Alphabet Writing and Allograph Selection as Predictors of Spelling in Sentences Written by Spanish-Speaking Children Who Are Poor or Good Keyboarders.

This study examined the relationship and degree of predictability that the fluency of writing the alphabet from memory and the selection of allographs have on measures of fluency and accuracy of spelling in a free-writing sentence task when keyboarding. The Test Estandarizado para la Evaluación de la Escritura con Teclado ("Spanish Keyboarding Writing Test"; Jiménez, 2012) was used as the assessment tool. A sample of 986 children from Grades 1 through 3 were classified according to transcription skills measured by keyboard ability (poor vs. good) across the grades. Results demonstrated that fluency in writing the alphabet and selecting allographs mediated the differences in spelling between good and poor keyboarders in the free-writing task. Execution in the allograph selection task and writing alphabet from memory had different degrees of predictability in each of the groups in explaining the level of fluency and spelling in the free-writing task sentences, depending on the grade. These results suggest that early assessment of writing by means of the computer keyboard can provide clues and guidelines for intervention and training to strengthen specific skills to improve writing performance in the early primary grades in transcription skills by keyboarding.

Implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) Model in Spain: an example of a collaboration between Canarian universities and the department of education of the Canary Islands.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of second tier intervention at-risk readers within the context of a Response to Intervention approach. The study was conducted in the Canary Islands (Spain), directed by research team ¨Dificultades de Aprendizaje, Psicolingüística y Nuevas Tecnologías¨ (DEA&NT) from University of La Laguna, and supported by the Government of the Canary Islands. A sample of 1.123 Spanish children from fourteen schools districts were given the Spanish adaptation of The Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Behavior Checklist and children who scored at or above the 75th percentile on the test were classified as "at risk" for early reading difficulties. Half of the students were randomly assigned to a project-based intervention condition where they received small group supplementary intervention for 30 minutes daily using the Prevención de las Dificultades Específicas de Aprendizaje (PREDEA) curriculum from mid to late December and continued until mid June. The other half received whatever remedial services were available at their schools. Results indicated that children who received the PREDEA curriculum had higher scores on the Early Grade Reading Assessment Test (EGRA) on initial sound identification, listening comprehension, letter sound knowledge and oral reading fluency compared to the control group.

Implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) Model in Spain: an example of a collaboration between Canarian universities and the department of education of the Canary Islands / Implementación del Modelo de Respuesta a la Intervención (RtI) en España: un ejemplo de colaboración entre las Universidades Canarias y la Consejería de Educación del Gobierno de Canarias

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of second tier intervention at-risk readers within the context of a Response to Intervention approach. The study was conducted in the Canary Islands (Spain), directed by research team «Dificultades de Aprendizaje, Psicolingüística y Nuevas Tecnologías » (DEA&NT) from University of La Laguna, and supported by the Government of the Canary Islands. A sample of 1.123 Spanish children from fourteen schools districts were given the Spanish adaptation of The Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Behavior Checklist and children who scored at or above the 75th percentile on the test were classified as «at risk» for early reading difficulties. Half of the students were randomly assigned to a project-based intervention condition where they received small group supplementary intervention for 30 minutes daily using the Prevención de las Dificultades Específicas de Aprendizaje (PREDEA) curriculum from mid to late December and continued until mid June. The other half received whatever remedial services were available at their schools. Results indicated that children who received the PREDEA curriculum had higher scores on the Early Grade Reading Assessment Test (EGRA) on initial sound identification, listening comprehension, letter sound knowledge and oral reading fluency compared to the control group (AU)

El objetivo de este estudio consistió en examinar la eficacia del segundo nivel de actuación del modelo de respuesta a la intervención. El estudio se llevó a cabo en las Islas Canarias (España), dirigido por el equipo de investigación «Dificultades de Aprendizaje, Psicolingüística y Nuevas Tecnologías» (DEA&NT) de la Universidad de La Laguna, y apoyado por la Dirección General de Ordenación e Innovación Educativa de la Consejería de Educación del Gobierno de Canarias. Se administró inicialmente a una muestra de 1.123 niños españoles procedentes de un total de catorce colegios, la adaptación española del The Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Behavior Checklist. Los niños que puntuaban igual o superior al percentil 75 en esta prueba de selección eran considerados niños en riesgo de padecer dificultades específicas de aprendizaje. La mitad de los niños se asignó al azar a una condición experimental donde recibieron una intervención en pequeño grupo con una duración diaria de 30 minutos a través del programa Prevención de las Dificultades Específicas de Aprendizaje (PREDEA). Esta intervención se inició a mediados del mes de diciembre y finalizó a mediados del mes de junio. La otra mitad recibía los servicios habituales de apoyo que tiene disponible la escuela. Los resultados mostraron que los niños que recibieron el programa curricular PREDEA alcanzaron puntuaciones superiores al grupo control en habilidades que mide el Early Grade Reading Assessment Test (EGRA), tales como la identificación del primer segmento fonológico en palabras, comprensión oral, conocimiento del sonido de las letras y fluidez en lectura oral de palabras en textos cortos (AU)

