Reciprocal Effects of Self-Regulation, Semantic Knowledge, and Reading Comprehension in Early Elementary School

Contributions of shared book reading to children's learning of new semantic facts through memory integration

Young children rapidly learn facts about the world. One mechanism supporting knowledge acquisition is memory integration: derivation of new knowledge by combining separate, yet related facts accumulated over time. There are both developmental changes and individual differences in young children's learning through memory integration. However, there is little research on how everyday social interactions may promote memory integration and contribute to individual differences. Accordingly, we investigated how the everyday social interactions of caregiver-child shared book reading support 5- to 6-year-olds' memory integration (N = 82 parent-child dyads; 47 female children; M age 6.10; 56.5% White non-Latinx, 15% Black, 6% White Latinx, 5.5% Asian, 17% more than one race). Caregivers read a narrative book that included opportunities to integrate facts. Half the dyads were assigned to an embedded questions condition (questions on facts included throughout the book) and half to a no embedded questions condition (statements only). We measured dyads' extratextual talk while reading for the extent to which they integrated the facts (integration talk). Children's learning was tested with both memory integration and fact recall questions. Dyads in the embedded questions condition had more integration talk. The extent to which the dyads integrated while reading predicted children's integration performance, above and beyond condition effects. This effect was specific to memory integration: integration talk nor condition accounted for fact recall. These results suggest that shared book reading can support young children's integration, especially when books engage dyads through embedded questions and dyads integrate facts while reading.

Bidirectional associations between mental health problems and language ability across 8 years of childhood

Research examining the development of behavior, emotions and language, and their intertwining is limited as only few studies had a longitudinal design, mostly with a short follow-up period. Moreover, most studies did not evaluate whether internalizing symptoms and externalizing symptoms are independently associated with language ability. This study examines bidirectional associations between internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms and language ability in childhood in a large, population-based cohort. Longitudinal data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a cohort of children in the United Kingdom followed from birth to 11 years (n = 10,878; 50.7% boys), were analyzed. Internalizing and externalizing symptoms were based on parent reports. Language ability (higher scores reflecting poorer ability) was assessed by trained interviewers at ages 3, 5, 7 and 11 years. Structural Equation Models (SEM) were performed, including random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) and cross-lagged panel models (CLPM). Internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms and language ability were stable over time and co-occur with each other from early life onwards. Over time, externalizing symptoms in early childhood were associated with less growth in language skills and with increases in internalizing symptoms. In late childhood, language ability was negatively associated with later internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The early start, co-occurrence and persistent nature of internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms and (poorer) language ability highlights the importance of comprehensive assessments in young children who present problems in one of these domains. Specifically, among children in the early grades of elementary school, those with language difficulties may benefit from careful monitoring as they are more likely to develop difficulties in behavior and emotions.

A translational application of music for preschool cognitive development: RCT evidence for improved executive function, self-regulation, and school readiness

The benefits of active music participation and training for cognitive development have been evidenced in multiple studies, with this link leveraged in music therapy approaches with clinical populations. Although music, rhythm, and movement activities are widely integrated into children's play and early education, few studies have systematically translated music therapy-based approaches to a nonclinical population to support early cognitive development. This study reports the follow-up effects of the Rhythm and Movement for Self Regulation (RAMSR) program delivered by generalist preschool teachers in low socioeconomic communities. This randomized control trial (RCT) involved 213 children across eight preschools in disadvantaged communities in Queensland, Australia. The intervention group received 16-20 sessions of RAMSR over 8 weeks, while the control group undertook usual preschool programs. Primary outcome measures included executive function (child assessment of shifting, working memory, and inhibition) and self-regulation (teacher report), with secondary outcomes of school readiness and visual-motor integration. Data were collected pre- and post-intervention, and again 6 months later once children had transitioned into school. Results demonstrated significant intervention effects across the three time points for school readiness (p = 0.038, ηp 2  = 0.09), self-regulation (p < 0.001, ηp 2  = 0.08), and inhibition (p = 0.002 ηp 2  = 0.23). Additionally, the feasibility of building capacity in teachers without any music background to successfully deliver the program was evidenced. These findings are important given that children from low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to need support for cognitive development yet have inequitable access to quality music and movement programs. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Initial effects of self-regulation from a rhythm and movement program were sustained following transition into school for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Delayed effects of inhibition and school readiness from a rhythm and movement program appeared 6 months post-intervention as children entered school. Generalist teachers can successfully implement a rhythm and movement program, which boosts critical developmental cognitive skills.

