Predictors of reading skills for kindergartners and first grade students in Spanish: a longitudinal study

This study investigated predictors of word reading and reading comprehension skills using longitudinal data from Spanish-speaking kindergartners (N?=?163) and first grade students (N?=?305) from high SES families in Chile. Individual differences in letter-naming fluency and phonemic segmentation fluency, but not vocabulary, were positive predictors of word reading, over time, for kindergartners. Furthermore, kindergartners with higher letter-naming fluency and phonemic segmentation fluency had a faster rate of change in word reading over time. For first graders?? reading comprehension, word reading, nonsense word fluency, and vocabulary were positively and uniquely related. However, the rate of change in the reading comprehension outcome differed over time by children??s level of vocabulary, nonsense word fluency, and word reading. These results suggest that code-related skills are important for word reading, but vocabulary might not have a direct, unique relation with word reading in a transparent orthography. In addition, phonological decoding fluency appears to contribute to reading comprehension even over and above word reading accuracy in Spanish.     

Enhancing motivation to read and reading abilities in first grade

Abstract

This study examined changes in reading motivation and reading achievement among Hebrew-speaking first graders following an intervention program designed to increase intrinsic reading motivation. The program was delivered by the class teacher and focused on choosing relevant reading materials, providing choices for reading and encouraging social collaboration. Twenty-nine children in the intervention group (IG) were compared with 29 children in the control group (CG) who followed the official reading instruction program. During the year, the IG improved their reading motivation, while the CG declined in self-concept as a reader. Reading achievement improved more in the IG than in the CG. These findings suggest that a reading motivation program should be embedded in the regular reading acquisition curriculum to enhance children's reading motivation and improve their reading skills. Special attention should be paid to prevent a decline in young children's motivation as it may predict their future involvement in reading.     

对构建校本学习研究体系的思考

遵循新课程教学研究基本规律 ,构建校本学习研究体系 ,有效整合学校、教研和进修机构资源和力量 ,保证学习理解行动在教研中的先导地位和经常化 ,建立决战课堂、决胜课堂的教研模式 ,以专题实验研究为动力 ,切实攻克新课改实践的重点难点问题。     

Phonological task comparability in Arabic and relation to reading: a longitudinal assessment in kindergarten and first grade

The universal role of phonological processing skills for reading acquisition has been established in many different languages including Arabic. However, in Arabic little knowledge exists about the development of wide-range of phonological tasks and about the correlations between them. We longitudinally studied the developmental trends and correlations between different phonological tasks in kindergarten and first grade and tested their relation to reading accuracy and fluency. Thirty-two children individually completed the same ten phonological processing tasks in kindergarten and first grade. In first grade, reading measures and letter naming were also assessed. Developmental effects of phonological skills showed significant improvement of performance between the two phases in the majority of tasks. Task comparability has raised interesting issues related to the developmental hierarchy of phonological awareness tasks. Moreover, phonological awareness tasks were more inter-correlated in first grade compared to kindergarten, and their correlations to reading were also more established when phonological measures were collected in first grade. The developmental hierarchy of phonological tasks seems to depend on the linguistic and cognitive complexity (unit position, maintenance of the coherent unit and word length) of the items, beyond the size of the phonological unit which was manipulated. The observations reported here have practical implications for planning graded phonological instruction and intervention strategies.

     

Blending versus whole word approaches in first grade remedial reading: Short-term and delayed effects on reading and spelling words

Twelve very poor readers in May of first grade, including four withdisabilities, were randomly assigned to one of two daily tutoring conditions designed to teach children to read regularly spelled short words by one of two methods: blending sounds to form words, or cumulative introduction of whole words. Both treatments included letter/sound correspondences and spelling words in the reading set. At the end of ten sessions, no differences were found between the treatment outcomes; however, delayed posttests one week later found differences favoring the blending treatment on reading and spelling instructional words, and on transfer to words composed of known letter sounds.     

Beginning to read in Vietnamese: kindergarten precursors to first grade fluency and reading comprehension

Reading and Writing - Measures of decoding and oral language have been shown to predict early reading comprehension across a wide variety of languages, though the timeframe and strength of the...     

Contextual effects on predicting risk for reading difficulties in first and second grade

This study utilized early reading assessment data from a randomized trial of 210 urban and rural schools in Texas to examine contextual effects on risk prediction in first and second grade. The primary objective was to examine the roles of (a) individual differences, (b) the grade 1 classroom, and (c) the pairing of first and second grade teachers in determining grade 2 outcomes in word reading and fluency. A second objective was to investigate whether the administration format of the assessment (paper, paper plus desktop, handheld plus desktop) or the level of teacher support (web mentoring, no mentoring) moderated the prediction. These moderator variables proved not to be significant. Subsequent analyses found that a combination of student pretest and mean of pretest classroom was a better predictor than student pretest alone. Additionally, the effect of student scores varied by teacher-pair. On average, intraclass correlations (ICCs) ranged from 6% to 17%. Differences in ICCs at the classroom level were much greater than at the school level, and differences in urban schools were twice that of rural schools.     

