Tourette syndrome and learning disabilities.

We reviewed the records of 42 consecutive cases of children with Tourette Syndrome (TS) who had IQs above 70, and contrasted the reading, reading comprehension, math, and spelling quotients with IQ scores to determine how many would meet criteria for a learning disability. The mean IQ of the 35 males and 7 females was 94.4 and was higher than the mean math score (82.8), spelling score (90.4), reading score (87.4), and reading comprehension score (85.3). Using a 1.5 standard deviation discrepancy, 51% met criteria for learning disability in at least one academic area; 21% had a 2-standard-deviation discrepancy. Children with TS frequently have learning disabilities, and assessment of academic achievement should be a routine aspect in the evaluation of such children.     

Reading and Mathematics Attainments and Self-esteem in Years 2 and 6 - an eight-year cross-sectional study

This eight-year cross-sectional study measured the self-esteem, reading and mathematical attainments of eight cohorts of Year 2 and Year 6 children over the period of the introduction of the National Curriculum and assessment procedures into primary schools (the first cohort was pre-national curriculum: the others were post-national curriculum). All Year 2 (N=1513) and Year 6 children (N=1488) in five randomly selected primary schools within one Local Education Authority (LEA) comprised the sample to which the Lawseq questionnaire (Lawrence, 1982), Mathematics 7 or 11 (National Foundation for Educational Research, 1985, 1987a) and The Primary Reading Test Level 1 or 2 (France, 1981) was administered. Self-esteem means for Year 2 shows a downward trend in the first 4 years of the study followed by an upward trend in the second half of the study with the mean of Cohort 8 being slightly below that of Cohort 1. Self-esteem means for Year 6 fluctuated for the first 5 years followed by a steady rise until the mean for Cohort 8 is 2.17 above that of Cohort 1. An analysis of variance showed there were significant differences between both years groups with cohorts focused around the introduction of the national tests having significantly different scores than other cohorts (Year 2 significantly lower: Year 6 significantly higher). Overall, there were significant positive correlations between the children's self-esteem and all their attainment scores. When the correlation coefficients were computed separately for the pre- and post-national test groups differences emerged. There were no significant correlations for the Year 2 pre-national test cohorts but for the post-national test groups all the correlations were significant. For Year 6 all correlations were significant. Discussion centres on the possible link between national testing and self-esteem.     

Reading Standards in Aberdeen 1962‐72

The 1962 reading survey in Aberdeen was repeated in 1972, with 99 per cent coverage of year‐groups (over 2,500) of 8‐year old and 11‐year‐old pupils: Reading comprehension tests used were NFER Sentence Reading Test AD and Test NS6. The 1972 averages on these tests were within one point of score of the 1962 averages: at age eight, the average was slightly but not significantly higher in 1972; at age 11, it was slightly and significantly lower. The children whose fathers were in semi‐skilled or unskilled jobs showed a particularly sharp decline in average performance over the ten‐year interval, whereas the standard of performance had improved or been maintained among children from professional homes.     

Boys Outperforming Girls: an 8‐year cross‐sectional study of attainment and self‐esteem in Year 6

This 8‐year cross‐sectional study measured the self‐esteem, reading and mathematical attainments of eight cohorts of Year 6 children. A total of 1488 children (737 boys, 751 girls) in five randomly selected primary schools within one Local Education Authority (LEA) comprised the sample to which the Lawseq questionnaire (Lawrence, 1982), Mathematics 11 (NFER, 1985) and the Primary Reading Test Level 2 (France, 1981) were administered. Differences in attainment related to gender were found in mathematics, but not in reading, with boys significantly outperforming girls (at the 5% level). The percentage of boys who scored significantly above the mean in mathematics and significantly below the mean in reading contrasted with the girls’ more compressed scores in the middle range. The national test data for Cohorts 7 and 8 followed the national pattern with girls outperforming boys. Boys had significantly higher self‐esteem than the girls (at the 0.1% level). Correlation coefficients between Lawseq and mathematics and reading mean scores for boys and girls were all significant at the 0.1% level. The findings are discussed in relation to the current debate concerning the low performance of boys.     