Child exposure to violence and self-regulation in South African preschool-age children from low-income settings

Biological and psychosocial stressors that have been associated with income include family dynamics such as household chaos, family conflict, maternal depression, harsh parenting, lower parental responsiveness, and exposure to violence. Research from high income countries has shown that exposure to violence may have detrimental effects on children's self-regulation, with possible flow-on implications for broad later-life outcomes, but less is known about such links in low- and- middle income countries, where many children live in violent communities and households and where physical punishment remains the norm. This study aimed to investigate exposure to violence, in addition to coercive parenting, and its associations with self-regulation among 243 3- to 5-year-olds (M = 4.7 ± 0.6; 51.9 % female) from low-income settings in Cape Town and who were not attending Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). Results showed that self-regulation was not associated with child exposure to community violence, but it was positively associated with coercive parenting (β = 0.17; p = 0.03). The null concurrent associations between exposure to violence and self-regulation suggest the need for additional research aimed at understanding later potential developmental sequelae. It is important that findings regarding coercive parenting are contextualised within local social norms around parenting styles, as well as the influence of living in dangerous communities on parenting practices.

Self-regulation in toddlers and the emergence of pre-academic disparities

A growing body of research has examined how children's self-regulation during early and middle childhood mediates SES disparities in academic achievement. Evidence suggests that these self-regulation skills begin developing even earlier, during the toddler years, but more work is needed examining how different measures of self-regulation relate to key constructs such as socioeconomic status (SES) and toddlers' pre-academic skills. In this online study, we examine multiple approaches to measuring self-regulation using confirmatory factor analyses and assess the extent to which self-regulatory skills help explain SES differences in early math and language skills among a sample of 158 two- and three-year-old children. Self-regulation was assessed through a battery of parent- and examiner-ratings. Children's counting, cardinality, and vocabulary skills were measured online through direct assessments and parent surveys. Two self-regulation factors emerged representing parent-reported and observational measures, and only observational measures of self-regulation mediated associations between SES and children's math and language skills. Parent-reported self-regulation was not uniquely related to SES or children's pre-academic skills, underscoring the need for careful consideration of how self-regulation is measured among toddlers when examining its associations with pre-academic skills.

Bringing Assessment-to-Instruction (A2i) Technology to Scale: Exploring the Process from Development to Implementation

Bringing effective, research-based literacy interventions into the classroom is challenging, especially given the cultural and linguistic diversity of today's classrooms. We examined the promise of Assessment-to-Instruction (A2i) technology redesigned to be used at scale to support teachers' implementation of the individualized student instruction (ISI) intervention from kindergarten through third grade. In seven randomized controlled trials, A2i and ISI have demonstrated efficacy. However, the research version of A2i was not scalable. In order to bring A2i to scale in schools serving linguistically diverse students, we carried out the current study across two phases. This study represents both an exploration of what it takes to bring an educational intervention to scale (Phase 1) and a quasi-experiment on the literacy outcomes of learners whose teachers used the technology (Phase 2). We integrated assessments of vocabulary, word decoding, and reading comprehension; revised the A2i algorithms to account for the constellation of skills English learners (ELs) bring to the classroom; updated the user interfaces and added new graphic features; and improved bandwidth and stability of the technology. Findings were mixed, including several non-significant results, a marginally significant intent-to-treat effect on word reading in kindergarten and first grade for English monolingual students and ELs, and one significant interaction effect, which suggested ELs and students with less developed reading skills in second and third grade benefitted most from the intervention. With some caution, we conclude that A2i demonstrates potential to be used at scale and promise of effectiveness for improving code-focused skills for diverse learners.

