Factors Related to Data-Based Decision-Making: Examining Experience, Professional Development, and the Mediating Effect of Confidence on Teacher Graph Literacy.

In tiered instructional systems (Response to Intervention [RTI]/Multitier System of Supports [MTSS]) that rely on ongoing assessment of students at risk of experiencing academic difficulties, the ability to make informed decisions using student data is critical for student learning. Prior research has demonstrated that, on average, teachers have difficulty analyzing and interpreting student progress-monitoring (PM) data presented graphically (i.e., graph literacy). This study examines the impact that teacher training, experience, and confidence have on teacher graph literacy, using structural equation modeling. Data were gathered from a nationally representative sample of 309 teachers and included latent variables related to their experience (e.g., years teaching, years working with RTI), training (e.g., hours of data-based decision-making [DBDM] professional development), and confidence (e.g., confidence in interpreting data, confidence in determining student response) as well as data-based decision-making skills on a graph literacy assessment. Findings indicate that latent experience and confidence factors predicted graph literacy but training did not. Furthermore, training increased teacher confidence but experience did not. Finally, confidence did not mediate the effect of experience or training on graph literacy.

Is "Response/No Response" Too Simple a Notion for RTI Frameworks? Exploring Multiple Response Types With Latent Profile Analysis.

We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a randomized control trial to explore this question: Does "response/no response" best characterize students' reactions to a generally efficacious first-grade reading program, or is a more nuanced characterization necessary? Data were collected on 265 at-risk readers' word reading prior to and immediately following program implementation in first grade and in spring of second grade. Pretreatment data were also obtained on domain-specific skills (letter knowledge, decoding, passage comprehension, language) and domain-general skills (working memory, non-verbal reasoning). Latent profile analysis of word reading across the three time points with controls as a local norm revealed a strongly responsive group (n = 45) with mean word-reading z scores of 0.25, 1.64, and 1.26 at the three time points, respectively; a mildly responsive group (n = 109), z scores = 0.30, 0.47, and 0.55; a mildly non-responsive group (n = 90), z scores = -0.11, -0.15, and -0.55; and a strongly non-responsive group (n = 21), z scores = -1.24, -1.26, and -1.57. The two responsive groups had stronger pretreatment letter knowledge and passage comprehension than the two non-responsive groups. The mildly non-responsive group demonstrated better pretreatment passage comprehension than the strongly non-responsive group. No domain-general skill distinguished the four groups. Findings suggest response to early reading intervention was more complicated than response/no response, and pretreatment reading comprehension was an important predictor of response even with pretreatment word reading controlled.

Sight word acquisition in first grade students at risk for reading disabilities: an item-level exploration of the number of exposures required for mastery.

The purpose of this study was to examine word learning efficiency in at-risk first grade students (N = 93) participating in a yearlong study evaluating a multicomponent intervention targeting word reading and decoding skills. As part of each intervention lesson, students participated in a 1 to 3-min sight word reading activity in which high-frequency words were read from a list until mastered, at which point the word dropped off the list. This study explored factors predicting the number of exposures required for item reading mastery (N = 145 words). Specifically, we explored how the number of word exposures required to reach mastery varied as a function of linguistic features of the words and cognitive characteristics of the students. Using item-level crossed-random effects models, we found students required an average of 5.65 exposures for mastery, with word features representing word length, vocabulary grade, and imageability being significant predictors of learning efficiency. We also found a significant interaction between pretest word reading skill and imageability of a word, with this semantic feature being especially important for the poorest readers. Results indicate that in the absence of typical word recognition skills, poor readers tend to rely on other sources of information to learn words, which tend to be related to the semantic features of words.

A Review of Middle School Vocabulary Interventions: Five Research-Based Recommendations for Practice.

Purpose The purpose of this tutorial is to explain key concepts about vocabulary acquisition and instruction and to translate research from middle school vocabulary interventions into practice recommendations for practitioners. In this tutorial, we consider the relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension, describe vocabulary acquisition including the development of semantic networks, provide a review of high-quality middle school vocabulary studies, and make recommendations for practice. Method We reviewed the experimental and quasi-experimental literature examining the impact of vocabulary instruction on the vocabulary and reading comprehension development of middle school students. We searched multiple electronic databases (e.g., PsycInfo, ERIC, Scopus, Google Scholar) using combinations of specific search terms (i.e., vocabulary, intervention, instruction, middle school, adolescent), searched reviews of vocabulary research, and conducted bibliographic searches of included studies. We then extracted information from each included study about the intervention, participants, and outcomes. Results We identified 17 studies meeting our inclusion criteria. The majority of studies were conducted with students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. Only 1 study focused exclusively on students with learning disabilities, language impairments, or reading disabilities, highlighting the need for more vocabulary experimental research studies with special populations of students in middle school. Conclusion After reviewing the middle school studies, we make 5 recommendations based on the literature: (a) teach vocabulary intentionally, (b) teach independent word-learning strategies (morphological analysis), (c) focus on developing semantic networks, (d) increase opportunities to use new words in discussion and writing, and (e) provide a motivating and language-rich learning environment.

The Role of Statistical Learning in Word Reading and Spelling Development: More Questions than Answers.