Effect of attention therapy on reading comprehension

This study quantified the influence of visual attention therapy on the reading comprehension of Grade 6 children with moderate reading disabilities (RD) in the absence of specific reading remediation. Thirty students with below-average reading scores were identified using standardized reading comprehension tests. Fifteen children were placed randomly in the experimental group and 15 in the control group. The Attention Battery of the Cognitive Assessment System was administered to all participants. The experimental group received 12 one-hour sessions of individually monitored, computer-based attention therapy programs; the control group received no therapy during their 12-week period. Each group was retested on attention and reading comprehension measures. In order to stimulate selective and sustained visual attention, the vision therapy stressed various aspects of arousal, activation, and vigilance. At the completion of attention therapy, the mean standard attention and reading comprehension scores of the experimental group had improved significantly. The control group, however, showed no significant improvement in reading comprehension scores after 12 weeks. Although uncertainties still exist, this investigation supports the notion that visual attention is malleable and that attention therapy has a significant effect on reading comprehension in this often neglected population.     

Reading comprehension in French 1st and 2nd grade children: Contribution of decoding and language comprehension

This paper reports a study conducted with French first-grade and second-grade children (mean age: 6;8 and 7;8 respectively). The first aim was to re-examine the Gough and Tunmer’s (1986) Simple View in assessing the specific contribution of decoding ability and language comprehension to reading comprehension. The second one was to analyse the difficulties of children in reading comprehension. Reading and listening comprehension were assessed using both visual and auditory version of the same test. Decoding ability was assessed by means of a nonword reading test. On the basis of reading comprehension scores, skilled and less skilled comprehenders were contrasted, and then two groups of less skilled comprehenders were differentiated on the basis of the decoding scores. Hierarchical regression analyses computed on the whole sample showed that listening comprehension was a more powerful predictor than decoding ability in first- and second-grade children. In both grades, the pattern of performance in less skilled comprehenders showed a relative independence between decoding and reading comprehension. The good decoders’ group and the poor decoders’ group showed similar poor performance in reading comprehension and poor performance in listening comprehension. However, their difficulties could stem from different sources. Some instructional recommendations were formulated taking into account individual differences in decoding and spoken language abilities, as soon as the first months of formal reading acquisition.     

Counting the Cost‐‐monitoring standards in mathematics in Year 6: an eight‐year cross‐sectional study

The National Curriculum was introduced into British primary schools in 1989 to raise standards of attainment, especially in the basic skills of English and mathematics. Has this expensive innovation succeeded? This paper analyses the mathematics standards of eight cohorts of Year 6 children from five randomly selected primary schools within one Local Education Authority (n=1503) who had all done Mathematics 11 from 1989 to 1996. Examination of the means of the standardised mathematics scores for each cohort reveals no evidence of rising standards in attainment over the eight years. There are fewer over‐ and underachievers than one would expect with a tendency for compression of scores around the mean. This paper questions the efficacy of the National Curriculum, assessment procedures and the publication of school performance tables in raising standards in mathematics at Key Stage 2. The need for an effective system of monitoring educational standards throughout the UK is reiterated.     

Role of visual attention in cognitive control of oculomotor readiness in students with reading disabilities

This study investigated eye movement and comprehension therapy in Grade 6 children with reading disabilities (RD). Both order of therapy and type of therapy were examined. Furthermore, the implications of visual attention in ameliorating reading disability are discussed. Thirty-one students with RD were identified using standardized reading comprehension tests. Eye movements were analyzed objectively using an infra-red recording device. Reading scores of participating children were 0.5 to 1 SD below the national mean. Testing took place before the start of therapy (T1) and was repeated after 12 weeks (T2) and 24 weeks (T3) of therapy. One group of students had eye movement therapy first, followed by comprehension therapy; in the other group, the order was reversed. Data were evaluated using a repeated measures MANOVA and post hoc tests. At T1, mean reading grade was 2 years below grade level, and eye movement scores were at about Grade 2 level. Mean growth in reading comprehension for the total sample was 2.6 years (p < .01) at T3; equally significant improvement was measured in eye movements (p < .01). Learning rate in reading comprehension improved from 60% (T1) to 400% (T3). Although within-group differences were statistically significant, between-group differences were not significant for comprehension or eye movements. Order of therapy (comprehension first or eye movements first) was not significant. Improvements in within-group scores for comprehension and eye movements were consistently significant at T2 and T3. Eye movement therapy improved eye movements and also resulted in significant gains in reading comprehension. Comprehension therapy likewise produced improvement both in eye movement efficiency and in reading comprehension. The results support the notion of a cognitive link among visual attention, oculomotor readiness, and reading comprehension.     

