Why do boys and girls perform differently on PISA Reading in Finland? The effects of reading fluency,achievement behaviour,leisure reading and homework activity

The present study examined gender gap in Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) Reading and mediators of the gender gap in a Finnish sample (n = 1,309). We examined whether the gender gap in PISA Reading performance can be understood via the effects of reading fluency, achievement behaviour (mastery orientation and task‐avoidant behaviour) or the amount of time spent with leisure reading and homework. Girls outperformed boys in all measures except for achievement behaviour. The models explaining PISA Reading were not different: For boys and girls, reading fluency, mastery orientation, leisure book reading and homework explained the variance in PISA Reading scores. The gender effect on PISA Reading was, however, for the most part mediated by differences in reading fluency. These findings suggest that while mastery orientation, homework activity and leisure book reading are concurrent predictors of PISA Reading over and above reading fluency, they do not explain gender difference.     

Recent Explorations Into the Etiology of Reading Difficulties: Insights from Language and Cognition

MODERN COGNITIVE psychology provides conceptual and empirical tools for a process analysis of reading acquisition and the development of reading towards a sophisticated skill. The present review is aimed to give such an analysis as it stands now. Key concepts are phonological and linguistic awareness, schemata, learning strategies, metacognition and learning as a social interaction. These concepts and empirical results clarifying their function are discussed from the point of view of their mutual interplay and pedagogical application.     

The role of phonological memory,word recognition,and comprehension skills in reading development: from preschool to grade 2

We examined the relationships among phonologicalawareness, phonological memory, and development ofreading skills in a longitudinal study, by following222 Finnish preschoolers through the grade 2.The main focus was on the role of phonological memoryin word recognition and comprehension. The skillsassessed were verbal abilities, phonological memory,phonological awareness, word recognition, listeningand reading comprehension, altogether comprising themost extensive set of variables so far used in thestudy of phonological memory and reading. We proposeda structural equation model for the developmentalrelationships among the variables. This model waslargely confirmed by the data. The most significantpredictor of word recognition was phonologicalawareness. Phonological memory had only a weak effecton phonological awareness at preschool age, andvia this connection, a weak indirect effect on grade 1 word recognition. Contrary toexpectations, phonological memory also had asignificant, albeit weak effect on grade 2word recognition. Phonological memory did notdirectly affect reading comprehension. However,it was strongly related to listeningcomprehension at preschool, and via the strongeffects of both listening comprehension and wordrecognition on reading comprehension, there weresignificant indirect effects of phonological memory onreading comprehension. The results also underline thestability of development of phonological memory, wordrecognition, and comprehension from preschool to theend of grade 2.     

Recordkeeping professionals’ understanding of and justification for functional classification: Finnish public sector organizational context

Today functional classification is the predominant approach to records organization. It is, however, apparent that the functional approach to records classification often involves methodological and conceptual confusion as well as usability issues. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how recordkeeping professionals perceive functional classification, what are the purposes the classification serves and how they justify this method in Finnish public sector organizations. The article presents the results of the study in which 22 recordkeeping professionals in three Finnish public sector organizations were interviewed. The data were analyzed with qualitative methods. The results show the integration of the functional approach in Finnish recordkeeping practices and records management tools. The results also describe various purposes served by functional classification in organizations. They illustrate various justifications for this method and the recordkeeping professionals’ lack of methodological alternatives.     

Learning to read in Russian: effects of orthographic complexity

Much attention has been paid to the delay in writing acquisition caused by irregularities of Russian orthography, but little is known about their effect on reading acquisition. Results of the present longitudinal reading acquisition study of Russian first graders suggest that phonological recoding is the dominant strategy in the initial phase of reading development in Russian, while there is evidence of gradual shift towards orthographic processing in reading high‐frequency regular words. The study confirms that Russian readers encounter difficulties in reading orthographically complex words, where phonological recoding does not completely succeed. These findings are compared with results of reading acquisition studies in other orthographies, and their relevance for models of reading acquisition in different types of orthographies is discussed.     

