Early Reading Achievement Research Articles

Predicting Reading Achievement of Students with Intellectual Disability from Early Reading Achievement: Are They Related?

Predicting Reading Achievement of Students with Intellectual Disability from Early Reading Achievement: Are They Related?

Longitudinal relations between literacy instruction and early reading achievement: findings from classroom observations in Grades 1–3

Longitudinal relations between literacy instruction and early reading achievement: findings from classroom observations in Grades 1–3

Promoting reading, mathematics and science learning: the role of reading achievement and reading interest / Fomento del aprendizaje lector, matemático y científico: el papel del rendimiento lector y del interés por la lectura

Reading, mathematics and science are important subjects in the compulsory educational stage. Promoting students’ learning in these subjects has become a focus. Early reading achievement and reading interest may play a critical role. Using two waves of data collected from 2,722 Chinese students in Grade 4 and Grade 6, the study investigated the longitudinal within-domain relationship between reading achievement and reading interest, as well as their cross-domain effects on mathematics and science. The results of the structural equation model showed that reading achievement and reading interest were mutually reinforced over time. Except for the path from reading achievement to science interest, the two reading-related constructs in Grade 4 positively predicted achievement and interest in mathematics and science in Grade 6. The findings underline the significance for primary schools to cultivate proficient reading skills and positive reading attitudes in promoting students’ long-term learning in reading, mathematics and science.

Early child maltreatment and reading processes, abilities, and achievement: A systematic review

BackgroundChildren with maltreatment histories demonstrate weaker reading abilities compared to their peers. However, the differential processes driving this effect remain unclear. Prior studies focused on social and behavioral factors explaining this effect, yet reading research has shown that one's ability to comprehend written text is driven by a set of underlying dynamic and interactive cognitive abilities. ObjectiveThis systematic review sought to understand what theoretical or conceptual frameworks researchers cited as guiding their studies, what reading processes and abilities were studied as outcomes, how reading processes or abilities were measured, and what constructs were included to help understand the relationship between maltreatment and reading. MethodThree databases were searched for empirical peer-reviewed journal articles. Articles retained using inclusion and exclusion criteria were coded based on their sample characteristics, reference to theoretical or conceptual frameworks, reading processes and abilities measured, and included predictors of reading. Procedures were documented using the reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement (Moher et al., 2009). ResultsTwenty-seven studies were included in the final systematic review. Those that discussed theoretical or conceptual frameworks focused on the social and behavioral predictors of reading. Many studies (51.9 %) examined effects of maltreatment on reading achievement, rather than specific reading processes or abilities. Most studies (92.6 %) used at least one standardized reading measure. However, only four studies included cognitive abilities as potential predictor variables. ConclusionsFuture research could benefit from investigating specific cognitive and reading-related processes, using measures to examine specific reading processes leading to breakdowns in reading achievement, and incorporation of reading theories to drive research questions and methods.

Academic achievement and relations to externalizing behavior: Much ado about nothing?

Some of the worst long-term outcomes of children are associated with the presence of externalizing behavior and low academic achievement. However, the nature of the causal and predictive relationship between these two domains remains contested due to inconsistent findings in previous literature. Leveraging a nationally representative sample (N = 7330) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS)–Kindergarten Cohort of 2011, we used latent class growth analysis and machine learning cross validation techniques to analyze the association of early math and reading achievement with the development of externalizing behavior trajectories in elementary school. Several theoretically and empirically important covariates were utilized to develop a profile of learners in each trajectory. Results indicated stable teacher ratings of behavior across kindergarten to fifth grade and three primary trajectories, consisting of (1) higher persistent, (2) low persistent, and (3) no problem behavior. Importantly, teacher rated early inattention and approaches to learning behaviors, rather than direct standardized measures of academic achievement, were the strongest malleable predictors to trajectory membership. Student demographics, including being a boy and identifying as Black, contributed to these students being almost twice as likely to belong to the higher problem behavior trajectory as compared to girls and White peers. Educational implications for intervention, as well as the influence of implicit bias and structural racism in the role of teacher ratings, are discussed.

