The Sound Start Pilot Project: Building ECE expertise in early phonological awareness

Phonological awareness, the ability to recognize and manipulate the sound structures of language, is among the strongest predictors of later reading success (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). The preschool years represent a critical window for developing these skills, and children who enter kindergarten with underdeveloped phonological awareness experience reading difficulties that persist throughout their elementary years. Early childhood educators play a pivotal role in supporting this development, yet research consistently demonstrates that many lack the specialized knowledge required to foster phonological awareness in young children due to insufficient training in early literacy (Cunningham et al., 2004; Piasta et al., 2020).

Our understanding of how to translate phonological awareness research into everyday practice is limited because few professional development programs have been designed specifically for preschool settings. The Ontario Human Rights Commission's Right to Read inquiry (2022) called for evidence-based instruction in foundational reading skills, but its recommendations focus primarily on elementary grades. Concurrently, implementation of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system has created new emphasis on workforce development without providing specific guidance on early literacy content. This research responds to both imperatives.

The purpose of this research is to pilot evidence-informed professional development that enhances educators' knowledge and ability to foster phonological awareness through everyday interactions with preschool children. This research addresses three objectives: 1) to develop evidence-based professional development that meets the learning needs and practical contexts of ECEs working in preschool classrooms; 2) to pilot the professional development using a quasi-experimental design with intervention and control groups to examine feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects on educator knowledge, confidence, and practices; and 3) to examine preliminary effects on children's phonological awareness outcomes, generating effect size estimates to inform future large-scale research.

A three-phase sequential mixed methods design will be used. Ten licensed childcare centres in southeastern Ontario will participate, with five centres assigned to receive the professional development and five to a waitlist control group. Data will be collected from 20 to 30 educators and 100 to 115 children. Program materials will be made freely available through partnerships with the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario and the Atkinson Centre.

Ji, Y., Timmons K., & Cheng, L. (under review). Curriculum as cultural pedagogy: A comparative document analysis of self-regulation in Ontario and Jiangsu Kindergarten Frameworks.

PI: Dr. Kristy Timmons

Funding: SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Co-Applicants: Dr. Pamela Beach | Dr. Angela Pyle 

Collaborator: Dr. Scott Compeau, BGC South East

Submitted to: Pedagogy, Culture & Society.