PROTOCOL: School-based language, math, and reading interventions for executive functions in children and adolescents: A systematic review

This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. Our primary objective for this systematic review is to examine if preschool and school-based interventions aimed at improving language, literacy, and/or mathematical skills increase children's and adolescents' executive functions. As a secondary objective, we will examine how the effects of language, literacy, and mathematics interventions on executive functions are moderated by the subject of the intervention, child age or grade, the type of EF measured, and the at-risk status of participants. We will also explore how the effects are moderated by other study characteristics, and estimate the effects of the included interventions on language, literacy, and mathematical skills.

Vocabulary Learning in Chinese as a Second Language: Exploring the Role of Self-Regulation in Facilitating Vocabulary Knowledge of Second Language Learners

Vocabulary knowledge comprises depth and breadth, which are regarded as important indicators of second language (L2) learning capability. Self-regulation is a key factor in promoting vocabulary knowledge. However, the role and contribution of depth and breadth in and to L2 learning, as well as the predictive role of different factors of self-regulation in depth and breadth, remain unclear. Therefore, this study aims to identify the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and self-regulation by establishing a structural equation model based on exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using self-regulation and vocabulary knowledge (depth and breadth) questionnaires. A total of 215 Vietnamese university students participated in the research. The results show that Vietnamese university students generally obtain high scores in breadth, but their scores vary in depth, which indicates although most of them can accurately understand some aspects of Chinese word meaning, they are not able to command the form and usage of words. In addition, there is a negative correlation between self-regulation and vocabulary breadth, which demonstrates that high self-regulation, especially emotional control, can affect Vietnamese university students’ vocabulary learning. This study also proposes some suggestions for Chinese vocabulary teaching.

Why do early mathematics skills predict later mathematics and reading achievement? The role of executive function

A robust association between young children's early mathematical proficiency and later academic achievement is well established. Less is known about the mechanisms through which early mathematics skills may contribute to later mathematics and especially reading achievement. Using a parallel multiple mediator model, the current study investigated whether executive function (integration of working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility) can explain the relations between early mathematics skills and elementary school mathematics and reading achievement. Data in this longitudinal study were collected from 243 children during the last year of early childhood education and care (kindergarten ages 5 and 6 years), 1 year later in first grade, and 5 years later when the children were in fifth grade. Background variables (maternal education, age, sex, and immigrant status), kindergarten baseline skills, and mediating effects of first-grade mathematics, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and possible omitted variables were controlled. Results showed that first-grade executive function mediated the effects of kindergarten mathematics on fifth-grade mathematics and on reading achievement. These findings suggest that executive function may work as a mechanism that may help to explain the frequently found strong association between children's early mathematics skills and later mathematics and reading achievement.

Developmental differences in reactivation underlying self-derivation of new knowledge through memory integration

Self-derivation of novel facts through integration of memory content is fundamental to acquiring new knowledge and a means of building a semantic knowledge base. It involves combining memory content acquired across separate episodes of learning to generate new knowledge that was not explicitly taught in either episode. To self-derive, one needs to reactivate earlier learned memory content upon exposure to related content and then integrate the learning episodes. Previous research found developmental differences in the conditions under which integration occurs. Adults spontaneously integrate whereas 7- to 9-year-old children seemingly integrate only upon direct tests that verbally prompt for integration. Yet it is unclear whether children engage in the preliminary process of reactivation prior to the direct tests. To address this gap in the current research, we developed an eye-tracking paradigm and tested whether adults and 7- to 9-year-old children engage in the process of reactivation prior to direct tests. The direct tests verbally prompted for integration of memory content requiring self-derivation through both open-ended and forced-choice formats. Both adults and children engaged in reactivation prior to the direct tests. The extent of their reactivation predicted their performance on the direct tests. However, adults showed stronger evidence of reactivation and performed better than children on the direct tests. This work contributes to understandings of developmental differences in the underlying processes involved in the development of new knowledge.

Predicting Second and Third Graders' Reading Comprehension Gains: Observing Students' and Classmates Talk during Literacy Instruction using COLT

This paper introduces a new observation system that is designed to investigate students' and teachers' talk during literacy instruction, Creating Opportunities to Learn from Text (COLT). Using video-recorded observations of 2nd-3rd grade literacy instruction (N=51 classrooms, 337 students, 151 observations), we found that nine types of student talk ranged from using non-verbal gestures to generating new ideas. The more a student talked, the greater were his/her reading comprehension (RC) gains. Classmate talk also predicted RC outcomes (total effect size=0.27). We found that 11 types of teacher talk ranged from asking simple questions to encouraging students' thinking and reasoning. Teacher talk predicted student talk but did not predict students' RC gains directly. Findings highlight the importance of each student's discourse during literacy instruction, how classmates' talk contributes to the learning environments that each student experiences, and how this affects RC gains, with implications for improving the effectiveness of literacy instruction.