No student left behind? Evidence from the Programme for School Guidance in Spain

This paper evaluates the effects of a remedial education programme implemented in Spain between 2005 and 2012 that offered after-school classes for underperforming students from poor socioeconomic backgrounds. We use two different estimation strategies, re-weighting estimators and propensity score matching, and address the existence of selection bias. We find that this programme had a substantial positive effect on children’s academic achievement: the probability of falling behind the general progress of the group declined by between 3.5 and 6.4 percentage points and mean reading scores increased by between 8.5 and 17.4% of one standard deviation. We also find that a larger exposure to the programme improves students’ scores: whereas students in schools that participated in the programme for at most two years do not experience any significant positive effect, those in schools that participated for at least three years did. The programme significantly reduced the probability of belonging to the bottom part of the distribution (by between 3.2 and 7.7 percentage points) and improved mean scores (by between 8 and 21.5% of one standard deviation). Finally, we find that the impact of the programme is much stronger for students in rural schools than for students in urban schools.     

Risk factors in early child development: Is prenatal cocaine/poly-drug exposure a key variable?

In order to explore the possible confounding effects of age, race, sex, and socioeconomic status on developmental outcomes of prenatal cocaine exposure, two matched samples of preschoolers (20 children with cocaine/polydrug in utero exposure and 20 children with no prenatal drug exposure) were compared on the Stanford-Binet: 4th ed. (S-B: 4th ed.), Social Skills Rating System, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale—Survey Form, Preschool Language Scale: 3rd ed. (PLS: 3rd ed.), and the Child Behavior Checklist. None of the 40 children had attended or were currently enrolled in preschool programs. Both groups had scores approximately one standard deviation below the expected mean in social skills, auditory comprehension, and expressive language. Likewise, externalizing behavior difficulties were approximately one standard deviation above the mean for both groups. Results suggest in utero drug exposure had no independent impact on cognitive, social, language, and behavioral developmental outcomes when the confounding variables of age, ethnicity, gender, and SES were controlled. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Relations between the comprehension of connectives and school performance in primary school

The comprehension of connectives, which still develops across primary school age, is an important facet of academic language proficiency. We investigated relations between the comprehension of connectives and school performance in primary school. Drawing on two cohorts with a total of 294 students and two measurement points either in Grades 2 and 3 (Cohort 1; n = 139) or in Grades 3 and 4 (Cohort 2; n = 155), we found positive effects of children's performance on a newly developed test on the comprehension of connectives on reading comprehension and mathematics one year later while considering, amongst others, the families' socioeconomic status, children's nonverbal cognitive abilities, and receptive grammar. Overall, data showed even more pronounced effects of the comprehension of connectives on test scores compared to school grades. Results are discussed with respect to the specific importance of the comprehension of connectives for school performance in primary school.     

Reading Comprehension of Dutch Deaf Children

In this study, the reading comprehension of deaf children and adolescents in the Netherlands is examined along with their word identification. The reading comprehension of 464 deaf students and the word identification of 504 deaf students between 6 and 20 years of age was examined. The results show the reading comprehension scores of deaf children to be far below the scores of hearing children. On average, the deaf subjects scored at a level equivalent to a hearing child in the first grade. The word identification scores of the deaf children, however, were almost equivalent to the scores of hearing children. Although reading comprehension and word identification appear to be related, this relation does not completely explain the comprehension difficulties encountered by deaf children. Additional factors are required to explain deaf children’s difficulties with reading comprehension.     

