Children's Reading Achievement Research Articles

Bridging the Literacy Gaps: Examining the Impact of the Morphoread Intervention on the Reading Achievement of Children From Low SES Backgrounds

This study examined an intervention program designed to enhance reading comprehension among struggling readers from low socioeconomic backgrounds by improving their understanding of word structure and meaning. Delivered by college education students, the program targeted second-grade students. Change scores in morphological awareness (MA), reading, spelling measures, and reading motivation were compared among the intervention group, a school-based support group, and typical readers. Results showed academic improvements across all groups. Differences were noted in MA and reading measures, with both struggling reader groups showing higher improvement in word reading tests than typical readers. The intervention group outperformed the school-based group in orthographic word recognition, reading comprehension, spelling, and MA. No significant differences were found in reading motivation change scores. However, the intervention group showed better overall improvement in reading and language measures and self-concept as a reader. Findings highlight the importance of MA in enhancing lexical representations and reading acquisition.

Lost in Translation: A Preliminary Examination of Phonological Processing, Language, and Reading in Childhood Epilepsy

ABSTRACTChildren with epilepsy are at increased risk for language and reading difficulties. Phonological processing and language underlie reading success, yet their association with reading achievement in children with epilepsy is unknown. We assessed phonological processing, oral language, and reading in children (ages 6 to 12) with epilepsy (EP; n = 6), language problems (LP; n = 14), and typical development (TD; n = 15). The EP and LP group had lower scores on all measures compared with the TD group, with the EP group scoring the lowest on reading comprehension. Phonological processing followed by epilepsy diagnosis predicted reading decoding. Language followed by epilepsy diagnosis predicted reading comprehension. Thus, reading problems in children with epilepsy are not fully explained by their phonological processing or language deficits. Further research that considers other cognitive processes important for reading (e.g., executive function) in this population may help inform our understanding of their reading success.

Covid-19 and the European Education Performance Decline: A Focus on Primary School Children's Reading Achievement between 2016 and 2021

Covid-19 and the European Education Performance Decline: A Focus on Primary School Children's Reading Achievement between 2016 and 2021

The Potential of Children's Rearing Environment to Overcome Genetic Propensity for Low Reading Achievement.

Genetic studies show that children's reading achievement is in part genetically influenced, and intervention studies show that reading achievement can be increased by environmental interventions. However, correlational and mean-level analytic strategies are rarely integrated into achievement research, potentially leading to misinterpretation of results. The parent-offspring adoption design offers a novel opportunity to examine the independent and joint roles of genetic and rearing environmental contributions. The sample included 344 adopted children in first grade and their biological and adoptive parents. Results indicated that adoptees' reading scores were correlated with their biological parents' scores, but not with their adoptive parents' scores, suggesting genetic influences. In addition, examination of mean scores indicated that adoptees' scores were significantly greater than their biological parents' (p's< .001) for all subtests, suggesting promotive effects of the rearing environment. This pattern was present even when biological parents scored >1 standard deviation below the biological parent mean on achievement.

Cross-linguistic differences in the associations between morphological awareness and reading in Spanish and English in young simultaneous bilinguals

ABSTRACT This study aimed to clarify the relations between morphological awareness and literacy skills in Spanish and English in young simultaneous bilingual learners. Guided by theoretical perspectives on the associations between morphological awareness and word- versus sentence-level literacy skills, and their transfer between bilinguals’ two languages, we asked bilingual children (N = 90; M = 8.07 years old) to complete dual-language literacy assessments. First, we observed cross-linguistic differences in the associations between morphology and reading. In English, morphological awareness was directly related to word reading and reading comprehension, whereas in Spanish, the association with reading comprehension was fully mediated by vocabulary and single word reading. Second, we observed cross-linguistic associations from English word reading to Spanish reading comprehension, and from Spanish reading comprehension to English reading comprehension. Our findings inform bilingual literacy theory by revealing both cross-linguistic differences and bidirectional associations between literacy skills across typologically-distinct orthographies. In particular, children’s word-level skills transferred from the language of schooling (English) into their heritage language (Spanish), and their broader reading comprehension skills transferred from the heritage language to support English. Taken together, these findings support the value of bilingual heritage language maintenance for reading achievement in children’s dominant language of literacy instruction.