Red Light, Purple Light! Results of an Intervention to Promote School Readiness for Children From Low-Income Backgrounds

Considerable research has examined interventions that facilitate school readiness skills in young children. One intervention, Red Light, Purple Light Circle Time Games (RLPL; Tominey and McClelland, 2011; Schmitt et al., 2015), includes music and movement games that aim to foster self-regulation skills. The present study (N = 157) focused on children from families with low-income and compared the RLPL intervention (SR) to a revised version of RLPL that included literacy and math content (SR+) and a Business-As-Usual (BAU) control group. In both versions of the intervention, teachers were trained to administer the self-regulation intervention in preschool classrooms with coaching support. Although not statistically significant, children receiving either version of the intervention gained more in self-regulation on the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) over the preschool year compared to the BAU group (β = 0.09, p = 0.082, Cohen's d = 0.31). Effect sizes were similar to previous studies (Schmitt et al., 2015; Duncan et al., 2018) and translated to a 21% difference in self-regulation over and above the BAU group at post-test. Furthermore, children participating in either version of the intervention gained significantly more in math across the school year compared to children in the BAU group (β = 0.14; p = 0.003, Cohen's d = 0.38), which translated to a 24% difference in math over and above the BAU group at post-test. Results were somewhat stronger for the SR+ version, although effect sizes across intervention conditions were comparable. There were no statistically significant differences across groups for literacy skills. Results extend previous research and suggest that the RLPL intervention, which includes an explicit focus on self-regulation through music and movement games, may improve children's self-regulation and math scores over the preschool year.

The Causal Impact of Schooling on Children’s Development: Lessons for Developmental Science

Entry into formal schooling is a signature developmental milestone for young children and their families and represents an important period of cognitive, social, and emotional development. Until recently, few researchers have attempted to isolate the unique impact of schooling on children’s developmental and academic outcomes. The application of quasiexperimental methods has provided researchers with the tools to examine when and how schooling shapes children’s development. In this article, we summarize three main insights from this work: (a) Schooling produces major, unique changes in children’s growth across a wide range of psychological processes important for learning; (b) the effects of schooling are not universal across all domains; and (c) schooling impacts cognitive processes that are not explicitly taught. We also propose that a deeper look at classroom instruction and brain development can expand our understanding of how schooling influences academic success and positive life outcomes and provide a model for developmental science more broadly.

Differential Co-Development of Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension for Students with and without Learning Disabilities

In this large-scale study of students from Title 1 schools (N = 14,773), we used multiple-group latent change score (LCS) modeling to investigate the developmental relations between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension in students with a school-identified learning disability (LD, n = 627) and typically developing students (n = 14,146). Students were tested for their vocabulary breadth and passage comprehension skills in Kindergarten through fourth grade. For typically developing students, there were bidirectional influences between their vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension skills. There were no cross-lagged influences across constructs for students with an LD. We find evidence for a developmental delay, such that students with an LD had similar levels and gains in their vocabulary knowledge relative to typically developing students, but these students started much lower in their reading comprehension skills and did not catch up to their typically developing peers. We discuss the implications for children with learning disabilities and the development of their reading comprehension skills.

Cognitive, Intervention, and Neuroimaging Perspectives on Executive Function in Children With Reading Disabilities

The role of executive function (EF) in the reading process, and in those with reading difficulties, remains unclear. As members of the Texas Center for Learning Disabilities, we review multiple perspectives regarding EF in reading and then summarize some of our recent studies of struggling and typical readers in grades 3-5. Study 1a found that a bi-factor structure best represented a comprehensive assessment of EF. Study 1b found that cognitive and behavioral measures of EF related independently to math and reading. Study 1c found that EF related to reading, above and beyond other variables, but Study 1d found no evidence that adding an EF training component improved intervention response. Study 1e found that pretest EF abilities did not relate to intervention response. Neuroimaging studies examined EF-related brain activity during both reading and nonlexical EF tasks. In Study 2a, the EF task evoked control activity, but generated no differences between struggling and typical readers. The reading task, however, had group differences in both EF and reading regions. In Study 2b, EF activity during reading at pretest was related to intervention response. Across studies, EF appears involved in the reading process. There is less evidence for general EF predicting or improving intervention outcomes.

