The effect of extra time on reading comprehension scores for university students with and without learning disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of extra time on the ability of university students with and without learning disabilities to complete a reading comprehension test under timed and extra-time conditions. The participants were 16 students identified as having learning disabilities and 15 normally achieving students, all attending the University of California. The Nelson-Denny Reading Comprehension and Reading Rate Test was used. Percentile ranks were obtained for reading rates on individuals, and for comprehension scores under timed and extra-time conditions. The major findings of this study were that there is a significant difference between scores obtained by students with learning disabilities and by normally achieving students under timed conditions and that there are no significant differences in test performance between students with learning disabilities and normally achieving university students when students with learning disabilities are provided extra time. Normally achieving students did not perform significantly better with extra time.     

Reading Comprehension Tests Vary in the Skills They Assess: Differential Dependence on Decoding and Oral Comprehension

Comprehension tests are often used interchangeably, suggesting an implicit assumption that they are all measuring the same thing. We examine the validity of this assumption by comparing some of the most popular reading comprehension measures used in research and clinical practice in the United States: the Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT), the two assessments (retellings and comprehension questions) from the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI), the Woodcock–Johnson Passage Comprehension subtest (WJPC), and the Reading Comprehension test from the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT). Modest intercorrelations among the tests suggested that they were measuring different skills. Regression analyses showed that decoding, not listening comprehension, accounts for most of the variance in both the PIAT and the WJPC; the reverse holds for the GORT and both QRI measures. Large developmental differences in what the tests measure were found for the PIAT and the WJPC, but not the other tests, both when development was measured by chronological age and by word reading ability. We discuss the serious implications for research and clinical practice of having different comprehension tests measure different skills and of having the same test assess different skills depending on developmental level.     

Measures of Reading Comprehension: A Latent Variable Analysis of the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading Comprehension

This study compares 2 measures of reading comprehension: (a) the Woodcock-Johnson Passage Comprehension test, a standard in reading research, and (b) the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading Comprehension (DARC), an innovative measure. Data from 192 Grade 3 Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) were used to fit a series of latent variable analyses designed to explicitly test the discriminant validity and differential determinants of the 2 measures. Findings indicated that the 2 measures are related (r =. 61) but distinct, and influenced by different factors. The DARC is less strongly related to word-level skills and more strongly related to measures of narrative language production and memory. Both tests are equally influenced by measures of nonverbal reasoning. These differential patterns of relations, which cannot be explained on the basis of differential reliabilities, reflect true differences in the processing demands of the tests for 3rd-grade ELLs.     

Cognitive processes separating good and poor readers when IQ is covaried

In this paper we address the issue of separating reading disability from general intelligence in order to identify those cognitive processes which discriminate between poor and good readers when intelligence is covaried. Subjects were 140 Grade 5 and 6 students who were administered Lorge-Thorndike intelligence test (1964), a reading decoding test and cognitive tests which measure planning, attention-arousal and simultaneous-successive processing. The tests which emerged as discriminators between good and poor readers when Lorge-Thorndike full scale IQ was covaried, were three measures of successive processing (Sequence Repetition, Naming Time, Speech Rate) and a measure of selective attention, the familiar Stroop Color-Word test. Subsequently, a comparison of reading disabled high and low average IQ children confirmed that the four tests were performed poorly by both groups. All four tests involve the use of articulatory representation, confirming the important role speech-related processes play in reading (decoding). The results support the notion that deficient speech-related processes may be the central problem of the majority of poor readers, especially those of above-average intelligence. Future directions for research on phonological coding and articulation were suggested.     

Heritability in syntactic development: a critique of Munsinger and Douglass

Munsinger and Douglass (Child Development, 1976, 47, 40-50) used the Assessment of Children's Language Comprehension and the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test as measures of syntactic ability to investigate the heritability factor in language acquisition. By comparing the concordance of scores of twins and siblings, they concluded that heritability was the important variable in test performance (h2 = .79) and that environmental influences were not much over, 10. In the present critique, weaknesses regarding test measures are pointed out, and the validity of these measures for the ages of the children used in the study is questioned. It is also emphasized that the question of environmental effects in normal circumstances remains unquantified, and research indicates that language intervention programs with deficient populations can be beneficial.     

