Reading Difficulties Research Articles

Teaching Students to Read: A Call to Action for Social Justice in School Psychology

Although the accurate diagnosis and effective instruction for reading disorders through multi-tiered systems of support is one of the most foundational components of school psychology training and practice, there are significant opportunities for innovation, renewed excitement, and social justice. In this article, we identify reading assessments, interventions, and systems-level policies shown to be effective through rigorous, empirical research. These effective practices are not well known by school psychologists or commonly implemented in schools. We propose four areas to better align school psychology training and practice with the most cutting-edge reading research to improve student outcomes in the future: (a) building knowledge of reading development, (b) increasing the commitment to school-based careers, (c) implementing more instructionally-useful reading screening and special education assessment practices (including using the hybrid model of identification), and (d) promoting evidence-based reading instruction and intervention. Throughout each of these four areas, we highlight the need for multi-disciplinary collaboration.

Reading disability is characterized by reduced print-speech convergence.

Reading disability (RD) may be characterized by reduced print-speech convergence, which is the extent to which neurocognitive processes for reading and hearing words overlap. We examined how print-speech convergence changes from children (mean age: 11.07+0.48) to adults (mean age: 21.33+1.80)in 86 readers with or without RD. The participants were recruited in elementary schools and associate degree colleges in China (from 2020 to 2021). Three patterns of abnormalities were revealed: (1) persistent reduction of print-speech convergence in the left inferior parietal cortex in both children and adults with RD, suggesting a neural signature of RD; (2) reduction of print-speech convergence in the left inferior frontal gyrus only evident in children but not adults with RD, suggesting a developmental delay; and (3) increased print-speech convergence in adults with RD than typical adults in the bilateral cerebella/fusiform, suggesting compensations. It provides insights into developmental differences in brain functional abnormalities in RD.

Feedback timing-modulated weather prediction reveals relative deficits in both procedural and declarative learning in adults with dyslexia.

A topic of recent debate is the hypothesis that deficits associated with developmental disorders of language, such as reading disability, can be explained by a selective weakness in procedural memory. Adults with (n = 29; RD) and without (n = 29; TD) reading disability completed a weather prediction task under immediate and delayed feedback conditions, that rely on the striatal (procedural) and hippocampal (declarative) circuits, respectively. We examined trial-by-trial accuracy by feedback condition (immediate vs. delayed) and group (RD vs. TD). In the immediate feedback condition, we found the TD group to have a higher learning rate than the RD group. In the delayed feedback condition, we found the TD group reach a high level of accuracy early, and outperform the RD group for the duration of the task. The TD group also made gains in reaction time under both conditions, while the RD group slowed in their responses. Taken together, it appears that while procedural memory is indeed impaired in adults with reading disability, to a lesser extent, declarative memory is also affected. This lends partial support to the PDH, and more broadly to the position that reading disability is associated with general (non-linguistic) difficulties in learning.

Duplicated Heschl's gyrus associations with phonological decoding.

The reason(s) for why a complete duplication of the left hemisphere Heschl's gyrus (HG) has been observed in people with reading disability are unclear. This study was designed to replicate and advance understanding of the HG and phonological decoding association, as well as test competing hypotheses that this HG duplication association is specifically localized to the HG or could be due to co-occurring atypical development of other brain regions that support reading and language development. Participants were selected on the basis of having a duplicated left hemisphere HG (N = 96) or a single HG (N = 96) and matched according to age, sex, and research site in this multi-site study. Duplicated and single HG morphology specific templates were created to determine the extent to which HG sizes were related to phonological decoding within each HG morphology group. The duplicated HG group had significantly lower phonological decoding (F = 4.48, p = 0.04) but not verbal IQ (F = 1.39, p = 0.41) compared to the single HG group. In addition, larger HG were significantly associated with lower phonological decoding in the duplicated HG group, with effects driven by the size of the lateral HG after controlling for age, sex, research site, and handedness (ps < 0.05). Brain regions that exhibited structural covariance with HG did not clearly explain the HG and phonological decoding associations. Together, the results suggest that presence of a duplicated HG indicates some risk for lower phonological decoding ability compared to verbal IQ, but the reason(s) for this association remain unclear.

