We evaluate the direct and inferential mediation (DIME) model for reading comprehension with a sample of struggling readers in Grades 3 to 5 (N = 364) in the context of a large-scale randomized ...controlled trial (RCT) investigating two theoretically distinct reading interventions (text processing + foundational skills n = 117 or text processing only n = 120) and a control condition (n = 127). We investigate whether the intervention affects not just reading comprehension levels, but also how variables within the reading system interrelate. This approach allows the focus to shift from intervention as influencing a change in reading comprehension status to a complex set of processes. We fit structural equation models (SEMs) to evaluate the DIME model at baseline and a change model that included reading comprehension and word reading at posttest. There were no significant mean differences between groups in reading comprehension. However, significant differences emerged on the direct and indirect effects of background knowledge, vocabulary, word reading, strategies, and inferencing on comprehension across grade levels and treatment conditions. Related to treatment groups, background knowledge, vocabulary, and inferencing were significantly related to comprehension at posttest for students who received text processing and/or foundational skills interventions. The results have implications for the direct instruction of higher-order reading skills in the context of multicomponent interventions.
Executive function (EF) is related to reading. However, there is a lack of clarity around (a) the relative contribution of different components of EF to different reading components (word reading, ...fluency, comprehension), and (b) how EF operates in the context of known strong language predictors (e.g., components of the simple view of reading or SVR), and other skills theoretically related to reading (e.g., vocabulary, processing speed) and/or to EF (e.g., short-term memory, motor function). In a large sample of 3rd to 5th graders oversampled for struggling readers, this paper evaluates the impact of EF derived from a bifactor model (Cirino, Ahmed, Miciak, Taylor, Gerst, & Barnes,
2018
) in the context of well-known covariates and demographics. Beyond common EF, five specific factors (two related to working memory, and factors of fluency, self-regulated learning, and behavioral inattention/metacognition) were addressed. EF consistently showed a unique contribution to already-strong predictive models for all reading outcomes; for reading comprehension, EF interacted with SVR indices (word reading and listening comprehension). The findings extend and refine our understanding of the contribution of EF to reading skill.
Objective: Executive function (EF) is a commonly used but difficult to operationalize construct. In this study, we considered EF and related components as they are commonly presented in the ...neuropsychological literature, as well as the literatures of developmental, educational, and cognitive psychology. These components have not previously been examined simultaneously, particularly with this level of comprehensiveness, and/or at this age range or with this sample size. We expected that the EF components would be separate but related, and that a bifactor model would best represent the data relative to alternative models. Method: We assessed EF with 27 measures in a large sample (N = 846) of late elementary school-age children, many of whom were struggling in reading, and who were demographically diverse. We tested structural models of EF, from unitary models to methodological models, utilizing model-comparison factor analytic techniques. We examined both a common factor as well as a bifactor structure. Results: Initial models showed strong overlap among several latent EF variables. The final model was a bifactor model with a common EF, and five specific EF factors (working memory-span/manipulation and planning; working memory-updating; generative fluency, self-regulated learning; metacognition). Conclusions: Results speak to the commonality and potential separability of EF. These results are discussed in light of prevailing models of EF and how EF might be used for structure/description, prediction, and for identifying its mechanism for relevant outcomes.
General Scientific Summary
Terms such as executive function (EF) are used in many different ways by different scientists as well as different professional and commercial interests. The present study brings together many of the ways that EF is operationalized across these literatures and other arenas. There is more commonality, but also some separability, across these different operationalizations, which has implications for its conceptualization and use.
Few studies have investigated specific learning disabilities (SLD) identification methods based on the identification of patterns of processing strengths and weaknesses (PSW). We investigated the ...reliability of SLD identification decisions emanating from different achievement test batteries for 1 method to operationalize the PSW approach: the concordance/discordance model (C/DM; Hale & Fiorello, 2004). Two studies examined the level of agreement for SLD identification decisions between 2 different simulated, highly correlated achievement test batteries. Study 1 simulated achievement and cognitive data across a wide range of potential latent correlations between an achievement deficit, a cognitive strength and a cognitive weakness. Latent correlations permitted simulation of case-level data at specified reliabilities for cognitive abilities and 2 achievement observations. C/DM criteria were applied and resulting SLD classifications from the 2 achievement test batteries were compared for agreement. Overall agreement and negative agreement were high, but positive agreement was low (0.33-0.59) across all conditions. Study 2 isolated the effects of reduced test reliability on agreement for SLD identification decisions resulting from different test batteries. Reductions in reliability of the 2 achievement tests resulted in average decreases in positive agreement of 0.13. Conversely, reductions in reliability of cognitive measures resulted in small average increases in positive agreement (0.0-0.06). Findings from both studies are consistent with prior research demonstrating the inherent instability of classifications based on C/DM criteria. Within complex ipsative SLD identification models like the C/DM, small variations in test selection can have deleterious effects on classification reliability.
