IRTs of the ABCs: children's letter name acquisition.
Beth M Phillips, Shayne B Piasta, Jason L Anthony, Christopher J Lonigan, David J Francis
Author Information
Beth M Phillips: Florida State University, Florida Center for Reading Research, 2010 Levy Avenue Suite 100, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA. bphillips@fcrr.org
We examined the developmental sequence of letter name knowledge acquisition by children from 2 to five years of age. Data from 2 samples representing diverse regions, ethnicity, and socioeconomic backgrounds (ns = 1074 and 500) were analyzed using item response theory (IRT) and differential item functioning techniques. Results from factor analyses indicated that letter name knowledge represented a unidimensional skill; IRT results yielded significant differences between letters in both difficulty and discrimination. Results also indicated an approximate developmental sequence in letter name learning for the simplest and most challenging to learn letters--but with no clear sequence between these extremes. Findings also suggested that children were most likely to first learn their first initial. We discuss implications for assessment and instruction.