Students’ writing performance in higher education: An empirical study in English creative writing class

This study investigated students’ writing performance concerning the problems that obstruct their perception of good writing skills. It also examined students’ ability to identify their composition, including their introductory paragraph, supporting sentences, concluding paragraph, supporting sentences, concluding paragraph, and correcting linguistic errors such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation, among other things. Using a qualitative method, data were collected from undergraduate students who enrolled in a creative writing class. Thirteen students, ages twenty to twenty-one, took part in the interview process to find out more about the strategies and resources available to them for enhancing the linguistic accuracy of their writing. The findings revealed that most of the students’ issues were related to language use. Mastering a second language is a different issue, in that, they must learn the grammar, vocabulary, syntactic structures, and other aspects of the new language. Students who had difficulty reading and writing in English had to work harder to develop concepts and thoughts for their writing assignments. Keywords: Creative writing; English language; higher education; performance; undergraduate.

Age-related changes in individuals with and without reading disability: Behavioral and fMRI evidence

Abstract Reading disability (RD) is a developmental neurological disorder with high prevalence across languages; however, the developmental differences in the behavior and brain of individuals with RD remain poorly understood, especially in Chinese RD. In the current study, we aimed to differentiate persistent deficits in Chinese children and adults with RD, differences that are evident only in children but not adults with RD, and differences that are more severe in adults than children with RD. In a cross-sectional design, we compared behavioral performances in a battery of reading tests and brain activities in three tasks in Chinese children (N = 83, mean age = 11) and adults (N = 94, mean age = 20) with and without RD. We found that phonological deficits were persistent across children and adults with RD, while deficits in word decoding accuracy were only evident in children but not adults with RD. Moreover, deficits in sentence reading fluency were more severe in adults than children with RD. In the brain, we found persistent reduction of brain activation in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), suggesting neural signature of RD. We found greater reduction of brain activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in children with RD than in adults with RD, suggesting a developmental delay and/or performance effect. On the other hand, a reduction of brain activation in the left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) was more salient in adults with RD than in children with RD, due to greater developmental increase in typical readers than in RD readers, ultimately indicating accumulative effects of RD. The results were replicated in multiple tasks and samples. It contributes to advancing our understanding of the etiology and prognosis of RD. The findings also have practical implications in precise diagnosis and interventions for RD at different ages.

A scoping review on word-reading resilience in literacy: Evaluating empirical evidence for protective factors

BackgroundTo date little is known about factors that might contribute to positive literacy outcomes in children with (a risk of) reading difficulties (RD). Research into resilience in literacy is needed to understand why some children with (a risk of) RD can overcome their difficulties in the face of adversity. AimThis scoping review aims to 1) provide a framework and operationalize study designs and statistical approaches for studying academic resilience; and 2) systematically review empirical evidence for promotive, protective, and skill-enhancing factors involved in resilience in atypical literacy development of children with (a risk of) word-level RD. MethodThe systematic literature search included empirical studies with a focus on compensation in literacy development, including samples of 6- to 16-year-old children with a detectable (risk of) word-level RD. Outcome measures had to include at least one relevant literacy measure. ResultsAnalysis of the 22 included studies revealed two main findings: 1) most studies had (very) small sample sizes and thus low statistical power to find relevant effects; 2) study designs and/or statistical analyses used were often insufficient to distinguish between promotive, protective, and skill-enhancing factors. Furthermore, findings point towards underrecognition of evidence for promotive and skill-enhancing factors as well as overinterpretation of the same evidence towards protective effects. ConclusionOverall, empirical evidence for protective factors is sparse and at present based on only a few studies. Based on the current findings, we state implications for the field of educational psychology in planning and conducting research into resilience in literacy.

Elevated unanticipated acoustic startle reactivity in dyslexia.

People with dyslexia, a neurodevelopmental disorder of reading, are highly attuned to the emotional world. Compared with their typically developing peers, children with dyslexia exhibit greater autonomic nervous system reactivity and facial behaviour to emotion- and empathy-inducing film clips. Affective symptoms, such as anxiety, are also more common in children with dyslexia than in those without. Here, we investigated whether the startle response, an automatic reaction that lies at the interface of emotion and reflex, is elevated in dyslexia. We measured facial behaviour, electrodermal reactivity (a sympathetic nervous system measure) and emotional experience in response to a 100 ms, 105 dB unanticipated acoustic startle task in 30 children with dyslexia and 20 comparison children without dyslexia (aged 7-13) who were matched on age, sex and nonverbal reasoning. Our results indicated that the children with dyslexia had greater total facial behaviour and electrodermal reactivity to the acoustic startle task than the children without dyslexia. Across the sample, greater electrodermal reactivity during the startle predicted greater parent-reported anxiety symptoms. These findings contribute to an emerging picture of heightened emotional reactivity in dyslexia and suggest accentuated sympathetic nervous system reactivity may contribute to the elevated anxiety that is often seen in this population.