School quality matters: A multilevel analysis of school effects on the early reading achievement of Black girls

Early reading achievement is essential for all children’s development and future success. However, U.S. schools continue to under prepare Black children in early literacy, as evidenced by disparate outcomes observed for this population of learners. The under preparation of Black students is problematic, given the strong negative correlation between early reading proficiency and high school graduation. Preschool learning opportunities are a means to curb this trend, but these instructional opportunities vary in quality and effectiveness. Variations in quality may significantly impact Black girls. Little specific attention has been given to the early reading of Black girls.’ Therefore, this article’s purpose is to assess the effects of schools on the early reading achievement of Black girls. This study used multilevel modeling to gauge the effects of schools on Black girls’ early reading achievement. Our estimates provide correlational inferences concerning the associations between school characteristics and the early reading achievement of Black girls. The reading achievement of a representative sample of Black girls ( N = 886) and their corresponding schools was used to assess school effects. The schools’ socioeconomic status (SES) and school locations were the primary school characteristics of interest. Results indicate that schools account for approximately 18% of the variation in Black girls’ early reading achievement. Thus, schools play a meaningful role in the early reading achievement of Black girls. School-level SES was negatively correlated with Black girls’ early reading achievement, but this effect was mediated by school location. In conclusion, schools’ observed effects on early Black girl achievement were moderate and influenced by school location. Implications for supporting the early reading achievement of Black girls are provided for educational stakeholders.

Socioeconomic status and early reading achievement: How working memory and cognitive flexibility mediate the relation in low‐achieving and typically developing K to first grade students

Studies have demonstrated significant associations between executive function (EF) and reading ability. Many of these studies have evaluated this association through composite EF skills. In this study, we evaluated the indirect effects of working memory (WM) and cognitive flexibility (CF) in the relation between kindergarten socioeconomic status (SES) and first‐grade reading achievement. Through a two‐period estimation of mediating effects, we also examined these same relationships within low‐achieving (LA) and typically developing (TD) readers. For these investigations, nationally representative data from the United States were utilised from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011. Results revealed significant EF and SES differences between TD and LA readers. Additionally, WM mediated around 11% of the association between kindergarten SES and first‐grade reading achievement while CF mediated 2.6%. The comparison of results between LA and TD readers yielded differences in mediating effects. For LA readers, 15% of the association was mediated by WM, but for TD only, 7.8% was mediated. CF mediated a small amount in both groups. Both WM and CF mediate the relation between kindergarten SES and first‐grade reading achievement. These findings are important because they provide clear evidence that EF ability may partially account for achievement gaps in reading ability from kindergarten to first grade.

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).

The Home Literacy Environment in Rural Rwanda and Its Relationship to Early Grade Reading

ABSTRACTThe developing world faces a learning crisis, wherein children fail to master basic skills despite years of primary school attendance. The literature indicates that both in-school and at-home experiences impact children’s reading development, yet most developing world studies focus on children’s in-school experiences exclusively. This current study addresses this imbalance by exploring the home literacy environment in rural Rwanda and its relationship to children’s reading development. The data come from 466 parent surveys and 466 child reading assessments. An exploratory factor analysis of the survey data yields 5 distinct factors of the home literacy environment: family literacy and learning at home, parental competency in literacy, reading materials, child interest in literacy, and religious-related reading activities. Multivariate regression analyses reveal that family learning, parent competency, and child interest significantly predict early grade reading achievement. Implications of these findings for the developing world’s learning crisis are discussed.

Changes in asthma severity in the first year of school and difficulty learning to read

Objective: Asthma is a risk factor for poor early reading in children, for reasons that are unclear. This analysis examines the relationship between changes in asthma severity during the first year of school and being in the lowest quartile of reading achievement after 1 year of school.Methods: We used previously unreported data from our cohort study. Parent interviews and teacher questionnaires enquired about asthma and covariates of achievement at school entry (T1) and 12 months later (T2). Asthma severity scores at T1 and T2 showed that in 27 of 51 children with asthma, symptoms improved over the year, whereas in 24, symptoms persisted or worsened. Word and story reading were assessed at T1 and T2. We compared reading achievement at both timepoints between children with asthma and children who had no reported respiratory symptoms between birth and T2 (controls, N = 74), and between those with persistent versus improved symptoms.Results: More children with asthma than controls were in the lowest quartiles for reading. Further, significantly more children in the persistent group compared to the improved group were in the lowest quartiles for word reading (58 versus 30%, respectively) and story reading (54 versus 26%, respectively). School absences, increased behavior problems, stressful life events or parental mental health were not associated with the differences in either comparison. Logistic regression modeling identified persistent asthma as the most important variable associated with being in the lowest quartile of reading after 1 year in school.Conclusions: Active asthma symptoms during early school may influence early reading achievement.