Expressive Vocabulary Predicts Nonverbal Executive Function: A 2-year Longitudinal Study of Deaf and Hearing Children

Numerous studies suggest an association between language and executive function (EF), but evidence of a developmental relationship remains inconclusive. Data were collected from 75 deaf/hard-of-hearing (DHH) children and 82 hearing age-matched controls. Children were 6-11 years old at first time of testing and completed a battery of nonverbal EF tasks and a test of expressive vocabulary. These tasks were completed again 2 years later. Both groups improved their scores on all tasks over this period. DHH children performed significantly less well than hearing peers on some EF tasks and the vocabulary test at both time points. Cross-lagged panel models showed that vocabulary at Time 1 predicted change in EF scores for both DHH and hearing children but not the reverse.

Profiles of Foundational Learning Components among First Graders

School readiness includes a constellation of skills and behaviors, such as social and emotional development, language and literacy, and self-regulation that provide a basis critical for classroom participation and learning. Whereas it has been well-established that students who enter kindergarten with weaknesses in language and literacy are more likely to struggle academically, less research has focused on the variability and educational impact of other foundational learning components, including internalizing and externalizing behaviors, particularly in first grade. This study used latent profile analysis to identify the following four subgroups (profiles) of students, using foundational learning components, in a sample of first graders (n = 324): Emergent Hyperactive, Externalizing, Generally Good Students, and Internalizing. Latent class growth analysis illustrated significant differences in the average rate of growth in literacy skills from the beginning to the end of first grade across the four profiles, after controlling for gender and socioeconomic status. Findings indicated the greatest growth in literacy skills for students in the Externalizing profile and the least amount of vocabulary growth for students in the Emergent Hyperactive profile followed by the Internalizing profile. Educational implications of how researchers and educators might consider students' individual differences across profiles of foundational learning components to inform ways to support development and learning in the classroom are discussed.

Early cochlear implantation: Verbal working memory, vocabulary, speech intelligibility and participant variables

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to compare performance in the areas of verbal working memory (VWM), vocabulary skills, and speech intelligibility between children with cochlear implants (CIs) and children with typical development (TD). The correlations between participant variables and the scores of children with CIs in VWM and the measures of language were examined. Also, it was important to identify which variables predict VWM in children with CIs.

METHODS

A total of 59 children participated in this study with the study group being comprised of 31 children who had received a CI and the control group being comprised of 28 children with TD. The assessment techniques utilized in this study were the backward digit span (BDS), non-word repetition, speech intelligibility, and vocabulary skills.

RESULTS

The study results revealed significant differences in the non-word repetition, speech intelligibility, and vocabulary tasks. The results all favored the typically developing children while the findings for the BDS were equal for both groups.

DISCUSSION

In children with CIs the results for VWM observed in this study are believed to be related to the modality of assessment presentation, prior vocabulary knowledge, and familiarity with the presented material. The results from this study also revealed that the variables which predicted VWM in children with CIs were speech perception, duration of CI use, and vocabulary knowledge.

Building Word Knowledge, Learning Strategies, and Metacognition with the Word-Knowledge E-Book