A Game-Based Cognitive Intervention for Young Learners with Reading Difficulties

The study’s primary contribution is a game-based cognitive intervention tool for young learners with reading difficulties. The second contribution is the game designer's guide tool, which provides a set of recommended design guidelines for designers, developers and researchers that create games for children. The tools were designed and developed in the ReaDi-STANCE project and are accessible on the project’s platform (ReaDi-STANCE platform home page: https://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/projects/readistance/). The platform has the following main modules integrated: a management support module, an algorithm module to rotate in a predefined order the games the child end-user plays, a prompting stages module to support the child end-user during gameplay, and a data analytics module that researchers can use. Two different groups of experts conducted two evaluations to evaluate: (1) a corpus of game design themes and guidelines for children, extracted from the respective literature, to develop the game designer's guide tool and (2) the extent of application of the design above guidelines in the game-based cognitive intervention tool. We present the intervention impact results and discuss their effect on improving reading skills in poor readers.

Unpacking EFL learners’ emotions and emotion-regulation strategies in digital collaborative academic reading projects: An integrated approach of vignette methodology and interview analysis

This study explored the manifestation of multifaceted emotions, sources of emotions, and emotion regulation strategies of college EFL learners participating in digital collaborative academic reading projects. Data were collected through a vignette-based survey that was comprised of 19 episodes of authentic emotion-inducing scenarios among 72 Chinese EFL learners, supplemented by semi-structured interviews with 16 participants. While the results showed a relatively balanced distribution of positive and negative emotions, anxiety, nervousness, and happiness were found to be the top three most commonly experienced emotions. The study identified three sources of positive emotions including topic interest, experiencing mastery and achievement, and recognition from other groups. The findings also revealed factors inducing negative emotions in digital collaborative academic reading: reading difficulties, challenges in interacting with group members, low-quality feedback from external groups, online learning environment and technology issues, and time pressure. Furthermore, the study extended the literature on emotion regulation by developing a comprehensive taxonomy of six categories of strategies (i.e., co-regulation, cognitive change, response regulation, attention deployment, task-related regulation, and situation modification) tailored to the context of digital collaborative academic reading. These findings can offer practical guidance for enhancing social-emotional interactions in technology-enhanced collaborative academic reading.

Caregiver Self-Efficacy in Relation to Caregivers' History of Language and Reading Difficulties and Children's Shared Reading Experiences.

Emerging literature suggests caregiver self-efficacy is an important factor related to caregivers' shared reading practices with their children. Reduced shared reading has been documented among families of caregiver(s) with language-based learning disabilities (LBLD). Yet, it remains unclear whether caregivers' history of language and reading difficulties is associated with caregiver self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine whether self-efficacy in language- and reading-related caregiver activities related to caregiver history of language and reading difficulties and shared reading practices. One hundred seventy-six caregivers of children aged 18-60 months completed a custom self-efficacy in language- and reading-related caregiver activities questionnaire, as well as demographic, history of language and reading difficulties (used both as a continuous measure and to dichotomize caregivers with and without LBLD history), and shared reading measures in a one-time survey. Caregivers with a history of LBLD reported an overall lower self-efficacy and a reduced amount of time reading with their children per week than caregivers without LBLD history. Examining caregiver history of language and reading difficulties continuously across the whole group, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between caregiver difficulties and shared reading practices, even when caregiver education was incorporated as an additional mediator in models. Findings indicate that self-efficacy and caregiver education mediate the relationship between caregiver history of language and reading difficulties and shared reading practices. Consideration of self-efficacy by clinicians and educators is warranted when promoting shared reading practices to caregivers of young children. There is a need for future research to examine relationships between self-efficacy and shared reading among caregivers with LBLD of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25901590.

Assessing students with dyslexia and other reading difficulties through multiple diagnostic assessments.

This article aims to assist practitioners in understanding dyslexia and other reading difficulties and assessing students' learning needs. We describe the essential components of language and literacy, universal screening, diagnostic assessments, curriculum-based measurement and eligibility determination. We then introduce four diagnostic assessments as examples, including norm-referenced assessments (i.e. the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing second edition and the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement) and criterion-referenced assessments (i.e. the Gallistel-Ellis Test of Coding Skills and the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). Finally, We use a makeup case as a concrete example to illustrate how multiple diagnostic assessments are recorded and how the results can be used to inform intervention and eligibility for special education services.

Enhancing word signing in hearing students with reading disorders using computer-based learning trials.

