Highly Gifted Preschool Readers

Abstract

Twenty-four preschoolers in a summer program for highly gifted preschoolers were screened for reading ability using Durkin's (1966) word list. Readers and nonreaders were compared. Readers’ scores on selected subtests of the Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty (Durrell & Catterson, 1980) were correlated with measures gathered for program admission. Results of a subsequent investigation of basal reading texts’ teachers’ editions for suggestions for differentiating instruction for early readers are reported in terms of the needs of gifted preschoolers.