Patterns of math and reading achievement in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

BackgroundThere has been an increase of autistic students without intellectual disabilities (autisticWoID) placed in general education settings (Hussar et al., 2020), but there is a lack of understanding of how to best support classroom learning for these children. Previous research has pointed to subgroups of autisticWoID children who display difficulty with mathematics and reading achievement (Chen et al., 2018; Estes et al., 2011; Jones et al., 2009; Wei et al., 2015). Research has primarily focused on symptomatology and communication factors related to learning in subgroups of autistic children. The current study sought to expand upon this research by assessing the validity of these previous studies and by investigating the specific contribution of domain-general cognitive abilities to differences in these subgroups. MethodSeventy-eight autisticWoID individuals (M = 11.34 years, SD = 2.14) completed measures of mathematics and reading achievement, IQ, working memory, inferential thinking, and Theory of Mind (ToM). A hierarchical cluster analysis was performed on the math and reading measures. ResultsThe analysis revealed two unique achievement groups: one group that performed lower than expected on math and reading achievement and a second group that performed higher than expected. Groups differed significantly on IQ and working memory and were distinguished by performance on reading fluency. Groups did not differ on ToM, inferential thinking, or symptomatology. ConclusionThese findings describe a group of autisticWoID individuals that may be more likely to experience difficulty learning, which should be accounted for in general education settings.

Links between organized visual search and reading ability in French primary school children.

Visual search skills develop substantially during the primary school years, and in parallel with children's reading achievement. Reading requires an efficient visual search and exposure to reading from the left to the right could also influence the way we explore space. No study, however, made links between visual search strategies and reading ability. In this study, 70 primary school children performed a cancellation task (Bells test) and reading tests. Our results showed that reading was closely linked to visual search accuracy but also to visual search organization, even after controlling for age for some measures. Along with the development of reading abilities, children made fewer revisitation, moved more to the nearest unmarked targets than to the farthest ones and explored more in lines. It appears, therefore, essential to take more into account the visual search organization of children with reading impairments such as dyslexia.

Paternal incarceration and children's reading achievement: The role of maternal caregiving quality

AbstractObjectiveThis study examined early childhood paternal incarceration (PI; birth to Age 6) effects on children's elementary reading achievement (i.e., Ages 8–10) as mediated by mothers' supportive caregiving and moderated by child gender.BackgroundExtant research on PI has primarily focused on child behavioral problems. However, less is known about specific relations between PI and academic achievement.MethodParticipants were drawn from an ongoing, longitudinal study of development using a subsample of 180 children and their maternal caregivers (51.5% female children; 48.9% Latinx; 26.7% experienced PI). Study variables were assessed using semi‐structured incarceration interviews, observational parenting tasks, and standardized achievement tests. A moderated mediation analysis evaluated the hypothesized model by child gender.ResultsPI predicted decreased maternal supportive caregiving, which, in turn, predicted lower reading achievement, even when family socioeconomic status, child ethnicity‐race, prior supportive caregiving, prior reading achievement, and maternal psychopathology were held constant. Further, a moderation analysis indicated that the relation between maternal supportive caregiving and reading achievement was moderated by child gender.ConclusionThis investigation revealed a significant and negative indirect effect of early childhood PI on children's reading achievement via changes in maternal supportive caregiving. However, this indirect effect was significant for boys only.ImplicationsThese findings highlight the potential for interventions and resources that promote supportive maternal caregiving to mitigate the deleterious effects of PI on children's reading achievement, especially for boys.

