Reading Achievement (reading + achievement)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Effect of a Combined Repeated Reading and Question Generation Intervention on Reading Achievement

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 2 2006
William J. Therrien
Research was conducted to ascertain if a combined repeated reading and question generation intervention was effective at improving the reading achievement of fourth through eighth grade students with learning disabilities or who were at risk for reading failure. Students were assigned to a treatment or control group via a stratified random sampling. Instructional components and training were based on best practices reported in the literature. Students receiving intervention significantly improved their reading speed and ability to answer inferential comprehension questions on passages that were reread. Compared to the control group, students in the intervention group also made significant gains in oral reading fluency on independent passages. [source]


Relationship between eye preference and binocular rivalry, and between eye-hand preference and reading ability in children

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 8 2008
J. Fagard
Abstract One goal of the experiment presented here was to check, in children, the relationship between eye preference when sighting at different angles and eye dominance in binocular rivalry. In addition, since it is sometimes argued that a crossed pattern of eye-hand preference might put children at risk of difficulties in learning to read, we evaluated the relationship between this pattern and reading achievement in first and sixth graders. Results showed that a majority of children are right-eyed for monosighting, and that intrinsic preference and spatial factor influence the choice of eye. As many children were right- or left-eye dominant, and eye dominance was not related to eye preference. We found no relationship between eye-hand preference and reading proficiency, thus not confirming that a crossed pattern of eye-hand preference might put children at risk of difficulties in learning to read. Consistent handers were more advanced in reading than inconsistent handers. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 789,798, 2008 [source]


Measurement error: implications for diagnosis and discrepancy models of developmental dyslexia

DYSLEXIA, Issue 3 2005
Sue M. Cotton
Abstract The diagnosis of developmental dyslexia (DD) is reliant on a discrepancy between intellectual functioning and reading achievement. Discrepancy-based formulae have frequently been employed to establish the significance of the difference between ,intelligence' and ,actual' reading achievement. These formulae, however, often fail to take into consideration test reliability and the error associated with a single test score. This paper provides an illustration of the potential effects that test reliability and measurement error can have on the diagnosis of dyslexia, with particular reference to discrepancy models. The roles of reliability and standard error of measurement (SEM) in classic test theory are also briefly reviewed. This is followed by illustrations of how SEM and test reliability can aid with the interpretation of a simple discrepancy-based formula of DD. It is proposed that a lack of consideration of test theory in the use of discrepancy-based models of DD can lead to misdiagnosis (both false positives and false negatives). Further, misdiagnosis in research samples affects reproducibility and generalizability of findings. This in turn, may explain current inconsistencies in research on the perceptual, sensory, and motor correlates of dyslexia. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Status versus growth: The distributional effects of school accountability policies

JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2010
Helen F. Ladd
Although the federal No Child Left Behind program judges the effectiveness of schools based on their students' achievement status, many policy analysts argue that schools should be measured, instead, by their students' achievement growth. Using a 10-year student-level panel data set from North Carolina, we examine how school-specific pressure associated with status and growth approaches to school accountability affect student achievement at different points in the prior-year achievement distribution. Achievement gains for students below the proficiency cut point emerge in schools failing either type of accountability standard, with the effects clearer for math than for reading. In contrast to prior research highlighting the possibility of educational triage, we find little or no evidence that failing schools in North Carolina ignore the students far below proficiency under either approach. Importantly, we find that the status, but not the growth, approach reduces the reading achievement of higher performing students. Our analysis suggests that the distributional effects of accountability pressure depend not only on the type of pressure for which schools are held accountable (status or growth), but also the tested subject. © 2010 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source]


Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2006 (PIRLS): pedagogical correlates of fourth-grade students in Hong Kong

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 3 2009
Wai Ming Cheung
Reading literacy of fourth-grade students in Hong Kong showed a remarkable improvement from 2001 to 2006 as shown by international PIRLS studies. This study identified various aspects of the teacher factor contributing to the significant improvement among students. A total of 4,712 students and 144 teachers from 144 schools were randomly selected using probability proportional-to-size technique to receive the Reading Assessment Test and complete the Teacher's Questionnaire, respectively. A number of items pertaining to teachers' instructional strategies and activities, opportunities for students to read various types of materials, practices on assessment, and professional preparation and perception, were found to be significantly correlated with the outcome of students' reading literacy. Stepwise regression procedure revealed four significant predictors for students' overall reading achievement. The most powerful predictor was the use of materials from other subjects as reading resources. Suggestions to improve quality of teaching of reading and further studies are made. [source]


What is orthographic processing skill and how does it relate to word identification in reading?

