The Volta Review - Volume 122(1) - FOUNDATIONS FOR LITERACY: A Research-based Early Reading Program That Improves Outcomes for Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Oct 15, 2026

Foundations for Literacy (FFL) is an early literacy curriculum designed for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), aiming to ensure foundational skills needed for reading. The program is used by teachers in a one-hour literacy block throughout the school year and targets spoken phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, word reading, vocabulary, and narrative. Instruction is systematic, explicit, multi-modal, and intensive, with differentiation for wide variation in language and phonological processing skills. Evidence from multiple studies, including a randomized-control trial, supports FFL as an effective intervention for young DHH students.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Foundations for Literacy (FFL)

Literacy objectives and instructional approach

Background: reading fundamentals and evidence base

Code-based skills

Meaning-based skills

Curriculum development and rationale

The Volta Review, Volume 122(1) FOUNDATIONS FOR LITERACY: A RESEARCH-BASED EARLY READING PROGRAM THAT IMPROVES OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING By Amy R. Lederberg1, Susan R. Easterbrooks1, and Stacey L. Tucci2 1Department of Learning Sciences, Georgia State University; 2Training director for Foundations for Literacy One avenue for improving reading outcomes is to ensure children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) enter school with the foundational skills needed to learn to read. Our research team developed an early literacy curriculum specifically for DHH children. Teachers use Foundations for Literacy (FFL) in a one-hour literacy block for the school year. Student learning objectives include improving spoken phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, word reading, vocabulary, and narrative. FFL is more systematic, and its instruction is more explicit, multi-modal, and intensive than might be used with children who have typical hearing. Much of the instruction is embedded in language-rich activities. Differentiation of instruction to the wide variation of language and phonological processing skills observed for children who are DHHis integral to the design. Results from multiple studies, including a randomized-control trial, indicates that FFL is an effective intervention for young DHH students. Children who deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and are acquiring spoken language need the same foundational skills to learn to read as children with typical hearing (TH) . Researchers have found that phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, and vocabulary predict reading abilities in young deaf children with cochlear implants and hard-of-hearing children with hearing aids (Ambrose et al., 2012; Cupples et al., 2014; Easterbrooks et al., 2008; Lederberg et al., 2013; Nittrouer et al., 2012; Webb & Lederberg, 2014; Webb et al., 2015) . These studies showed that the majority of DHH children are delayed in these skills compared to TH children, with wide individual differences. [https://doi.org/10.17955/tvr.122.1.symp3](https://doi.org/10.17955/tvr.122.1.symp3) 2022 AG Bell Research Proceedings 31 The Volta Review, Volume 122(1) There is a strong need for intervention in the early childhood years (3-5 years old) and beginning school years (5-6 years old) that focuses on these skills. Our interdisciplinary team developed and assessed the efficacy of an early literacy curriculum for DHH prekindergarten children, called Foundations for Literacy (FFL) . This paper describes our research and the curriculum used. Background Our team began the process of developing FFL with a systematic review of research that exists about effective early childhood education programs for TH preschoolers/ prekindergartners (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008) . Primarily based on the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tummer, 1986) and Scarborough’s Reading Rope (Scarborough, 2001), effective early childhood education programs focus on improving the fundamentals for learning to read by emphasizing both the skills necessary to learn to decode or read individual words (referred to as code-based) and the skills necessary to understand what is read (referred to as meaning-based) . Code-based skills acquired during early childhood include both phonological awareness and alphabetic knowledge (i.e., knowledge of the relations between letter names, sounds, and shapes) . Phonological awareness refers to the ability to identify and manipulate the sound units of spoken language. Phonological awareness skills typically taught during preschool include syllable segmentation (e.g., how many word parts are there in popcorn?), rhyming (do cat and bat rhyme?), initial sound identification (what is the first sound in man?), and blending sounds (Listen, c-a-t, what word do you hear?) . Alphabetic knowledge includes letter-name (the name of this letter is m) and letter-sound knowledge (this letter says mmmm). In the United States, early c

FAQs

What skills does Foundations for Literacy target to support early reading for DHH children?

FFL targets spoken phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, word reading, vocabulary, and narrative as student learning objectives.

How is FFL instruction structured compared with typical approaches?

FFL is more systematic and explicit, multi-modal, and intensive, with many activities embedded in language-rich instruction and differentiated for individual language and phonological processing needs.

What evidence is cited to support FFL’s effectiveness?

The document reports results from multiple studies, including a randomized-control trial, indicating FFL is an effective intervention for young DHH students.

Oct 15, 2026

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