Assessing Early Literacy With Hispanic Preschoolers: The Factor Structure of the Phonological Awareness Literacy ScreeningEspanol

For two decades, it has been recommended that assessment of literacy for preschool children be conducted in a child's primary language. However, only a few literacy assessments have been validated with a preschool, Spanish-speaking population. The purpose of the present study was to test the latent structure of the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening for Preschool (PALS-PreK) Espanol with a sample of Spanish-speaking children in the southwestern United States. Children who could recognize at least 16 uppercase and nine lowercase letters were included in the analyses. Subscales of the PreK Espanol included Name Writing, Letter/Sound Association, Print Concepts, and Rhyme Awareness. Confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a two-factor model of alphabet knowledge (upper and lowercase letter recognition, letter sounds) and print and phonological awareness (name writing, print and rhyme awareness, letter sounds) with letter sounds loading on both factors. We found that the structure of PALS-PreK Espanol is similar to the English version and discussed implications.