Access to Literacy Assessment System–Phonological Awareness (Skibbe et al., 2020)

<div><b>Purpose: </b>The Access to Literacy Assessment System–Phonological Awareness (ATLAS-PA) was developed for use with children with speech and/or language impairment. The subtests (Rhyming, Blending, and Segmenting) are appropriate for children who are 3–7 years of age. ATLAS-PA is composed entirely of receptive items, incorporates individualized levels of instruction, and is adaptive in nature.</div><div><b>Method:</b> To establish the construct validity of ATLAS-PA, we collected data from children with typical development (<i>n</i> = 938) and those who have speech and/or language impairment (<i>n</i> = 227).</div><div><b>Results:</b> Rasch analyses indicated that items fit well together and formed a unidimensional construct of phonological awareness. Differential item functioning was minimal between the two groups of children, and scores on ATLAS-PA were moderately to strongly related to other measures of phonological awareness. Information about item functioning was used to create an adaptive version of ATLAS-PA.</div><div><b>Conclusions:</b> Findings suggest that ATLAS-PA is a valid measure of phonological awareness that can be used with children with typical development and with speech and/or language impairment. Its adaptive format minimizes testing time and provides opportunities for monitoring progress in preschool and early elementary classrooms.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Supplemental Material S1. </b>Rhyming example.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Supplemental Material S2.</b> Blending example. </div><div><br></div><div><b>Supplemental Material S3.</b> Segmentation example.</div><div><br></div><div>Skibbe, L. E., Bowles, R. P., Goodwin, S., Troia, G. A., & Konishi, H. (2020). The Access to Literacy Assessment System for Phonological Awareness: An adaptive measure of phonological awareness appropriate for children with speech and/or language impairment. <i>Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools</i>. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00006</div>