Exploring connections among reading,spelling, and phonemic segmentation during first grade

Exploratory data analysis was used to examine changes in individual reading and spelling patterns during first grade. Subjects were from classrooms receiving, on average, 45 minutes compared to 15 minutes of daily letter-sound instruction. Subjects spelled and read 60 words in October, February, and May, and deleted sounds from spoken words. Spelling and reading responses progressed from nonphonetic, to phonetic, to correct. Additionally, knowledge of a word's spelling informed its reading, while the converse was less apparent. Finally, those slow to improve in phoneme deletion were also slow to spell and read phonetically, especially among subjects receiving less instruction in letter-sound relations.     

Correction to: Phonological task comparability in Arabic and relation to reading: a longitudinal assessment in kindergarten and first grade

Reading and Writing - In the original publication of the article formatting of Arabic words was incorrectly published.     

Writing instruction in first grade: an observational study

As schools work to meet the ambitious Common Core State Standards in writing in the US, instructional approaches are likely to be examined (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). However, there is little research on the current state of instruction. This study was designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of first-grade writing instruction across 13 schools in one state in the US. Daylong observations were conducted four times during the year in 50 first-grade classrooms. Using a time-sampled, observational protocol, observers coded multiple dimensions of instruction, including grouping, instructional focus, teacher instructional activity, and student writing activity. Results revealed that writing was taught for less than 30 min a day on average, and instruction in skills or process writing was common. Most instruction was organized in whole-class settings with teachers either presenting information or asking students questions. Variability in the amount and focus of writing instruction and in student writing activity was examined at the classroom and school levels. A small number of classrooms and schools were identified with distinctive patterns in their approach to instruction and writing activity. Several moderate relationships were found between the writing instructional focus and the nature of student writing. These findings suggest that first-grade writing instruction is inconsistent across classrooms and schools and point to instructional implications for teachers and schools in the US.     

Investigating profiles of lexical quality in preschool and their contribution to first grade reading

This longitudinal study investigated profiles of lexical quality domains in preschool children and the extent to which profile membership predicted reading comprehension in first grade. A latent profile analysis was conducted to classify 420 preschool children on lexical quality domains, including orthography, phonology, morphosyntax, and vocabulary. Regression analysis was used to determine whether profile membership was associated with first grade outcomes across reading comprehension and its components (i.e., listening comprehension and word recognition). Results revealed five profiles of lexical quality which were predictive of all three outcomes in first grade. Children in low lexical quality profiles performed more poorly on the outcome measures than children in the higher lexical quality profiles. Additionally, profile membership did differentially predict later reading outcomes. These results suggest that lexical quality profiles are associated with reading and therefore may offer a means of early identification of children who are susceptible to future reading difficulties.     

Contributions of print exposure to first and second grade oral language and reading in Chile

This study examines the contribution of print exposure to oral language (expressive vocabulary and listening comprehension) and reading (word reading and reading comprehension) in first and second grade in Chile, and tests whether the contribution of print exposure to reading comprehension is mediated by language and word reading skills. Two‐hundred and eighty one children (mean age 6.55 years) participated. Print exposure was measured with a book‐cover recognition task in first grade, and outcomes were measured both in first and second grade. Print exposure had direct effects on all outcomes in first grade and indirect effects in second grade. Effects on first grade reading comprehension were partially mediated by listening comprehension and word reading, but not vocabulary. We discuss the importance of the findings for improving reading comprehension in countries with low access to books.     

Indexing response to intervention: a longitudinal study of reading risk from kindergarten through third grade

In this study, response to intervention and stability of reading performance of 41 kindergarten children identified as at risk of reading difficulty were evaluated from kindergarten through third grade. All students were assessed in the fall of each academic year to evaluate need for intervention, and students who fell below the 30th percentile on criterion measures received small-group supplemental intervention. Measures included a combination of commercial normative referenced measures and specific skill and construct measures to assess growth or change in reading risk status relative to 30th percentile benchmarks. Results indicated that consistent with the findings of prior research involving students with comparable entry-level performance, the majority of children identified as at risk in the beginning of kindergarten responded early and positively to intervention. On average, absolute performance levels at the end of kindergarten positioned students for trajectories of later reading performance that exceeded the 50th percentile on the majority of measures. Moreover, changes in risk status that occurred early were generally sustained over time. Only oral reading fluency performance failed to exceed the 30th percentile for the majority of students.     

Modeling the response of normally achieving and at-risk first grade children to word reading instruction

The purpose of this study was to identify important subject characteristics that predicted individual differences in responsiveness to word reading instruction in normally achieving and at-risk first grade children. This was accomplished by modeling individual word and nonword reading growth, and the correlates of change in these skills, in first grade students during two different phases of the school year. In the first phase of the study (October–January), word and nonword reading skill was modeled in normally achieving and at-risk children. Results of growth modeling indicated significant group differences in word and nonword reading growth parameters. A combination of phonemic awareness skill, advanced graphophoneme knowledge, and initial word/nonword reading skill predicted word and nonword reading growth in the control group, whereas, a combination of rapid naming speed, letter sound knowledge, and phonemic awareness skill predicted word and nonword reading growth in the at-risk group. In the second phase of the study (January–April), a subgroup of the at-risk subjects who exhibited limited growth in word reading skills during the first phase of the study was enrolled in 12 weeks of small group reading intervention designed to improve reading skills. Results of growth modeling indicated significant increases in word and nonword reading growth rates in this group during the intervention phase. Only rapid naming speed uniquely predicted word and nonword reading growth in the group of subjects receiving intervention.