This special issue bundles a set of eight empirical studies and one review article that explore the role of SL mechanisms (both domain-specific and domain-general) in supporting word reading and spelling development, and vice-versa. In this introduction to the special issue, we worked to summarize the extent to which studies support our hypotheses relating SL to reading and spelling development while also pointing out inconsistencies across studies that require us to refine and rethink our hypotheses.

Using Moderator Analysis to Identify the First-Grade Children Who Benefit More and Less from a Reading Comprehension Program: A Step Toward Aptitude-by-Treatment Interaction.

Because of the importance of teaching reading comprehension to struggling young readers and the infrequency with which it has been implemented and evaluated, we designed a comprehensive first-grade reading comprehension program. We conducted a component analysis of the program's decoding/fluency (DF) and reading comprehension (COMP) dimensions, creating DF and DF+COMP treatments to parse the value of COMP. Students (N = 125) were randomly assigned to the 2 active treatments and controls. Treatment children were tutored 3 times per week for 21 weeks in 45-min sessions. Children in DF and DF+COMP together performed more strongly than controls on word reading and comprehension. However, pretreatment word reading appeared to moderate these results such that children with weaker beginning word reading across the treatments outperformed similarly low-performing controls to a significantly greater extent than treatment children with stronger beginning word reading outperformed comparable controls. DF+COMP children did not perform better than DF children. Study limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Trajectories and Predictors of Word Reading and Reading Comprehension Development Among At-Risk Readers.

This study explored the developmental trajectories and predictors of word reading and reading comprehension among young at-risk readers. In fall of first grade, 185 students identified as at-risk for reading difficulties were assessed on measures of domain-specific skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and vocabulary), domain-general skills (working memory, nonverbal reasoning, and processing speed), and word reading and reading comprehension. Word reading and reading comprehension were assessed again in spring of grades 1-4. Individual growth curve modeling showed that the children demonstrated decelerated growth on word reading and linear growth on reading comprehension, although their performance on both word reading and reading comprehension were consistently below average on national norms. After controlling for word reading and reading comprehension in first grade, letter knowledge predicted growth in word reading; vocabulary and nonverbal reasoning predicted growth in reading comprehension. That is, we found different developmental trajectories and different predictors for word reading and reading comprehension among our at-risk sample. Implications are discussed for theory and early reading instruction for at-risk children.

Beyond Comprehension Strategy Instruction: What's Next?

Purpose: In this article, we respond to Catts and Kamhi's (2017) argument that reading comprehension is not a single ability. Method: We provide a brief review of the impact of strategy instruction, the importance of knowledge in reading comprehension, and possible avenues for future research and practice. Results: We agree with Catts and Kamhi's argument that reading comprehension is a complex endeavor and that current recommended practices do not reflect the complexity of the construct. Knowledge building, despite its important role in comprehension, has been relegated to a back seat in reading comprehension instruction. In the final section of the article, we outline possible avenues for research and practice (e.g., generative language instruction, dialogic approaches to knowledge building, analogical reasoning and disciplinary literacy, the use of graphics and media, inference instruction) for improving reading-comprehension outcomes. Conclusions: Reading comprehension is a complex ability, and comprehension instruction should reflect this complexity. If we want to have an impact on long-term growth in reading comprehension, we will need to expand our current repertoire of instructional methods to include approaches that support the acquisition and integration of knowledge across a variety of texts and topics.

Exploring Differential Effects Across Two Decoding Treatments on Item-Level Transfer in Children with Significant Word Reading Difficulties: A New Approach for Testing Intervention Elements.

In English, gains in decoding skill do not map directly onto increases in word reading. However, beyond the Self-Teaching Hypothesis (Share, 1995), little is known about the transfer of decoding skills to word reading. In this study, we offer a new approach to testing specific decoding elements on transfer to word reading. To illustrate, we modeled word-reading gains among children with reading disability (RD) enrolled in Phonological and Strategy Training (PHAST) or Phonics for Reading (PFR). Conditions differed in sublexical training with PHAST stressing multi-level connections and PFR emphasizing simple grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Thirty-seven children with RD, 3rd - 6th grade, were randomly assigned 60 lessons of PHAST or PFR. Crossed random-effects models allowed us to identify specific intervention elements that differentially impacted word-reading performance at posttest, with children in PHAST better able to read words with variant vowel pronunciations. Results suggest that sublexical emphasis influences transfer gains to word reading.

Exploring dynamic assessment as a means of identifying children at risk of developing comprehension difficulties.

In this study, the authors explore a newly constructed dynamic assessment (DA) intended to tap inference-making skills that they hypothesize will be predictive of future comprehension performance. The authors administered the test to 100 second-grade children using a dynamic format to consider the concurrent validity of the measure. The dynamic portion of the assessment comprised teaching children to be "reading detectives" by using textual clues to solve what was happening in the story. During the DA children listened to short passages and answered three inferential questions (i.e., one setting, two causal). If children were unable to answer a question, they were reminded what a reading detective would do and given a set of increasingly concrete prompts and clues to orient them to the relevant portion of text until they could answer the question correctly. Results showed that the DA correlated significantly with a standardized measure of reading comprehension and explained a small but significant amount of unique variance in reading comprehension above and beyond vocabulary and word identification skills. In addition, results suggest that DA may be better than the standardized measure of reading comprehension at identifying intraindividual differences in young children's reading abilities.