19  Rapid Automatized Naming of Letters

19.1 Task Description

Children are shown a page with 5 unique letters repeated randomly, arranged in five rows of ten. They are asked to name as many letters as quickly as possible.

19.2 Construct

The Rapid Automatized Naming - Letters task measures the construct of automatic processing and retrieval of letter names. It assesses how quickly and accurately children can name familiar letters, skills that are closely linked to automatic reading.

19.3 Item Development

19.3.1 English

For letter selection, we selected a mix of vowels and consonants, prioritizing letters that were typically acquired earlier in literacy development. Additionally, the selected letters fulfilled the following selection criteria:

  • Letters could not be reversible: letter reversals are a common developmental mistake of early readers. To avoid eliciting a developmental error, we excluded the following letters: “b,” “d,” “p,” and “q.”
  • Letters should be clearly visually distinguishable: depending on the font selected, some letters can be easily confused. Consequently, we excluded the letter “v” for its potential to confuse with the letter “u,” and we excluded the letter “a” for its potential to confuse with the letter “o.”

The final set of letters selected for the English measure was: c, e, o, s, u.

19.3.2 Spanish

For letter selection, we wanted to select a mix of vowels and consonants, prioritizing letters that were typically acquired earlier in literacy development. Additionally, the selected letters needed to fulfill the following selection criteria:

  • Letters had to be monosyllabic: to be able to compare the performance in English and Spanish, letters needed to have similar phonological length. While most of the letters in English are monosyllabic, that is not the case in Spanish. Most of the letters acquired earlier in literacy development, because they are simpler and consistent, tend to be disyllabic (e.g., m: e-me, n: e-ne, l: e-le, s: e-se, f: e-fe). These letters were excluded.
  • Letters could not be reversible: letter reversals are a common, developmentally expected mistake that early readers commit. To avoid over-penalizing children for making mistakes due to letter reversal, we excluded the following letters: “b,” “d,” “p,” and “q.”
  • Letters also need to be clearly visually identifiable: depending on the font selected, some letters can be easily confused. Consequently, we excluded the letter “v” for its potential to confuse with the letter “u,” and we excluded the letter “a” for its potential to confuse with the letter “o.”

The final set of letters selected for the Spanish measure was: c, e, o, t, u.

19.4 Scoring

Participating children were presented with a 5x10 grid containing 50 letters and were asked to name as fast as they could, and the time taken by the participant to name all letters was recorded. The final score consisted of a rate between the number of accurately named letters (i.e., the total number of letters minus the incorrectly named letters) divided by the total time it took the child to complete the grid.

19.5 Samples

Table 19.1: Demographic Characteristics of Samples for the English and Spanish Rapid Automatized Naming of Letters Tasks
Characteristic
English
Spanish
K
N = 1,225
G1
N = 1,613
G2
N = 3,019
K
N = 786
G1
N = 922
G2
N = 748
Timepoint





    Fall 2023 456 (48%) 396 (30%) 417 (15%) 429 (69%) 378 (54%) 365 (49%)
    Fall 2024 500 (52%) 942 (70%) 2,277 (85%) 193 (31%) 328 (46%) 380 (51%)
    Unknown 269 275 325 164 216 3
Administration Format





    Not applicable 1,225 (100%) 1,613 (100%) 3,019 (100%) 786 (100%) 922 (100%) 748 (100%)
Race





    American/Alaskan Native 31 (2.6%) 53 (3.4%) 62 (2.2%) 26 (3.3%) 32 (3.5%) 9 (1.2%)
    Asian 114 (9.5%) 146 (9.3%) 204 (7.4%) 29 (3.7%) 27 (3.0%) 23 (3.1%)
    Black/African American 129 (11%) 177 (11%) 283 (10%) 9 (1.2%) 8 (0.9%) 11 (1.5%)
    Not reported 193 (16%) 267 (17%) 310 (11%) 354 (45%) 409 (45%) 271 (37%)
    Other 303 (25%) 239 (15%) 370 (13%) 155 (20%) 76 (8.3%) 48 (6.5%)
    White 430 (36%) 692 (44%) 1,546 (56%) 209 (27%) 362 (40%) 373 (51%)
    Unknown 25 39 244 4 8 13
Ethnicity





    Hispanic/Latin(o/a) 679 (61%) 993 (65%) 1,929 (70%) 699 (94%) 858 (94%) 680 (93%)
    Intentional nonreport 23 (2.1%) 7 (0.5%) 6 (0.2%) 2 (0.3%) 1 (0.1%) 0 (0%)
    Not Hispanic/Latin(o/a) 403 (36%) 536 (35%) 815 (30%) 40 (5.4%) 49 (5.4%) 50 (6.8%)
    Unknown 120 77 269 45 14 18
Gender





    Female 568 (50%) 790 (52%) 1,344 (49%) 393 (53%) 480 (54%) 362 (50%)
    Male 562 (50%) 732 (48%) 1,392 (51%) 344 (47%) 409 (46%) 363 (50%)
    Unknown 95 91 283 49 33 23
Home Language