Experimental evidence of the relative effectiveness of problem-based learning for knowledge acquisition and retention

This study investigated the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on knowledge acquisition and knowledge retention in a controlled experiment in a lab setting. Eighty-eight first-year psychology students were randomly assigned to either a PBL condition, a lecture condition, or a self-study condition. All participants had the opportunity to study the same text. Their knowledge acquisition was tested on both an immediate post-test and a delayed post-test, one week later. The results showed beneficial effects for the PBL group on the immediate and the delayed test compared to the lecture group. There were no differences between knowledge acquisition scores for the self-study condition and either of the other conditions. Moreover, no differences on knowledge retention were shown, because the decline in performance over time was equal in all conditions. In conclusion, the present study provides experimentally based evidence of the disadvantageous effects of instruction through lectures compared to PBL.     

Sex and grade differences and learning rate in an intensive summer reading clinic

In a long-term study of student progress in the Loyola University of the South Summer Reading Clinic, patterns of variance for sex and grade level were examined. Three assessment tools were used: the Nelson Reading Test (Vocabulary and Paragraph Comprehension) for grades four through eight, the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test (Vocabulary and Comprehension) for grades one through three, and the Spache Diagnostic Reading Scales (Instructional [oral] and Independent [silent] subtests) for all students. Subjects were 684 public and private school students in grades one through eight referred to the Clinic over an eight-year period. All were referred for possible reading disabilities. Because reading disabled males outnumber reading disabled females in the general population, the Clinic's data were examined to elucidate the comparative success rates of boys and girls in an intensive reading clinic setting. Grade differences also were examined to find significant differences in rate of learning among different grades. Females outscored males significantly on all measures. Both a difference in performance among grades and a difference in rate of learning among grades were shown.     

Effects of math anxiety and perfectionism on timed versus untimed math testing in mathematically gifted sixth graders

This study was designed to examine the effects of math anxiety and perfectionism on math performance, under timed testing conditions, among mathematically gifted sixth graders. We found that participants had worse math performance during timed versus untimed testing, but this difference was statistically significant only when the timed condition preceded the untimed condition. We also found that children with higher levels of either math anxiety or perfectionism had a smaller performance discrepancy during timed versus untimed testing, relative to children with lower levels of math anxiety or perfectionism. There were no statistically significant gender differences in overall test performance, nor in levels of math anxiety or perfectionism; however, the difference between performance on timed and untimed math testing was statistically significant for girls, but not for boys. Implications for educators are discussed.     

Instructional Procedures for Increasing Skill‐Deficient Fourth Graders’ Comprehension of Syntactic Structures

Comprehension of pronoun‐referent structures has been shown to cause difficulty for children throughout the middle grades. This study investigated the effectiveness of a pronoun‐specific approach using principles of systematic instruction in teaching students to identify pronoun antecedents and to answer factual questions based on this knowledge. This approach was contrasted to both a retell method (where the students practised paraphrasing the text) and a no intervention condition. Forty‐five fourth grade students (identified by a screening test as skill deficient) were randomly assigned to one of these three treatment groups. Students in both the pronoun‐specific and the retell group received 20 minutes of individual instruction per day for three consecutive days. On the day following treatment, all three groups were given two tests, one assessing the identification of pronoun‐referent structures and one requiring the child to answer factual questions based on the comprehension of these structures. Maintenance tests were given two weeks later. All passages in the teaching sessions and the test materials were selected from social studies or science texts currently approved for school district use. Results of an analysis of variance with planned comparisons indicated a significant difference favouring the pronoun‐specific group on the identification of pronoun antecedents. These results were also replicated on the maintenance test. No significant differences were found on measures of factual comprehension.     

Disruption of temporal discrimination and the choose-short effect

The present experiment examined the effects of several disruptors on temporal discrimination. Pigeons responded under a 0-delay symbolic matching-to-sample procedure in which responses to one key color were reinforced following the presentation of four shorter sample durations, and responses to another key color were reinforced following the presentation of four longer sample durations. Steady-state performance was disrupted by presession feeding, intertrial-interval food, visual distraction, and extinction. All disruptors decreased temporal-discrimination accuracy. Analyses of the fitted cumulative normal functions indicated that decreases in accuracy were produced mainly by decreases in overall stimulus control rather than specific effects on timing. In addition, all disruptors selectively decreased accuracy on long-sample trials—a choose-short effect. This effect is interpreted in terms of decreased attention to the samples under disruption. Current theories of the choose-short effect do not appear to easily account for these results.     