Multiple-baseline-across-word-sets designs were used to determine whether a computer-based intervention would enhance accurate word signing with four participants. Each participant was a hearing college student with reading disorders. Learning trials included 3 s to observe printed words on the screen and a video model performing the sign twice (i.e., simultaneous prompting), 3 s to make the sign, 3 s to observe the same clip, and 3 s to make the sign again. For each participant and word set, no words were accurately signed during baseline. After the intervention, all four participants increased their accurate word signing across all three word sets, providing 12 demonstrations of experimental control. For each participant, accurate word signing was maintained. Application of efficient, technology-based, simultaneous prompting interventions for enhancing American Sign Language learning and future research designed to investigate causal mechanisms and optimize intervention effects are discussed.

Implementation of the Routine Habituation Method in Developing Reading Skills in Elementary Schools

This research is based on reading habits that occur as a result of routine activities carried out daily at school. The aim of this research is to describe the implementation of the habituation method applied by class IV students at SDN 4 Gondang. This research was carried out at SDN 4 Gondang, Gangga District in class IV semester II of the 2023/2024 academic year. The method used in this research is a qualitative approach and in terms of method it is a descriptive method. Data collection techniques use observation, interviews and documentation techniques. The data sources for this research are school principals, teachers and students. And the data analysis techniques used in this research are data collection, data reduction, presentation and drawing conclusions. The research results show that (1) Implementation of the reading habitual method in an effort to foster reading skills at SDN 4 Gondang is carried out by a) reading habitually, b) providing a reading corner c) and providing reading books in the library and each class. (2) There are obstacles and solutions to implementing the habituation method (1) internal factors (a) reading disorders, the solution is with special guidance to students, (b) lack of focus on reading, the solution is to stay away from places that can interfere with the reading process or by reporting to teachers, (2) External factors, (a) lack of reading facilities, the solution is to utilize unused facilities and use them to facilitate the lack of reading places, (b) lack of reading time, the solution is to provide reading time when there is time blank.

Longitudinal trajectories of brain development from infancy to school age and their relationship to literacy development.

Reading is one of the most complex skills that we utilize daily, and it involves the early development and interaction of various lower-level subskills, including phonological processing and oral language. These subskills recruit brain structures, which begin to develop long before the skill manifests and exhibit rapid development during infancy. However, how longitudinal trajectories of early brain development in these structures supports long-term acquisition of literacy subskills and subsequent reading is unclear. Children underwent structural and diffusion MRI scanning at multiple timepoints between infancy and second grade and were tested for literacy subskills in preschool and decoding and word reading in early elementary school. We developed and implemented a reproducible pipeline to generate longitudinal trajectories of early brain development to examine associations between these trajectories and literacy (sub)skills. Furthermore, we examined whether familial risk of reading difficulty and a child's home literacy environment, two common literacy-related covariates, influenced those trajectories. Results showed that individual differences in curve features (e.g., intercepts and slopes) for longitudinal trajectories of volumetric, surface-based, and white matter organization measures in left-hemispheric reading-related regions and tracts were linked directly to phonological processing and indirectly to second-grade decoding and word reading skills via phonological processing. Altogether, these findings suggest that the brain bases of phonological processing, previously identified as the strongest behavioral predictor of reading and decoding skills, may already begin to develop early in infancy but undergo further refinement between birth and preschool. The present study underscores the importance of considering academic skill acquisition from the very beginning of life.

Readability of English and Spanish online patient education materials for shoulder arthroplasty

BackgroundOnline patient educational materials (OPEMs) are a vital source of information for those undergoing shoulder arthroplasty, though their utility is limited by patient health literacy as the average American reads at an eighth-grade level. To promote optimal reading comprehension, the American Medical Association and National Institutes of Health recommend that OPEMs be written at or below a sixth-grade level. The purpose of this study is to analyze the readability of English and Spanish shoulder arthroplasty OPEMs. MethodsGoogle Search was used to identify the first 25 eligible Shoulder Arthroplasty OPEMs in both English and Spanish using the search terms “shoulder replacement” and “reemplazo de hombro.” Readability of the English OPEMs was calculated using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Flesch Reading Ease Index (FRE), Flesch Reading Ease Grade Level, Gunning-Fog Index, Coleman-Liau Index, and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook Index. The readability of Spanish OPEMs was calculated using the Fernandez-Huerta Index (FHI; the Spanish version of FRE), Fernandez-Huerta Index Grade Level, Gutiérrez de Polini's Fórmula de compresibilidad, and Índice Flesch-Szigriszt. ResultsThe mean FHI of Spanish OPEMs was significantly higher than the mean FRE of English OPEMs (60.09 vs. 51.48). As such, Spanish OPEMs were written at a significantly lower grade level than English OPEMs (9.70 vs. 11.53). There was not an English or Spanish OPEM that was written at or below a sixth-grade reading level. 4% of Spanish OPEMs and 4% of English OPEMs were written below an eighth-grade reading level. 52% of Spanish OPEMs and 8% of English OPEMs were written between an eighth- and ninth-grade reading level. The designation of OPEMs as being Very Easy/Easy, Standard/Normal, Fairly/Somewhat Difficult, or Difficult/Very Difficult was significantly dependent on whether the OPEM was written in English or Spanish. Discussion and conclusionEnglish shoulder arthroplasty OPEMs were written at a higher reading difficulty than Spanish OPEMs. However, neither English nor Spanish OPEMs were written at a reading level at or below the recommended sixth-grade reading level. As older adults and those in the United States with limited English proficiency are susceptible to low health literacy, OPEMs must be written at an accessible reading level for all. Addressing these disparities in OPEM readability will improve patient care and understanding of shoulder arthroplasty and other orthopedic procedures.

