Research Article Classroom Phonological Awareness Instruction and Literacy Outcomes in the First Year of School Karyn L. Carson, a Gail T. Gillon, a and Therese M. Boustead a Purpose: Despite strong investment in raising literacy achievement for all children, significant inequalities in literacy outcomes continue to exist among some of the world's most advanced economies. This study investigated the influence of a short, intensive period of phonological awareness (PA) instruction implemented by classroom teachers on raising the literacy achievement of children with and without spoken language impairment (SLI). Method: A quasi-experimental design was employed to measure the PA, reading, and spelling development of one hundred twenty-nine 5-year-olds. Thirty-four children received 10 weeks of PA instruction from their teachers. Ninety-five children continued with their usual reading program, which included phonics instruction but did not target PA. Results: Children who received PA instruction demonstrated superior literacy outcomes compared to children who followed the usual literacy curriculum. Children with SLI showed significant improvements in PA, reading, and spelling but had a different pattern of response to instruction compared to children with typical language. Importantly, the number of children experiencing word decoding difficulties at the end of the program was 26% among children who followed the usual literacy curriculum compared to 6% among children who received the PA instruction. Implications: A short, intensive period of classroom PA instruction can raise the literacy profiles of children with and without spoken language difficulties. Key Words: phonological awareness, classroom literacy instruction, reading and spelling instruction, duration and intensity of instruction E nsuring that children become proficient readers through effective classroom instruction is a critical issue in reading education. International prevalence statistics suggest that up to one in three children struggles with the acquisition of basic reading and writing skills (National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], 2003), and that large inequalities exist between good and poor readers residing in developed nations (United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF], 2010). One method toward raising achievement and reducing inequality in reading statistics is to ensure that key predictors of early literacy success are taught effectively and efficiently in the classroom curriculum. Toward this goal, the current investigation examined the benefits of one key predictor of literacy success, namely, phonological awareness (PA), on reading outcomes when PA is taught in a time-efficient framework by teachers as part of the beginning literary curriculum. New Zealand provides an interesting context to evaluate whether teacher-delivered PA programs at the class level can help raise reading achievement for all children. New Zealand has a strong reputation for achieving high literacy levels among school-age children and is ranked 3rd out of 34 countries within the Organization for Economic Co-opera- tion and Development (OECD) in terms of average reading ability (OECD, 2010). However, OECD data also reveal a large gap between the ability of good and poor readers in New Zealand (Martin, Mullis, & Kennedy, 2007); thus, scrutiny of interventions that may contribute toward successful reading outcomes for all children are critical. The Role of PA in Reading Development The development of proficient reading relies on the integration of a complex tapestry of knowledge and skills (Gillon, 2004). One widely recognized predictor and prog- nostic marker for early reading success is PA (Carroll & Snowling, 2004; Catts, Fey, Zhang, & Tomblin, 2001). PA can be defined as the purposeful ability to attend to and manipulate the sound structure of spoken words at the syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme levels (Gillon, 2004). The more sensitive that children are to the sound structure of spoken words, the more likely that the children will become stronger readers irrespective of educational measures such as socioeconomic status (SES), intelligence, and receptive Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools 3_Carson.3d 22/3/13 13:08:17 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W Unicode (Jan 20 2003) a University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand Correspondence to Karyn L. Carson: karyn.carson@flinders.edu.au Editor: Marilyn Nippold Associate Editor: Gary Troia Received August 10, 2011 Revision received December 18, 2011 Accepted November 6, 2012 DOI: 10.1044/0161-1461(2012/11-0061) Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools N Vol. 44 N 147±160 N April 2013 N ß American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 147