A comparison of the PIAT and WRAT: A closer look

A sample of 46 white fourth-grade pupils was administered the PPVT, WRAT, and PIAT, except for PIAT Reading Comprehension and General Information. Subjects were selected randomly from those pupils whom classroom teachers judged to be doing at least average academic work. Mean grade equivalents, as well as intercorrelations, were examined for PIAT and WRAT subtests. No sex differences were found for PPVT IQ, age, or most achievement scores. Mean grade equivalents generally ranged between the sixth-and seventh-grade levels. Nearly all PIAT-WRAT intercorrelations were positive and significant, and highest for the similarly labelled subtests. Substantial differences were noted in mean grade equivalents. WRAT Reading and Spelling exceeded their PIAT counterparts by approximately one grade level. In contrast, PIAT Mathematics exceeded WRAT Arithmetic by more than one grade level. The possible effects of differences in item content and task structures on performance were discussed. Implications for practitioners involved in psychoeducational evaluations were considered.     

SELF-REPORT PREDICTORS: A REMINDER1

How do tests and self-reports compare as predictors of academic performance? Do tests add to the predictability from self-reports? College seniors in eight sections of an evaluation course were administered the Quantitative Evaluative Device, the Cooperative English Test: Reading Comprehension, the Concept Mastery Test, and two questionnaires concerning past academic performance, student-estimated abilities, and reading habits. The criteria were composite test scores and letter grades. The best predictors were two self-reported variables, GPA and grade in an educational psychology course, and a test variable, the QED. Multiple Rs using questionnaire data for the predictors were increased slightly by adding the test scores, but on cross-validation the rs for the two predictor sets were essentially identical. The utility of the tests, then, was not supported either by zero-order correlations or by cross-validated increments. Therefore an investigator is reminded at least to include self-report measures in his set of predictors.     

Student Attitudes Toward Child Behavior Problems

Abstract

This study investigated differences in verbal ability and school achievement of bilingual and monolingual children in grades 3,4, and 5. American children attending a Department of Defense school at Camp Zama, Japan, were classified as bilingual or monolingual based on information provided by parents. Children were also classified as being of high, middle, or low nonverbal ability in terms of the Nonverbal score of the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Tests. Dependent variables were the Lorge-Thorndike Verbal Score and the 15 scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. At grade 3, bilingual and monolingual children performed similarly. By grade 4, monolingual children performed noticeably better than bilingual children on verbal or language type tests, and in grade 5 the differences were even more substantial. On relatively nonverbal tests, bilingual and monolingual children continued to perform similarly.     

Impact of a Technology-Mediated Reading Intervention on Adolescents' Reading Comprehension

In this experimental study we examined the effects of a technology-mediated, multicomponent reading comprehension intervention, Comprehension Circuit Training (CCT), for middle school students, the majority of whom were struggling readers. The study was conducted in three schools, involving three teachers and 228 students. Using a within-teacher design, middle school teachers' reading classes were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 9) or business as usual (n = 7) conditions. In the CCT condition, students received, on average, 39 lessons of video-modeled instruction in word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension instruction during reading intervention classes. Results of multilevel structural equation models indicated statistically significant effects favoring the CCT condition on three measures: reading comprehension latent variable (ES = 0.14), proximal vocabulary (ES = 0.43), and silent reading efficiency (ES = 0.28). Subgroup analyses indicated that students with lower entry-level reading comprehension tended to benefit more from the CCT intervention in reading comprehension, silent reading efficiency, and state test scores.     

Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text in High School Social Studies Classes

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text intervention implemented with 11th-grade students enrolled in U.S. History classes. Using a within-teacher randomized design, the study was conducted in 41 classes (23 treatment classes) with 14 teachers providing the treatment. Students in the treatment condition performed significantly better than students in the typical instruction comparison condition on a measure of content acquisition at posttest (ES = 0.36), as well as 4 (ES =.22) and 12 (ES =.24) weeks following treatment. There were no differences between treatment and comparison groups on measures of social studies reading comprehension or more general reading comprehension.     