Many children fail to comprehend what they read because they do not monitor their understanding, which requires making accurate judgements of what they know and then employing repair strategies when comprehension fails. Relying on research from learning science and cognitive and developmental psychology, we developed the Word Knowledge e-Book (WKe-Book) to improve children's calibration of their word knowledge, strategy use, and word knowledge overall; skills which are associated with reading comprehension. The WKe-Book, which is read on a tablet computer, is a choose-your-own adventure book where choices require choosing between two rare words (e.g., cogitate vs. procrastinate). Depending on the word chosen, the story follows a different plot. There are also embedded comprehension questions where students receive immediate feedback with consequences for incorrect answers, such as being sent back to reread a few pages. In a randomized controlled trial, we tested whether students (N = 603 in 25 third through fifth grade classrooms in Arizona in the US) reading the WKe-Book would demonstrate improved word knowledge, strategy use, and word knowledge calibration. Classrooms were randomly assigned to read the WKe-Book immediately (treatment) or later (delayed-treatment control), and within classrooms, students were randomly assigned to either participate in a 15-minute weekly book club (book club treatment) or to read the WKe-Book independently with no book club (no book club control). Results revealed a significant treatment effect of the WKe-Book on students' word knowledge, word knowledge calibration, and strategy use, which predicted student performance on standardized reading comprehension and vocabulary measures. The effects were greater for students who participated in weekly book clubs compared to students in the no book club control. These findings suggest that the affordances offered by technology, which are unavailable in paper-based books, can support students' development of metacognition, including word knowledge calibration, strategy use, and word learning skills.

Self-Regulation and Academic Measures Across the Early Elementary School Grades: Examining Longitudinal and Bidirectional Associations

This study evaluated the association between children's (N = 301) self-regulation and math and reading achievement in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. Children's self-regulation was assessed using the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) task (involving control of gross body movements) and a computerized continuous performance task (CPT; assessing primarily inhibitory control) in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. Research findings: Based on cross-lagged structural equation panel models, HTKS task performance positively predicted later math and reading achievement. Math achievement significantly and positively predicted later HTKS and CPT scores. Earlier math and reading achievement moderated the association between CPT scores and later math and reading achievement; inhibitory control-based self-regulation assessed with the CPT predicted higher math or reading achievement in subsequent grades for children with lower math or reading achievement in prior grades. Performance on the CPT moderated the paths from HTKS scores to later reading achievement; behavioral self-regulation assessed with the HTKS task predicted higher reading achievement in subsequent grades for children with low or average CPT performance in prior grades. Practice: Results from this study have the potential to inform targeted academic interventions focused on enhancing self-regulation in school contexts. The findings highlight the utility of assessing multiple measures of self-regulation.

Examining the Efficacy of Targeted Component Interventions on Language and Literacy for Third and Fourth Graders Who are at Risk of Comprehension Difficulties

Testing a component model of reading comprehension in a randomized controlled trial, we evaluated the efficacy of four different interventions that were designed to target components of language and metacognition that predict children's reading comprehension: vocabulary, listening comprehension, comprehension of literate language, academic knowledge, and comprehension monitoring. Third- and fourth-graders with language skills falling below age expectations participated (N = 645). Overall, the component interventions were only somewhat effective in improving the targeted skills, compared to a business-as-usual control (g ranged from -.14 to .33), and no main effects were significant after correcting for multiple comparisons. Effects did not generalize to other language skills or to students' reading comprehension. Moreover, there were child-characteristic-by-treatment interaction effects. For example, the intervention designed to build sensorimotor mental representations was more effective for children with weaker vocabulary skills. Implications for component models of reading and interventions for children at risk of reading comprehension difficulties are discussed.

Direct and Reciprocal Effects among Social Skills, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension in First Grade

Social skills and vocabulary are important areas of development involved in early reading achievement, yet little attention has been given to understanding the dynamic associations among them during the elementary years. This study examined the relations among three dimensions of social skills-cooperation, assertion, and self-control-vocabulary and developing reading comprehension (RC) skills in a longitudinal sample of first graders (n = 468). Using Structural Equation Modeling, reciprocal effects were observed between vocabulary and RC as well as direct effects among social skills, vocabulary, and RC after controlling for the influence of problem behaviors. This study highlights the reciprocal nature of students' vocabulary and RC skills as well as provides preliminary evidence suggesting that social skills play a role in developing vocabulary and RC skills, and further, vocabulary and RC skills play a role in social development during middle childhood. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Inhibition, Updating Working Memory, and Shifting Predict Reading Disability Symptoms in a Hybrid Model: Project KIDS