No previous empirical study has investigated whether the learning disabilities (LD) identification decisions of proposed methods to operationalize processing strengths and weaknesses approaches for ...LD identification are associated with differential treatment response. We investigated whether the identification decisions of the concordance/discordance model (C/DM; Hale & Fiorello, 2004) and cross-battery assessment approach (XBA method; Flanagan, Ortiz, & Alfonso, 2007) were consistent and whether they predicted intervention response beyond that accounted for by pretest performance on measures of reading. Psychoeducational assessments were administered at pretest to 203 4th graders with low reading comprehension and individual results were utilized to identify students who met LD criteria according to the C/DM and XBA methods and students who did not. Resulting group status permitted an investigation of agreement for identification methods and whether group status at pretest (LD or not LD) was associated with differential treatment response to an intensive reading intervention. The LD identification decisions of the XBA and C/DM demonstrated poor agreement with one another (κ = −.10). Comparisons of posttest performance for students who met LD criteria and those who did not meet were largely null, with small effect sizes across all measures. LD status, as identified through the C/DM and XBA approaches, was not associated with differential treatment response and did not contribute educationally meaningful information about how students would respond to intensive reading intervention. These results do not support the value of cognitive assessment utilized in this way as part of the LD identification process.
We investigated the classification accuracy of learning disability (LD) identification methods premised on the identification of an intraindividual pattern of processing strengths and weaknesses ...(PSW) method using multiple indicators for all latent constructs. Known LD status was derived from latent scores; values at the observed level identified LD status for individual cases according to the concordance/discordance method. Agreement with latent status was evaluated using (a) a single indicator, (b) two indicators as part of a test–retest “confirmation” model, and (c) a mean score. Specificity and negative predictive value (NPV) were generally high for single indicators (median specificity = 98.8%, range = 93.4%-99.7%; median NPV = 94.2%, range = 85.6%-98.7%), but low for sensitivity (median sensitivity = 49.1%, range = 20.3%-77.1%) and positive predictive value (PPV; median PPV = 48.8%, range = 23.5%-69.6%). A test–retest procedure produced inconsistent and small improvements in classification accuracy, primarily in “not LD” decisions. Use of a mean score produced small improvements in classifications (mean improvement = 2.0%, range = 0.3%-2.8%). The modest gains in agreement do not justify the additional testing burdens associated with incorporating multiple tests of all constructs.
We examined the effectiveness of a researcher–provided reading intervention with 484 fourth graders with significant reading difficulties. Students were randomly assigned to one year of intervention, ...two years of intervention, or a business–as–usual comparison condition (BAU). Students assigned to two years of intervention demonstrated significantly greater gains in reading fluency compared to students who received one year of intervention and the BAU group. Students in both the one– and two–year groups demonstrated similar and significantly larger gains in word reading in comparison to the BAU group. There were no statistically significant differences between the three groups on standardized measures of reading comprehension. We discuss these results in the context of research with late elementary and secondary students targeting reading comprehension.
This study examined the effectiveness of a researcher-provided intervention with fourth graders with significant reading difficulties. The intervention emphasized multisyllable word reading, fluent ...reading of high-frequency words and phrases, vocabulary, and comprehension. To identify the participants, 1,695 fourth-grade students were screened using the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, and those whose standard scores were 85 or lower were included in the study (N = 483). Participants were randomly assigned (2:1) to receive either researcher-provided intervention (n = 323) or intervention provided by school personnel (business as usual, BAU) (n = 161). Findings revealed no statistically significant differences between students in the researcher-provided intervention and BAU groups. Using effect sizes as an indicator of impact, students in the researcher-implemented treatment generally outperformed students in the school-implemented treatment (BAU). Examining growth in standard scores, both groups made significant gains in reading outcomes with standard score growth from pretest to posttest of 3 standard score points on decoding, 5 on fluency, and 2.0 to 7 standard score points on reading comprehension measures.
Considerable research evidence supports the provision of explicit instruction for students at risk for reading difficulties; however, one of the most widely implemented approaches to early reading ...instruction is Guided Reading (GR; Fountas & Pinnel, 1996), which deemphasizes explicit instruction and practice of reading skills in favor of extended time reading text. This study evaluated the two approaches in the context of supplemental intervention for at-risk readers at the end of Grade 1. Students (n = 218) were randomly assigned to receive GR intervention, explicit intervention (EX), or typical school instruction (TSI). Both intervention groups performed significantly better than TSI on untimed word identification. Significant effects favored EX over TSI on phonemic decoding and one measure of comprehension. Outcomes for the intervention groups did not differ significantly from each other; however, an analysis of the added value of providing each intervention relative to expected growth with typical instruction indicated that EX is more likely to substantially accelerate student progress in phonemic decoding, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension than GR. Implications for selection of Tier 2 interventions within a response-to-intervention format are discussed.
Elevated reaction time (RT) is common in brain disorders. We studied three forms of RT in a neurodevelopmental disorder, spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM), characterized by regional alterations of ...both white and grey matter, and typically developing individuals aged 8 to 48 years, in order to establish the nature of the lifespan-relations of RT and brain variables. Cognitive accuracy and RT speed and variability were all impaired in SBM relative to the typically developing group, but the most important effects of SBM on RT are seen on tasks that require a cognitive decision rule. Individuals with SBM are impaired not only in speeded performance, but also in the consistency of their performance on tasks that extend over time, which may contribute to poor performance on a range of cognitive tasks. The group with SBM showed smaller corrected corpus callosum proportions, larger corrected cerebellar white matter proportions, and larger corrected proportions for grey matter in the Central Executive and Salience networks. There were clear negative relations between RT measures and corpus callosum, Central Executive, and Default Mode networks in the group with SBM; relations were not observed in typically developing age peers. Statistical mediation analyses indicated that corpus callosum and Central Executive Network were important mediators. While RT is known to rely heavily on white matter under conditions of typical development and in individuals with adult-onset brain injury, we add the new information that additional involvement of grey matter may be important for a key neuropsychological function in a common neurodevelopmental disorder.
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