Predicting reading performance using the slingerland procedures

The purpose in this study was to examine predictive relationships between the Slingerland Pre- Reading Screening Procedures and performance on measures of word recognition and reading comprehension. Longitudinal data were collected on 104 children administered the Slingerland Procedures in kindergarten and the Stanford Achievement Test at first, third, and fifth grades. Outcome measures included achievement subtests, Word Study Skills, Reading Comprehension, Reading and Listening Total. Significant relationships were found between Slingerland measures and reading outcomes. However, prediction varied across grades and according to the measure of reading used. Listening contributed to reading comprehension but not to word recognition, and visual skills influenced early but not later reading performance. Gender and socioeconomic status influenced the strength of associations.     

Problem Solving and Prior Learning

The effects of conceptual hierarchies as supplemental aids to textual materials was investigated. Sixty-five fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students were given a 1000-word reading passage describing the real number system. One group received a conceptual hierarchy in addition to the text; one group was asked to draw this hierarchy from the information in the text; a control group read the text. The group that was provided with the hierarchy scored significantly better than the control on Production and Comprehension subtests. The ineffectiveness of the draw hierarchy treatment was due to the inability of subjects to construct the hierarchy. Those able to complete the hierarchy scored significantly higher than control on Production and Comprehension subscores and on the total test. No differences were found between the successful drawers and the group provided with a hierarchy.     

OPTIMAL NUMBER OF OPTIONS: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE ASSUMPTION OF PROPORTIONALITY

One assumption common to all models for determining the optimal number of options per item (e. g., Lord, 1977) is that total testing time is proportional to the number of items and the number of options per item. Therefore, under this assumption given a fixed testing time, the test can be shortened or lengthened by deleting or adding a proportional number of options. The present study examines the validity of this assumption in three tests which were administered with 2, 3, 4, and 5 options per item. The number of items attempted in the first 10 and 15 minutes of the testing session and the time needed to complete the tests were recorded. Thus, the rate of performance for both fixed time and fixed test length was analyzed. A strong and consistently negative relationship between rate of performance and the number of options was detected in all tests. Thus, the empirical results did not support the assumption of proportionality. Furthermore, the data indicated that the method by which options are deleted can play a role in this context. A more realistic assumption of generalized proportionality, proposed by Grier (1976), was supported by the results from a Mathematical Reasoning test, but was only partially supported for a Vocabulary and a Reading Comprehension test.     

Arithmetic disabilities and ADD subtypes: implications for DSM-IV

This study investigated whether specific academic deficits were associated with attention-deficit disorder (ADD) subtypes. Twenty students (ages 8-12) with attention-deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD/H) were compared to 20 students with attention-deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADD/noH). Group differences were compared using a MANCOVA, and paired t tests were used to compare within-group differences. Dependent variables for the within-group differences were four achievement subtest scores from the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised: Letter-Word Identification, Passage Comprehension, Calculation, and Applied Problems. Consistent with much of the previous research, no significant between-group differences were found on the achievement measures. Significant differences did, however, appear in the six within-group comparisons, all involving lower performance on the Math Calculations subtest. For students with ADD/H, only one comparison (with Math Applied Problems) reached significance. Students with ADD/noH, however, had significantly lower scores on the Calculation subtest compared to all of the other achievement subtests. These results provided additional support for the hypothesis that inattention exerts a specific and deleterious effect on the acquisition of arithmetic computation skills. These findings have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD as conceptualized in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), because they suggest that students with ADHD-Predominantly Inattentive Type may be at increased risk for arithmetic calculation deficits.     

Private room as a test accommodation

The effects of a private vs. group test setting were examined on a reading comprehension test for a sample of typical college students. Participants took Forms G and H of the Nelson Denny Reading Comprehension Test in both private and group (classroom) settings. Contrary to expectations, performance was slightly better in the group setting. Performance was also better during the second session, regardless of setting. There was no setting by session interaction. The correlation between scores in the two settings was quite high, indicating that both settings produced similar results. The findings suggest that a private room does not produce a performance advantage for typical students, thus meeting one of the criteria of a valid test accommodation.