    English 731 (62%) 923 (61%) 1,655 (64%) 97 (13%) 104 (11%) 94 (13%)
    Spanish 365 (31%) 524 (35%) 813 (32%) 671 (87%) 804 (88%) 604 (86%)
    Other 80 (6.8%) 67 (4.4%) 109 (4.2%) 6 (0.8%) 4 (0.4%) 6 (0.9%)
    Unknown 49 99 442 12 10 44
English Proficiency Label





    (Re-)Classified Proficient 63 (6.1%) 109 (7.5%) 270 (11%) 82 (11%) 124 (14%) 83 (12%)
    English Learner 352 (34%) 470 (33%) 649 (25%) 567 (79%) 679 (76%) 520 (75%)
    English-only 619 (60%) 867 (60%) 1,628 (64%) 65 (9.1%) 85 (9.6%) 86 (12%)
    Unknown 191 167 472 72 34 59
Ever IEP/504 64 (6.8%) 129 (9.9%) 224 (11%) 48 (7.6%) 69 (9.0%) 61 (11%)
    Unknown 280 306 887 158 154 169

19.6 Score distribution

Figure 19.1: Score Distribution of the English and Spanish Rapid Automatized Naming of Letters Tasks

19.7 Criterion Validity Evidence

19.7.1 Sample

Table 19.2: Demographic Characteristics of the Concurrent Criterion Validity Evidence Samples for the English and Spanish Rapid Automatized Naming of Letters Tasks
Characteristic
English
Spanish
K
N = 190
G1
N = 209
K
N = 129
G1
N = 175
Timepoint



    Spring 2024 190 (100%) 209 (100%) 129 (100%) 175 (100%)
Race



    American/Alaskan Native 2 (1.1%) 4 (1.9%) 4 (3.1%) 4 (2.3%)
    Asian 29 (15%) 26 (12%) 9 (7.0%) 5 (2.9%)
    Black/African American 23 (12%) 25 (12%) 2 (1.6%) 1 (0.6%)
    Not reported 29 (15%) 52 (25%) 48 (37%) 78 (45%)
    Other 43 (23%) 27 (13%) 22 (17%) 7 (4.0%)
    White 64 (34%) 75 (36%) 44 (34%) 79 (45%)
Ethnicity



    Hispanic/Latin(o/a) 84 (44%) 89 (43%) 115 (89%) 163 (93%)
    Intentional nonreport 10 (5.3%) 2 (1.0%) 1 (0.8%) 0 (0%)
    Not Hispanic/Latin(o/a) 96 (51%) 118 (56%) 13 (10%) 12 (6.9%)
Gender



    Female 101 (53%) 105 (50%) 73 (57%) 99 (57%)
    Male 89 (47%) 104 (50%) 56 (43%) 76 (43%)
Home Language



    English 137 (72%) 154 (74%) 28 (22%) 28 (16%)
    Spanish 34 (18%) 28 (14%) 101 (78%) 144 (83%)
    Other 18 (9.5%) 25 (12%) 0 (0%) 2 (1.1%)
    Unknown 1 2 0 1
English Proficiency Label



    (Re-)Classified Proficient 14 (8.4%) 25 (12%) 25 (20%) 32 (18%)
    English Learner 31 (19%) 38 (18%) 81 (65%) 119 (69%)
    English-only 121 (73%) 143 (69%) 18 (15%) 22 (13%)
    Unknown 24 3 5 2
Ever IEP/504 8 (5.9%) 20 (11%) 6 (5.4%) 12 (8.3%)
    Unknown 55 19 18 30
    Unknown

0 1

English Rapid Automatized Naming of Letters was correlated with two measures: the Letters subtest from the Acadience Learning RAN (Powell-Smith et al. 2020) in kindergarten and first grade, and the RAN Letters subtest from the Rapid Automatized Naming and Rapid Alternating Stimulus Tests (Wolf and Denckla 2003) in second grade.

Spanish Rapid Automatized Naming of Letters was correlated with the Letters subtest from the Acadience Learning RAN (Powell-Smith et al. 2020) in kindergarten and first grade. No rapid naming of letters task could be found in Spanish that was normed on second-grade-aged children in the United States.

These analyses are problematic because of differences in how the measures are scored. The external assessments are scored based on total time, with RAN Objects and RAN Letters being completed in tandem. The Multitudes RANL measure is scored as the number correct divided by the total time and is distinct from RANO. Given these scoring differences, the correlations are difficult to interpret.

Table 19.3: Concurrent Criterion Validity Correlations for the English and Spanish Rapid Automatized Naming of Letters Tasks
English
Spanish
All
EL
All
Grade n r [CI] n r [CI] n r [CI]
K 190 -0.66 [-0.73, -0.57] 31 -0.74 [-0.87, -0.53] 129 -0.69 [-0.77, -0.59]
G1 207 -0.71 [-0.77, -0.63] 38 -0.80 [-0.89, -0.65] 175 -0.61 [-0.69, -0.50]