Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2013, Page 51

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 22(1) 2013 51
gUÐrún Þóranna Jónsdóttir og Jóhanna t. einarsdóttir
The HLJÓM-2 is a research based screening test, developed from investigations
carried out in the years 1996–2002 on Icelandic preschool children’s language knowl-
edge and later reading achievements. The test was developed to be used within the
Icelandic preschools to identify children at risk of later reading difficulties before for-
mal reading instructions began. The result of the test at age five predicts academic
achievement on Icelandic national tests throughout the compulsory school, or to the
age of 16 years. Previous researches show that the strongest relationship was between
the HLJÓM-2 and the national standardized tests in mathematics in Grade 4 and Ice-
landic in Grades 4, 7 and 10.
Approximately 1000 preschool teachers have attended a short course, received a
test certificate and are allowed to use the test. The test is used within the majority of
Icelandic preschools. The test was designed for preschool teachers to identify children
at risk in their own group. Almost every Icelandic preschooler (4.9 years to 5.11 years)
is assessed with the test.
In this study, questionnaires were sent to all first grade teachers, all preschool teach-
ers and all parents of first grade primary school children in the district Árnessýsla.
Árnessýsla is a large county in the south of Iceland with approximately 8000 inhab-
itants, 15 preschools and 10 primary schools. The response rate was high or 75% to
95%; parents (75% of 214), preschool teachers (94% of 31) and primary school teachers
(95% of 19). The questionnaires were developed to answer questions on the use of the
HLJÓM-2, the parents’ knowledge of the test, the identification and the intervention
for the children at risk after the screening and the continuity of education between
school levels.
The results showed that the HLJÓM-2 test was used in 14 out of 15 preschools in
Árnesssýsla. Almost all preschool teachers (93%) reported positive experience of us-
ing the screening test within their preschools. They used test results to create early
intervention strategies on phonological awareness and language knowledge for the
oldest children in the preschool age group of 4.9 to 6 years. Almost all (96%) chil-
dren identified at risk received special intervention within the preschool, either indi-
vidually or in small groups. The intervention strategies either emphasized increasing
the whole language knowledge (51%) or working precisely on phonological aware-
ness (45%). The majority of the parents knew about the test and that their children
were supposed to be screened. However, only a third of the parents reported having
received an explanation of the test result, either at a special meeting or in a written
report. Although collaboration on language intervention and literacy between the two
school levels (preschools and compulsory schools) seems to be lacking, the majority
of the first grade school teachers reported having received information about the chil-
dren who were identified at risk within the preschool. The first grade teachers did not
know about the intervention strategies used within the preschool and there was lack
of formal reporting between the two school levels. The majority of children identified
at risk within the preschool did not receive any special reading instructions or support
from their first grade teachers, but were given the same reading instructions as all the
other children.