Neuropsychological correlates of vocabulary, reading, and working memory in deaf children with cochlear implants

The performance of deaf children with cochlear implants was assessed using measures standardized on hearing children. To investigate nonverbal cognitive and sensorimotor processes associated with postimplant variability, five selected sensorimotor and visuospatial subtests from A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY) were compared with standardized vocabulary, reading, and digit span measures. Participants were 26 deaf children, ages 6-14 years, who received a cochlear implant between ages 1 and 6 years; duration of implant use ranged from 3 to 11 years. Results indicated significant correlations between standard scores on the Design Copying subtest of the NEPSY and standard scores on vocabulary comprehension, reading, and digit span measures. The results contribute to our understanding of the benefits of cochlear implantation and cognitive processes that may support postimplant language and academic functioning.     

Preventing a summer slide in reading – the effects of a summer school

ABSTRACT

Researchers have found that summer reading loss contributes to the reading achievement gap between low and high socioeconomic (SES) children. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a 3-week summer intervention in addressing this slide for 36 low SES children compared with another 36 children in a matched control group from one New Zealand school. The program involved one-to-one tutoring with explicit phonics instruction, high-frequency word-reading practice and application of these skills in reading age-appropriate texts. Results showed that although the mean reading comprehension slide was 5.8 months for both groups, the summer school group had higher word reading scores than the control group. The summer school participants showed improvements in phonological recoding ability, word reading, spelling and passage reading accuracy. These were not sufficient to stop the reading comprehension slide, but the program did make inroads. With further emphasis on comprehension strategies, the achievement gap may narrow.     

Standards in Mathematics in Year 6: what do the Key Stage 2 national tests tell us?

This paper assesses the value that can be put on the Key Stage 2 (KS2) Mathematics national test scores as indicators of what children are achieving in mathematics and whether standards are rising. The results of a cross‐sectional study of all the Year 6 children (187 in 1995, 190 in 1996) from five randomly selected primary schools within one Local Education Authority (LEA) are compared. Pupils’ scores on Mathematics 11 (NFER, 1985) are compared. Results show an improvement in the attainment level of children in 1996 compared to those in 1995 on the national tests, with a higher percentage achieving Level 4 or above in the second year. However, examination of the means for each year‐group indicates that the mean NFER score for each national test level is significantly lower (0.1 % level) in 1996 than 1995. It would seem that there is a need to view apparently rising standards, as measured solely by national test results, with a degree of caution.     

Cognitive-linguistic skills and motivation as longitudinal predictors of reading and arithmetic achievement: A follow-up study from kindergarten to grade 2

This 3-year longitudinal study examined how motivational tendencies, that is, task orientation and social dependence orientation, as well as cognitive-linguistic prerequisites of reading and math skills (i.e., phonological awareness, rapid naming, oral language comprehension skills, number sequence and basic arithmetic skills) measured in kindergarten (5–6 years), in preschool (6–7 years), and in grade 1, predict decoding, reading comprehension and arithmetic achievement in grade 2. Moreover, the motivational-developmental profiles of children with prospective learning difficulties were compared to the profiles of averagely achieving children. The participants were 139 Finnish-speaking children. Results from regression analyses showed that rapid naming was a unique longitudinal predictor of later decoding skills. Oral comprehension skills accounted for a unique variance in reading comprehension at every time point examined. Motivational orientations started to make unique contributions to subsequent decoding accuracy, reading comprehension and arithmetic from preschool onwards, over and above the effects of prior linguistic and math skills. High task orientation was beneficial for beginning reading, whereas high social dependence orientation was detrimental for reading comprehension and arithmetic. Students who fell behind of others both in reading comprehension and arithmetic experienced the most unfavourable development of motivation already during the first term in grade 1. Implications for instructional practices are discussed.     

Can reading disabilities be diagnosed without using intelligence tests?