Reading Achievement in Children With Hearing Loss Who Use Listening and Spoken Language: Results and Implications From a 2-Year Study

PurposeThis longitudinal study explored the reading achievement of children with hearing loss who used listening and spoken language and examined their progress across reading domains over 1 year.MethodSixty-four children with hearing loss enrolled in prekindergarten through third grade in a large listening and spoken language program in the Southwest United States participated. Eight subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement were administered, and demographic information was collected. The same subtests were administered to 53 of the participants 1 year later.ResultsThe mean subtest standard scores for participants in this study were all within the average range. Participants demonstrated relative strengths in basic reading skills, such as spelling, word and nonword reading, and comprehension of short passages. Relative weaknesses were found in the areas of oral reading and word- and sentence-reading fluency. When the participants were again assessed 1 year later, significant growth was found in their letter–word identification, sentence-reading fluency, and word-reading fluency.ConclusionsWhile children with hearing loss have historically struggled to achieve age-appropriate reading skills in elementary school, the participants in this study achieved mean scores within the average range. Returning participants made more than 1 year's progress in 1 year's time in several areas of reading while enrolled in a specialized program. Clinical and educational implications, including strategies to develop reading fluency, are addressed.

The influence of parental warmth and stress on reading through approaches to learning: Racial/ethnic variation

AbstractWhen identifying parental socialization processes influencing children's reading achievement, building self‐regulation is a potential underlying mechanism. Yet socialization (i.e., warmth, stress) of self‐regulation may vary based on the sociocultural context of ethnic minority families. Using the ECLS‐K: 2011 (N= 17,020;MAge= 73.43 mos,SD= 4.48 mos), we explored: (RQ1) Do kindergarten approaches to learning (ATL), a composite of self‐regulation behaviours in the classroom context, mediate the association between parental warmth and stress and first grade reading? and (RQ2) Is mediation moderated by race/ethnicity (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian)? ATL mediated the association between parental warmth and stress and reading, such that parental warmth contributed positively to reading through higher ATL, and parental stress contributed negatively to reading through lower ATL. However, the lack of moderation suggests that the adaptiveness of parental warmth and maladaptiveness of parental stress for children's reading through ATL may be similar across race/ethnicity. Findings inform intervention and practice targeting children's school readiness.HighlightsThe current study explored whether parental warmth and stress influenced reading through approaches to learning skills, considering variation by race/ethnicity.The mediation model and conditional process analysis reveal that across race/ethnicity, warmth benefits reading and stress is detrimental for reading.Parental warmth and stress should inform interventions promoting children's school readiness, with attention to cultural practices of ethnically diverse families.

Promoting Reading Achievement in Children With Developmental Language Disorders: What Can We Learn From Research on Specific Language Impairment and Dyslexia?

PurposeSpecific language impairment (SLI; see also developmental language disorder) and dyslexia are separate, yet frequently co-occurring disorders that confer risks to reading comprehension and academic achievement. Until recently, most studies of one disorder had little consideration of the other, and each disorder was addressed by different practitioners. However, understanding how the two disorders relate to each other is important for advancing theories about each disorder and improving reading comprehension and academic achievement. The purpose of this clinical focus article is to integrate research on SLI and dyslexia as well as advocate for the consideration of comorbidities in future research and clinical practice.MethodThe first section reviews definitions as well as inclusionary and exclusionary criteria for SLI and dyslexia. The second section reviews research demonstrating that SLI and dyslexia are different disorders that often co-occur. Studies examining language, working memory, and academic achievement in children with separate versus co-occurring SLI and dyslexia are reviewed. The final section compares and contrasts school identification frameworks for children with SLI and dyslexia and considers the potential benefits of incorporating broad language skills into response to intervention (RTI) assessment frameworks.ConclusionsChildren with weak language skills are at a high risk of experiencing reading problems, but language difficulties are often hidden from view. Directly addressing language skills within school RTI frameworks can help improve the identification and treatment of children with SLI and dyslexia as well as support improved reading comprehension and academic achievement for all students.Presentation Video https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13063793

Academic implications of insensitive parenting: A mediating path through children's relational representations

Despite evidence that insensitive parenting is associated with later academic achievement, few studies have evaluated mechanisms that may account for these effects. This study utilized a diverse sample of child-caregiver dyads (N = 245, 50.2% male, 46.5% Latinx) to evaluate a sequential mediation model from observations of female caregivers' insensitive parenting behaviors at age 4 to children's maternal representations at age 6, to teachers' reports of conflict in the teacher-child relationship at age 7 and, ultimately, to children's academic achievement at age 8. Even when holding prior levels of each study construct constant, analyses revealed a significant sequential mediation such that insensitive parenting contributed to increases in children's harsh maternal representations, which, in turn, predicted increases in teacher-child conflict at school and, ultimately, decreases in children's reading and math achievement. These findings highlight parenting and teacher-child relationship qualities as promising targets for interventions to promote children's academic achievement.