Gains From Training in Phonological Awareness in Kindergarten Predict Reading Comprehension in Grade 9

The effects of a kindergarten training program in phonological awareness with 209 Swedish-speaking children were followed up until the end of Grade 9. Initial levels of letter knowledge and phonological awareness were positively associated with the level of decoding skill in Grade 3 but not with its growth afterward. The intervention group performed significantly better in decoding in Grade 3, and the difference was maintained until Grade 6. The trained children also scored higher in Grade 9 reading comprehension. Although the results give empirical support for a connection between early phonological awareness training, later word decoding development, and still later reading comprehension, the theoretical explanation for the link between especially word decoding and reading comprehension is far from clear.     

Word Reading Skills and Externalizing and Internalizing Problems from Grade 1 to Grade 2—Developmental Trajectories and Bullying Involvement in Grade 3

ABSTRACT

School bullying is associated with externalizing and internalizing problems, but little is known about whether reading difficulties also play a part. We asked how, in Grades 1 and 2, word reading skills and externalizing/internalizing problems predict the degree to which students are involved in bullying in Grade 3. Using a sample of 480 Finnish children (M age = 7 years 2 months at the beginning of the study), developmental profiles were identified using mixture modeling based on reading skills, as well as externalizing and internalizing problems. In Grade 3, one fifth of the students were involved in bullying as victims, bullies, or bully/victims. Poor readers with externalizing/internalizing problems were most involved as bullies and bully/victims but not as victims. Average readers with externalizing/internalizing problems were also involved in bullying, whereas students with only reading difficulties were not. Skilled readers displayed little externalizing/internalizing problems and were not involved in bullying.     

Task avoidance, number skills and parental learning difficulties as predictors of poor response to instruction

Altogether 1,285 Finnish children were followed up from the end of kindergarten through Grade 1. All were nonreaders at school entrance. The aim was to delineate predictors of resistance to treatment that are evidenced as little or no reading progress during Grade 1. On the basis of reading achievement in Grade 1 spring, four subgroups were formed. These were fast, average, and slow reading acquisition and slow progress in both reading and math. Kindergarten spring scores in phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid naming, and number skills differentiated well among the groups, the latter two being more robust predictors. Task avoidance added to the prediction over and above cognitive skills. Its effect disappeared when parental history of reading and math difficulties was included in the equation. The present results depict poor response to instruction as a general learning problem rather than a specific reading difficulty. Poor response to instruction differs from dyslexia also in that treatment resisters start school with cognitive prerequisites that do not indicate severe reading and math problems.     

The development of first graders' reading skill as a function of pre-school motivational orientation and phonemic awareness

This study examined the development of reading skill during the first school year. The predictors were pre-school motivational orientations, coping tendencies, knowledge of the alphabet and phonemic awareness. From 151 pre-school children (6 years of age) rated by pre-school teachers on motivational orientations, 32 non-readers were allocated according to their dominating motivational disposition to one of the following extreme groups: task orientation, social dependence, ego-defensive, and multiple non-task-oriented. Each group included 8 children. The subjects' phonemic awareness and knowledge of the alphabet were assessed. Coping strategies were observed in pre-school during a play-like construction task comprising three induced pressure episodes. At the end of the first grade the children were assessed on word reading skill and again on motivational orientation. Both group comparisons and idiographic analyses were made. Results indicated that pre-school phonemic awareness was associated with first grade word reading skill. Rated task orientation in pre-school enhanced significantly the prediction of fluent word reading. Task-oriented children showed significantly better word reading skill than ego-defensive or multiple non-task-oriented children. Ego-defensive and multiple non-task-oriented subjects showed significantly less task oriented, and more ego-defensive, coping behaviour under pressure than task-oriented subjects. This finding suggests greater vulnerability of ego-defensive and multiple non-task-oriented children which may contribute to diverging reading careers. Idiographic analyses indicated parallel developmental changes in reading skill, motivational orientations and coping patterns confirming the role of motivation in the formation of an individual's reading career.