Unlike conventional procedures, which use IQ in making diagnostic and eligibility decisions regarding learning disabilities, this demonstration study used listening comprehension and other reading-related tasks to make a differential diagnosis of reading disabilities. Tests of listening and reading comprehension were administered to 180 children from Grades 3 through 8. A regression equation was then derived to predict reading comprehension from listening comprehension. The regression equation was applied to the listening comprehension scores of seven children from Grades 3 to 8 who had reading difficulties, and their reading comprehension was predicted. Based on the discrepancy between their actual reading comprehension and the predicted reading comprehension, their reading difficulty was attributed to one of the following three factors: (a) poor decoding, (b) poor comprehension, or (c) a combination of poor decoding and poor comprehension. The validity of these diagnostic decisions was assessed by testing independently these children's word-decoding skill and reading speed. The results suggest that this diagnostic procedure has potential utility.     

Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension‐fostering and Comprehension‐monitoring Activities with Ten Primary School Girls

Abstract This paper reports an experimental evaluation of a direct instruction procedure in which children are taught and practise activities to both foster and monitor their comprehension while reading. Three different class groups of low comprehenders, Standard 4, Form 1 and Form 2, were serially exposed to 21 days of 20‐25 minutes instruction in four study activities: summarising, questioning, clarifying and predicting. Instruction was by reciprocal teaching whereby the adult tutor and children took turns leading a dialogue centred around the important topics of the instructional text. The design of this study incorporated both with‐subjects multiple baseline and between‐subjects comparisons, the no treatment comparison groups being average and above average comprehending class peers. Daily comprehension assessment on a different text at the same difficulty level as that used for reciprocal teaching and pre and post intervention scores on a reading comprehension test served as the dependent measures for the study. Results show significant increases in accuracy on comprehension tests for all experimental groups upon introduction of the reciprocal teaching procedure. On completion of the intervention two of these groups scores matched those of the above average controls. Follow‐up probes eight weeks later showed that all groups had maintained their comprehension gains.     

How strong and weak readers perform on the Developmental Eye Movement test (DEM): norms for Latvian school-aged children

The aim of our study was to determine DEM test performance norms for school-aged children in Latvia, assess how DEM test results correlate with children’s reading rates, compare test performance between strong and weak readers. A modified DEM test and a newly developed reading test were administered to 1487 children during a screening survey. Our study provides norms for adjusted DEM scores for children from 7 to 18 years of age. A high correlation exists between a child’s reading rate and her DEM speed scores for both parts of the test. Weak readers performed significantly more slowly on the DEM test than strong readers. Overall, 6 % of the subject population scored 1 standard deviation below the mean value on both the DEM and reading tests. We conclude that these individuals may be at a higher risk for developing reading impairments.     

A randomized experiment of a mixed-methods literacy intervention for struggling readers in grades 4–6: effects on word reading efficiency, reading comprehension and vocabulary, and oral reading fluency

The purpose of this study was (1) to examine the causal effects of READ 180, a mixed-methods literacy intervention, on measures of word reading efficiency, reading comprehension and vocabulary, and oral reading fluency and (2) to examine whether print exposure among children in the experimental condition explained variance in posttest reading scores. A total of 294 children in Grades 4–6 were randomly assigned to READ 180 or a district after-school program. Both programs were implemented 4 days per week over 23 weeks. Children in the READ 180 intervention participated in three 20-min literacy activities, including (1) individualized computer-assisted reading instruction with videos, leveled text, and word study activities, (2) independent and modeled reading practice with leveled books, and (3) teacher-directed reading lessons tailored to the reading level of children in small groups. Children in the district after-school program participated in a 60-min program in which teachers were able to select from 16 different enrichment activities that were designed to improve student attendance. There was no significant difference between children in READ 180 and the district after-school program on norm-referenced measures of word reading efficiency, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. Although READ 180 had a positive impact on oral reading fluency and attendance, these effects were restricted to children in Grade 4. Print exposure, as measured by the number of words children read on the READ 180 computer lessons, explained 4% of the variance in vocabulary and 2% of the variance in word reading efficiency after all pretest reading scores were partialed out.