Providing performance information in education: An experimental evaluation in Colombia

We conducted a randomized controlled trial of an information intervention to evaluate the effects of providing information to families on their children's reading and math achievement in a mid-size city in Colombia. Most families are poorly informed about their children's performance, but our information intervention closes the gap between beliefs and performance and induces some behavioral response among parents in the treatment group. We find positive impacts on student achievement of 0.09 SD to 0.10 SD in the first two semesters after treatment, followed by fadeout in year two. This overall pattern is driven by large gains—around 0.28 SD—and then similarly complete fadeout for students with low baseline test scores.

Reciprocal effects of reading and mathematics? Beyond the cross-lagged panel model.

Prior nonexperimental studies have been used to conclude that children's reading and mathematics achievement bidirectionally influence each other over time, with strong paths from (a) early reading to later mathematics and (b) early mathematics to later reading. In the most influential study on the topic, the early math-to-later-reading path was reported to be stronger than the early reading-to-later-math path (Duncan et al., 2007). Yet prior estimates may be confounded by stable environmental and personal factors influencing both reading and mathematics achievement. We reexamined the bidirectional relations between reading and mathematics achievement using both traditional models and extensions intended to account for unmeasured confounding. Results based on a large nationally representative sample of children from kindergarten to 3rd grade (N = 9,612) indicated that the estimated effects between reading and mathematics achievement differ substantially after accounting for the confounding effects of stable unmeasured factors. In these models, autoregressive and cross-lagged paths were substantially reduced. The finding that early mathematics predicts later reading more strongly than early reading predicts later math disappears and sometimes reverses, suggesting that larger paths from math to reading than from reading to math in previous related analyses are not causally informative. Stability in early mathematics and reading achievement resulted from substantially overlapping time invariant factors that correlate above .90. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Patterns of heterogeneity in kindergarten children's executive function: Profile associations with third grade achievement

In the current study, we utilized latent profile analysis to investigate patterns of heterogeneity within children's executive function (EF) skills – as measured through direct assessments and as rated by teachers – that emerged within a large, national sample of kindergarten children (N = 10,770; Mage = 66.48 months, SD = 4.15). We then investigated whether these profiles predicted children's reading and mathematics achievement in third grade. Five unique profiles emerged from the data – representing groups with high, average, and low EF performance – as well as two groups with discordant performance across the direct assessments and teacher ratings. When predicting third grade achievement from latent class membership, performance on reading and math for both discordant groups was below that of the average-EF group. Findings demonstrate the importance of improving methods for identifying children who may be in need of extra support and may be overlooked when using solely linear-based analytic techniques.

Examining Reading Growth Profiles among Children of Diverse Language Backgrounds Using Known and Unknown Approaches

Previous research examining the reading achievement of children speaking languages other than English at home has often grouped such children into one broad category at kindergarten entry—English learners (ELs). EL categorization and placement, however, can considerably underestimate the heterogeneity present among language minority children in terms of their language proficiency and needed English skills. The purpose of our study is twofold: (i) to compare the early elementary (K-3) reading growth patterns among four language background groups of children according to parents’ reported home language use and (ii) to examine the association between student family demographics and home learning environments and students’ growth trajectories. We utilized a “known group” analytic approach—multiple-group latent growth analysis, and an “unknown-group” approach—growth mixture analysis to investigate the heterogeneity in multilingual students’ reading growth trajectories. The known groups consisted of four language backgrounds based primarily on parents’ self-reported home language. Results indicated a sizable gap between LEP children and the other language background groups, albeit with the LEP group demonstrating significant greater growth during first grade than the others. The unknown-group approach identified four emergent reading profiles with different kindergarten entry skills and growth rates. We found English bilingual students were overrepresented in the medium-high and high achieving groups. Further, family socioeconomic status and home literacy practices were robust predictors of children’s reading achievement progress throughout the study, a finding diverging from the known-group approach. We discuss ways the study extends previous research examining language minority students.

