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Literacy skills

Reading and writing skills that underpin the abilities to think, communicate, and acquire knowledge.

Relation to social mobility

Competence in literacy in elementary and junior high school affects the individual’s success in the rest of the academic subjects. Therefore, literacy is crucial to one’s chances of earning a high school diploma, scoring well on college admission tests, and continuing on to higher education.

Importance

Critical

infancy and early childhood.

Important

the first years of primary school

Sources

דוד מעגן (2017), “ניבוי הישגים עתידיים של תלמידים בישראל באמצעות מבחני המיצ”ב”, הלשכה המרכזית לסטטיסטיקה – אגף בכיר חינוך וחברה

Carniero, Crawford & Goodman (2007), “The Impact of Early Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills on Later Outcomes”, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE.

Chen & Chalhoub-Deville, (2012), “Differential and long-term language impact on math”, Language Testing.

Einarsdóttir, Símonardóttir & Björnsdóttir, (2016), “The Predictive Value of Preschool Language Assessments on Academic Achievement: A 10-Year Longitudinal Study of Icelandic Children”, NIH National Library of Medicine.

Duncan et al. (2007), “School Readiness and Later Achievement”, The American Psychological Association.

Carlisle, Mcbride‐chang, Nagy & Nunes, (2010). “Effects of Instruction in Morphological Awareness on Literacy Achievement: An Integrative Review”, Reading Research Quarterly.

Neuman & Marulis, (2010), “The Effects of Vocabulary Intervention on Young Children’s Word Learning: A Meta-Analysis”, Review of Educational Research.

Beck & McKeown, (2014), “Effects of vocabulary instruction on measures of language processing: Comparing two approaches”, Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

What to Influence

Ways to Influence

Birth to six

infancy and preschool

Vocabulary (spoken)
understanding and applying multiple words in different contexts.
Orthographic awareness
identifying letters and understanding that there is a connection between letters and sounds.
Phonological awareness
exhibiting awareness of the units with the phonologic expression from which words are composed.

infancy and preschool

quality Of connection with significant adults, exposure to spoken and written language, exposure to a literacy-building environment, cultivation of interest in reading

Elementary school ages

early elementary school years

Vocabulary (spoken and written)
understanding and using multiple words in different contexts and registers.
Morphological awareness
showing awareness of the structural components of words, especially conjugation structures and derivation structures, and showing the ability to break down words into their components

early elementary school years

ensure quality of connection with significant adults, ensure exposure to a literacy-building environment with various registers, develop metacognitive skills of learning and memory