Teacher Strategies in Overcoming Reading Difficulties in Class II MI Intisyarul Ulum Students

Teacher Strategies in Overcoming Reading Difficulties in Class II MI Intisyarul Ulum Students

Readability and Suitability of Local Disaster Preparedness Materials in Predominantly Hispanic Border Communities: A Case Study of Cameron County, Texas

Abstract Community awareness is a key component of disaster resilience and numerous agencies developed a plethora of preparedness materials. Previous studies evaluated national-level resources and social media content indicating that these efforts are not effectively reaching vulnerable populations, as the information is provided at or above the secondary education level. However, the local-specific content has been mostly overlooked in the analyses, subsequently neglecting the needs of areas with specific demographics and hazards, like predominantly Hispanic border communities. Thus, this study turns to local preparedness and mitigation materials, rather than general internet searches or national level documents. We analyze information provided on 239 webpages of local authorities in Cameron county in the southernmost tip of Texas. We evaluate: 1) the availability of languages and visual materials, 2) the reading difficulty level, and 3) the suitability of content. Our results demonstrate the lack of suitable and readable information provided on the local authorities’ websites with the average readability level implying “difficult” to “very confusing”, and the average suitability score equivalent to “below average/adequate”. Moreover, the lack of Spanish-language content indicates an under-utilization of the otherwise vernacular language. We discuss those results in the socio-cultural context of the border community.

The Effects of Phonics Training based on Phonological and Morphological Awareness on Reading and Writing Abilities in Children with Reading Difficulties

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to find more efficient intervention methods for children with poor reading by comparing phonics intervention based on phonological awareness and with integrated phonics group including morphological awareness. Methods: 18 children with poor reading skills in elementary school were selected and classified into two experimental groups and a control group. Decoding, paragraph reading fluency, reading comprehension, dictation, and sentence reading and writing tests were administered as assessment tool. Additionally Jung (2014)’s morphological awareness ability task was utilized. Results: First, both experimental groups showed a significant increase in decoding skills. However, in terms of reading comprehension and fluency, there was a significant increase in the integrated phonics training group including morphological awareness, but there was no significant difference in the phonics training group based solely on phonological awareness. The control group did not show a significant increase in all areas. Second, both groups showed a significant improvement in the dictation skills, while the control group did not showed significant difference. Third, both experimental groups significantly increased their scores in phonological awareness tasks and morphological awareness ability tasks. Conversely, there was no significant increase observed in the control group. Conclusion: It is significant that the phonics intervention program, which integrates phonological and morphological awareness for children with poor reading skills, has an effect not only on reading and writing, but also on meta-recognition ability. This indicates that interventions, including morphological awareness training, have a broad impact on the realm of reading.

Meningkatkan Kemampuan Membaca Kata Menggunakan Media Kartu Bergambar Pada Siswa Tunagrahita Ringan

The research began with problems found in mildly mentally retarded students who had difficulty reading at SLB C Payakumbuh. After examining the characteristics of students, it is easier to read using picture word cards as media. The aim of the research is to prove that picture word card media can improve the word reading ability of mildly mentally retarded students at SLB C Payakumbuh. The type of research used is an experiment in the form of an SSR with an ABA design. Data collection uses techniques in the form of action tests with visual graphic data analysis. There have been 16 meeting sessions divided into 3 conditions. After using picture word card media as a form of intervention, it was proven that this media could improve the word reading ability of students with mild intellectual disabilities.