Prevalencia de las dificultades específicas de aprendizaje: La dislexia en español / Prevalence of specific learning disabilities: The case of dyslexia in Spain

El presente trabajo ha tenido como objetivo analizar la prevalencia de las dificultades de aprendizaje en niños españoles. El primer estudio fue diseñado para analizar en la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias la prevalencia de alumnado identificado dentro de esta categoría de diagnóstico. Se diseñó un segundo estudio, centrado en el área curricular de lengua escrita, con objeto de averiguar si en la detección de las dificultades de aprendizaje es suficiente el criterio curricular o, por el contrario, es necesario establecer además criterios diagnósticos específicos asociados al área curricular. Los resultados del primer estudio demuestran que en la categoría diagnóstica de dificultades de aprendizaje se registran las cifras de prevalencia más altas en el ámbito de la Educación Especial. Asimismo, los hallazgos obtenidos en el segundo estudio sugieren que delimitar de forma operativa la dificultad específica de aprendizaje, combinando el criterio curricular con el psicométrico, reduce el porcentaje de alumnado identificado. Se discuten las implicaciones de estos hallazgos con vistas a facilitar en la práctica educativa el establecimiento de pautas de intervención más eficaces y mejor adaptadas a las necesidades educativas de este alumnado (AU)

The main purpose of this research has been to analyze the prevalence of specific learning disabilities in Spain. A first study was conducted in the Canary Islands region to demonstrate that “learning problems” is one of the most identified areas in the Special Education field. This fact is a consequence of the lack of specific criteria to identify students with “Learning Disabilities”. Consequently, a second study was designed to test whether the identification of LD students should not be only based on curricular criteria but also on standardized specific criteria in each academic subject (i.e., reading, writing, arithmetic, etc.). We found that the greater proportion of individuals with special educational needs is identified as LD. Likewise, when used psychometric criteria for LD identification, the percentage obtained is lower. By this way the counsellors could provide an educational response more appropriate to these children (AU)

[Spelling development in the Spanish language]. / Evolución de la escritura de palabras de ortografía arbitraria en lengua española.

This study focused on spelling development in Spanish children from elementary grades. A sample of 1045 was selected from 2nd to 6th grade belonging to four schools in Tenerife Island with an age range between 7 and 12 years old (M = 113.8, SD = 17.6). We administered a standardized writing test that includes diverse subtests to assess spelling, ruled and not ruled, and various written composition tasks (i.e., writing a story based on vignettes, describing a character and writing a story). We calculated the average of correct spellings in each variable and school level, and we also analyzed the type of misspellings that children made across different writing tasks. We found that spelling is acquired by 4th-grade children when it is not ruled, whereas the spelling of ruled words is acquired by 5th-grade children. When we analyzed the misspellings in a dictation task, we found that the children confused spelling of the graphemes c/s/z/x. Across different writing tasks, we found that students committed more misspellings with the graphemes b/v, h y c/s/z/x before they finished the 4th elementary grade.

Evolución de la escritura de palabras de ortografía arbitraria en lengua española / Spelling development in the Spanish language

El objetivo de este trabajo consistió en estudiar la evolución de la escritura de palabras con ortografía arbitraria en alumnado de Educación Primaria (EP). La muestra estaba compuesta por 1.045 escolares de segundo a sexto curso de EP de 4 centros de la Isla de Tenerife, entre 7 y 12 años de edad (M= 113.8; DT= 17.6). Se les dictaban palabras con ortografía arbitraria, reglada y no reglada, y se les pidió también que realizaran tareas de composición escrita (i.e., escritura de una historia apoyada en viñetas, descripción de un personaje y escritura de un cuento). Se analizaron tanto los aciertos como los errores ortográficos en el dictado y la composición escrita. Los resultados encontrados señalan que la ortografía arbitraria, cuando no es reglada, se adquiere a partir de 4º curso de EP, mientras que la escritura de palabras de ortografía reglada la adquieren a partir de 5º curso de EP. Analizando los errores ortográficos en la escritura al dictado se observó que existía mayor confusión en la escritura de los grafemas c/s/z/x. En las diferentes tareas de composición escrita encontramos que, hasta la finalización del segundo ciclo, los escolares tienden a confundir los grafemas b/v, h y c/s/z/x

This study focused on spelling development in Spanish children from elementary grades. A sample of 1045 was selected from 2nd to 6th grade belonging to four schools in Tenerife Island with an age range between 7 and 12 years old (M= 113.8, SD= 17.6). We administered a standardized writing test that includes diverse subtests to assess spelling, ruled and not ruled, and various written composition tasks (i.e., writing a story based on vignettes, describing a character and writing a story). We calculated the average of correct spellings in each variable and school level, and we also analyzed the type of misspellings that children made across different writing tasks. We found that spelling is acquired by 4th-grade children when it is not ruled, whereas the spelling of ruled words is acquired by 5th-grade children. When we analyzed the misspellings in a dictation task, we found that the children confused spelling of the graphemes c/s/z/x. Across different writing tasks, we found that students committed more misspellings with the graphemes b/v, h y c/s/z/x before they finished the 4th elementary grade