Phillips and Piasta will compare three different interventions: phonological sensitivity combined with phonemic awareness, phonemic awareness only and delayed phonemic awareness.

The interventions will be evaluated based on their impact on children’s phonemic awareness, reading and spelling skills. The studies will also consider the timing and target population for the interventions.

The primary aim of Project OPAL is to determine the best approach for improving phonemic awareness and subsequent reading and spelling skills. The secondary aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions for preschool versus kindergarten children. Participating preschool and kindergarten children will provide comprehensive data through various tests and screenings over time.

The research is a significant step toward creating more effective interventions, helping every child reach their full potential as confident, capable readers. The results will advance the understanding of phonological awareness development and its role in reading and spelling acquisition.

The findings will guide educational standards, teaching strategies and intervention designs, ensuring they are based on solid scientific evidence. The research aims to “put concrete, actionable information into educators’ hands about how to best support initial reading instruction in these critical preschool and kindergarten years to ensure that children get the high-quality instructional start they all deserve,” said Phillips.

The FCRR is a multidisciplinary research center at FSU that explores all aspects of reading — literacy-related skills for typically developing readers and those who struggle, studies of effective prevention and intervention and psychometric work on formative assessment.

For more information, visit fcrr.org.

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