The Effect of Mother-Child Reading Time on Children's Reading Skills: Evidence From Natural Within-Family Variation.

Children's exposure to book reading is thought to be an influential input into positive cognitive development. Yet there is little empirical research identifying whether it is reading time per se, or other factors associated with families who read, such as parental education or children's reading skill, that improves children's achievement. Using data on 4,239 children ages 0-13 of the female respondents of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study applies two different methodologies to identify the causal impact of mother-child reading time on children's achievement scores by controlling for several confounding child and family characteristics. The results show that a 1SD increase in mother-child reading time increases children's reading achievement by 0.80SDs.

Gender Differences in How Family Income and Parental Education Relate to Reading Achievement in China: The Mediating Role of Parental Expectation and Parental Involvement.

The impact of social economic status (SES) on children's academic outcomes has been well documented. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain poorly understood. Furthermore, the process by which SES relates to academic achievement needs to be studied separately for boys and girls. Using a sample of 598 Chinese children (299 boys, 299 girls) in grades 4 to 6 and their parents, this study examined the process of how family SES, specifically family income and parental education, indirectly relates to children's reading achievement through parental expectation and parental involvement and whether this process differs between boys and girls. The results revealed that parental expectation and specific parental involvement behaviors played critical mediating roles between family SES and reading achievement. Moreover, the exact nature of these links differed by the gender of children. For boys, both the effect of parental education and the effect of family income were partially mediated by parental expectation and parent-child communication orderly. For girls, the effect of parental education was partially mediated by three separate pathways: (1) home monitoring; (2) parent-child communication; and (3) parental expectation followed by parent-child communication, while the effect of family income was fully mediated by parent-child communication. These findings suggest a process through which SES factors are related to children's academic development and identify a context under which these associations may differ. The practical implications of these findings are discussed, along with possible future research directions.

Parents' reading history as an indicator of risk for reading difficulties.

Children from families whose members have reading impairments are found to be poorer performers, take less advantage of instruction, and require more time to reach the reading level of children whose relatives are good readers. As a family's reading history may not be available, a self-report of reading abilities is used to identify children's background. In this paper, we explored the contribution of phonological, literacy, and linguistic abilities and reported parental reading abilities to predict reading achievement at the end of the school year in a Spanish sample. Children who were starting to read were assessed in a variety of oral language, phonological, and literacy tasks at the beginning and end of the school year. Parents filled out a self-report questionnaire about their reading abilities. Their answers were used to assign children to good or poor reader parent groups (GRP vs PRP). A logistic and ROC analysis were used to assess the variables' discriminative capability, considering literacy scores at the end of the year as a measure of reading achievement. GRP children obtained higher scores than PRP children did. Performance on tasks of rapid naming assessment (RAN) letters (78.6%), Word Reading (75.7%), and Deletion (75.6%) were the most accurate predictors of children's reading achievement. IPRA showed slightly lower accuracy (73.8) than did the behavioral measures and as high specificity as RAN letters (96.2%), similarly to the percentages found in previous studies. Although behavioral measures were shown as the best predictors, parents' self-reports could also provide a quick estimation of family risk of difficulties in literacy acquisition.

Preschool Enrollment, Classroom Instruction, Elementary School Context, and the Reading Achievement of Children from Low-Income Families.

The goal of this study was test expectations derived from sociological and developmental perspectives that the association between phonics instruction in kindergarten classrooms and reading achievement during the first year of school in the low-income population would depend on whether children had previously attended preschool as well as the socioeconomic composition of their elementary schools. Autoregressive modeling was applied to nationally representative data from 7,710 children from low-income families in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, with a series of sensitivity tests to improve causal inference and explore the robustness of results. The association between phonics instruction and achievement was strongest among children from low-income families who had not attended preschool and then enrolled in socioeconomically disadvantaged elementary schools and among children from low-income families who had attended preschool and then enrolled in socioeconomically advantaged elementary schools. Insight into educational inequality can be gained by situating developing children within their proximate ecologies and institutional settings, especially looking to the match between children and their contexts. These findings are relevant to policy discussions of early education, instructional practices, and desegregation.