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 4 2006
Jennifer S. Burt
The role of orthographic processing skill (OPS) in reading has aroused the interest of many developmental researchers. Despite observations by Vellutino that current measures of OPS primarily are indicators of reading (and spelling) achievement, OPS commonly is distinguished from both reading achievement and phonological skills. An analysis of the reading literature indicates that there is no theory in which OPS meaningfully plays a role as an independent skill or causal factor in reading acquisition. Rather, OPS indexes fluent word identification and spelling knowledge, and there is no evidence to refute the hypothesis that its development relies heavily on phonological processes. Results of correlational studies and reader group comparisons (a) cannot inform about on-line processes and (b) may be parsimoniously explained in terms of phonological skills, reading experience, unmeasured language abilities and methodological factors, without implying that OPS is an aetiologically separable skill. Future research would profit from the investigation in experimental studies of the nature and development of orthographic representations. [source]


Rhyme and reading: a critical review of the research methodology

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 1 2002
Bonnie M. Macmillan
There is debate over whether children's early rhyme awareness has important implications for beginning reading instruction. The apparent finding that pre-readers are able to perform rhyme tasks much more readily than phoneme tasks has led some to propose that teaching children to read by drawing attention to rime units within words is ,a route into phonemes' (Goswami, 1999a, p. 233). Rhyme and analogy have been adopted as an integral part of the National Literacy Strategy (DfEE, 1998), a move which appears to have been influenced by three major research claims:1) rhyme awareness is related to reading ability, 2) rhyme awareness affects reading achievement, and 3) rhyme awareness leads to the development of phoneme awareness. A critical examination of the experimental research evidence from a methodological viewpoint, however, shows that not one of the three claims is sufficiently supported. Instructional implications are discussed. [source]


The Contribution of Phonological Skills and Letter Knowledge to Early Reading Development in a Multilingual Population

LANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 2 2001
Valerie Muter
Fifty-five children from multilingual backgrounds being educated in English were studied longitudinally over a two-year period, with measures taken of their phonological skill, vocabulary and letter knowledge. Phonological segmentation ability and letter knowledge proved significant predictors of both concurrent and later reading achievement a year later, irrespective of the children's native language. In contrast, rhyming measures were not significant predictors of reading skill. The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical notions about the structure of phonological awareness and its impact on early reading development. [source]


A Tiered Intervention Model for Early Vocabulary Instruction: The Effects of Tiered Instruction for Young Students At Risk for Reading Disability

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 3 2010
Paige C. Pullen
Vocabulary knowledge at school entry is a robust predictor of later reading achievement. Many children begin formal reading instruction at a significant disadvantage due to low levels of vocabulary. Until recently, relatively few research studies examined the efficacy of vocabulary interventions for children in the early primary grades (e.g., before fourth grade), and even fewer addressed vocabulary intervention for students at increased risk for reading failure. In more recent work, researchers have begun to explore ways in which to diminish the "meaningful differences" in language achievement noted among children as they enter formal schooling. This article provides a review of a particularly effective model of vocabulary intervention based on shared storybook reading and situates this model in a context of tiered intervention, an emerging model of instructional design in the field of special education. In addition, we describe a quasi-experimental posttest-only study that examines the feasibility and effectiveness of the model for first-grade students. Participants were 224 first-grade students of whom 98 were identified as at risk for reading disability based on low levels of vocabulary. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences on measures of target vocabulary knowledge at the receptive and context level, suggesting that students at risk for reading failure benefit significantly from a second tier of vocabulary instruction. Implications for classroom practice as well as future research are provided. [source]


Effect of a Combined Repeated Reading and Question Generation Intervention on Reading Achievement

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 2 2006
William J. Therrien
Research was conducted to ascertain if a combined repeated reading and question generation intervention was effective at improving the reading achievement of fourth through eighth grade students with learning disabilities or who were at risk for reading failure. Students were assigned to a treatment or control group via a stratified random sampling. Instructional components and training were based on best practices reported in the literature. Students receiving intervention significantly improved their reading speed and ability to answer inferential comprehension questions on passages that were reread. Compared to the control group, students in the intervention group also made significant gains in oral reading fluency on independent passages. [source]


How Should Reading Disabilities be Operationalized?

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 2 2002
A Survey of Experts
In the face of accumulating research and logic, the use of a discrepancy between intelligence and reading achievement test scores is becoming increasingly untenable as a marker of reading disabilities. However, it is not clear what criteria might replace the discrepancy requirement. We surveyed 218 members of journal editorial boards to solicit their opinions on current and proposed definitional components and exclusion criteria. Three components were selected by over two-thirds of the respondents: reading achievement, phonemic awareness, and treatment validity. However, only 30 percent believed IQ-reading achievement discrepancy should be a marker. More than 75 percent of the respondents believed exclusion criteria should remain part of the definition. Mental retardation was the most frequently selected exclusion criterion despite rejection of intelligence test scores as a definitional component. Although the findings reflect uncertainty among experts on what elements should comprise a definition, they do signal a willingness to consider new approaches to the conceptually difficult task of defining reading disabilities. [source]


Cognitive hypothesis testing and response to intervention for children with reading problems

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 8 2006
Catherine A. Fiorello
Response to intervention (RTI) must be combined with comprehensive cognitive assessment to identify children with learning disabilities. This article presents the Cognitive Hypothesis Testing (CHT) model for integrating RTI and comprehensive evaluation practices in the identification of children with reading disabilities. The CHT model utilizes a scientific method approach for interpreting cognitive and neuropsychological processes together with evaluation of ecological and treatment validity data to develop targeted interventions for students who do not respond to standard academic interventions. A case study highlights how CHT practices can lead to effective interventions for a child who did not respond to a phonologically based reading intervention. In addition, discriminant analyses of 128 children with reading disabilities revealed the presence of Global, Phonemic, Fluency-Comprehension, and Orthographic subtypes. Results suggest subtypes show disparate cognitive profiles that differentially impact their reading achievement, supporting our contention that individual assessment of cognitive processing strengths and weaknesses is not only necessary for identifying children with reading disabilities but also can lead to individualized interventions designed to meet their unique learning needs. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 835,853, 2006. [source]