Recent achievement research suggests that executive function (EF), a set of regulatory processes that control both thought and action necessary for goal-directed behavior, is related to typical and atypical reading performance. This project examines the relation of EF, as measured by its components, Inhibition, Updating Working Memory, and Shifting, with a hybrid model of reading disability (RD). Our sample included 420 children who participated in a broader intervention project when they were in KG-third grade (age M = 6.63 years, SD = 1.04 years, range = 4.79-10.40 years). At the time their EF was assessed, using a parent-report Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), they had a mean age of 13.21 years (SD = 1.54 years; range = 10.47-16.63 years). The hybrid model of RD was operationalized as a composite consisting of four symptoms, and set so that any child could have any one, any two, any three, any four, or none of the symptoms included in the hybrid model. The four symptoms include low word reading achievement, unexpected low word reading achievement, poorer reading comprehension compared to listening comprehension, and dual-discrepancy response-to-intervention, requiring both low achievement and low growth in word reading. The results of our multilevel ordinal logistic regression analyses showed a significant relation between all three components of EF (Inhibition, Updating Working Memory, and Shifting) and the hybrid model of RD, and that the strength of EF's predictive power for RD classification was the highest when RD was modeled as having at least one or more symptoms. Importantly, the chances of being classified as having RD increased as EF performance worsened and decreased as EF performance improved. The question of whether any one EF component would emerge as a superior predictor was also examined and results showed that Inhibition, Updating Working Memory, and Shifting were equally valuable as predictors of the hybrid model of RD. In total, all EF components were significant and equally effective predictors of RD when RD was operationalized using the hybrid model.

Using assessment to individualize early mathematics instruction

Accumulating evidence suggests that assessment-informed personalized instruction, tailored to students' individual skills and abilities, is more effective than more one-size-fits-all approaches. In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of Individualizing Student Instruction in Mathematics (ISI-Math) compared to Reading (ISI-Reading) where classrooms were randomly assigned to ISI-Math or ISI-Reading. The literature on child characteristics X instruction or skill X treatment interaction effects point to the complexities of tailoring instruction for individual students who present with constellations of skills. Second graders received mathematics instruction in small flexible learning groups based on their assessed learning needs. Results of the study (n=32 teachers, 370 students) revealed significant treatment effects on standardized mathematics assessments. With effect sizes (d) of 0.41-0.60, we show that we can significantly improve 2nd graders' mathematics achievement, including for children living in poverty, by using assessment data to individualize the mathematics instruction they receive. The instructional regime, ISI-Math, was implemented by regular classroom teachers and it led to about a 4-month achievement advantage on standardized mathematics tests when compared to students in control classrooms. These results were realized within one school year. Moreover, treatment effects were the same regardless of school-level poverty and students' gender, initial mathematics or vocabulary scores.

Enacted Reading Comprehension: Using Bodily Movement to Aid the Comprehension of Abstract Text Content

We report a design study that assessed the feasibility of Enacted Reading Comprehension (ERC), an intervention designed to teach 3rd and 4th grade students (n = 40 and 25, respectively) to use gestures to understand an increasingly abstract set of texts. Students were taught to use gestures to understand the idea of "opposing forces" in a concrete setting-the forces at play as tectonic plates move past each other-and then taught to use the gestures to understand opposing forces in more abstract situations. For example, students were taught to use gestures to understand the opposing sides of an argument, and to understand the internal conflicts that arise as individuals are faced with moral dilemmas. The results of our design study suggest that ERC has promise as a method for introducing students to the idea of using gesture to understand text content, and to employ this strategy in a range of reading contexts.

A Lattice Model of the Development of Reading Comprehension

In this article, I present a developmental model of how children learn to comprehend what they read, which builds on current models of reading comprehension and integrates findings from instructional research and evidence-based models of development in early and middle childhood. The lattice model holds that children's developing reading comprehension is a function of the interacting, reciprocal, and bootstrapping effects of developing text-specific, linguistic, and social-cognitive processes, which interact with instruction as child-characteristic-by-instruction (CXI) interaction effects. The processes develop over time and in the context of classroom, home, peer, community, and other influences to affect children's development of proficient reading comprehension. I first describe models of reading comprehension. I then review the basic processes in the model, the role of instruction, and CXI interactions in the context of the lattice model. I then discuss implications for instruction and research.