Bidirectional relations among executive function, teacher–child relationships, and early reading and math achievement: A cross-lagged panel analysis

Though prior research has examined the links between executive function (EF) – the higher order cognitive processes involved in self-regulation – and academic achievement, and between teacher–child relationships and academic achievement, few studies have examined the extent to which EF, teacher–child conflict, and academic achievement are related. The present study explores the longitudinal, bidirectional relations among direct assessments of children’s EF and early reading and math achievement and teacher-reports of relationship closeness and conflict with target children. Data were collected with N = 759 children in fall and spring of kindergarten and in fall of first grade. The results confirm bidirectional associations between EF and math achievement. Moreover, the study finds that conflict with teachers predicts EF and reading achievement, but not math achievement, though the relations are not bidirectional.

Direct and reciprocal effects among social skills, vocabulary, and reading comprehension in first grade

Social skills and vocabulary are important areas of development involved in early reading achievement, yet little attention has been given to understanding the dynamic associations among them during the elementary years. This study examined the relations among three dimensions of social skills—cooperation, assertion, and self-control—vocabulary and developing reading comprehension (RC) skills in a longitudinal sample of first graders (n = 468). Using Structural Equation Modeling, reciprocal effects were observed between vocabulary and RC as well as direct effects among social skills, vocabulary, and RC after controlling for the influence of problem behaviors. This study highlights the reciprocal nature of students’ vocabulary and RC skills as well as provides preliminary evidence suggesting that social skills play a role in developing vocabulary and RC skills, and further, vocabulary and RC skills play a role in social development during middle childhood. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

The Importance of Pre-Reading Ability in Early Childhood: Between Theory and Reality

This study aims to determine the difference between the theory and the implementation of pre-reading. The research was conducted on students in kindergarten Nurul Huda Pilangsari, Ar Ridlo, Annur, Satu Atap Kertasura, and Thola'al Badr in Cirebon Regency, West Java, Indonesia. This research uses the qualitative method (1989) to know the more accurate result. The collecting data is done through observation, interview, and documentation. Data were analyzed descriptively qualitative. The results show that there is a difference between the concept of theory and reality about pre-reading ability. In theory, it is one of the first skills that individuals should acquire in early childhood education (Ulu and Akyol, 2016), to support future academic success in children (Lonigan,2000), parental involvement in activities literacy with children will improve early reading achievement (Jung, 2016), and early reading activities can be done with the game because through games in early reading activities, can improve the achievement of language and literacy of children (Ocei). In fact, it is known that pre-reading ability is the sole ability demanded by parents in early childhood, the parents fully surrender the achievement of the reading skill of the beginning to the teacher in the school and it is also known that the process of reading teaching is done monotonically using only the media of the book.

Early math and reading achievement are associated with the error positivity

Executive functioning (EF) and motivation are associated with academic achievement and error-related ERPs. The present study explores whether early academic skills predict variability in the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe). Data from 113 three- to seven-year-old children in a Go/No-Go task revealed that stronger early reading and math skills predicted a larger Pe. Closer examination revealed that this relation was quadratic and significant for children performing at or near grade level, but not significant for above-average achievers. Early academics did not predict the ERN. These findings suggest that the Pe – which reflects individual differences in motivational processes as well as attention – may be associated with early academic achievement.

Evaluating the Interpretations and Use of Curriculum-Based Measurement in Reading and Word Lists for Universal Screening in First and Second Grade

.Universal screening in elementary schools often includes administering curriculum-based measurement in reading (CBM-R); but in first grade, nonsense word fluency (NWF) and, to a lesser extent, word identification fluency (WIF) are used because of concerns that CBM-R is too difficult for emerging readers. This study used Kane's argument-based approach to validation as a framework to evaluate the interpretations and use of scores resulting from screening 257 first- and second-grade students. First, scores from three word lists (decodable WIF, high-frequency WIF, and whole-word NWF) were examined as indicators of reading achievement. Then, the use of these word list scores was evaluated regarding their ability to classify at-risk readers accurately and as supplements to CBM-R during the winter universal screening period. Participants were also concurrently administered a norm-referenced measure of early reading skills and global reading achievement. Results suggested that the word lists were good indicators of reading achievement and provided support for using CBM-R or a word list in conjunction with CBM-R to discriminate among at-risk readers. Findings have implications for the administration of universal screeners in first and second grade.

Effects of intradistrict school mobility and high student turnover rates on early reading achievement

ABSTRACTThe primary aim of this study was to assess the relations between concurrent, cumulative, and contextual intradistrict school mobility and early reading achievement. Longitudinal administrative school records were used for an entire cohort of students in a large urban district from first through third grade. Findings indicated that students with a concurrent intradistrict school move had lower reading achievement scores at the end of each grade compared to children who did not change schools. Cumulative intradistrict school mobility was also associated with poor reading achievement by the end of third grade. Students enrolled in schools with high turnover rates demonstrated worse reading achievement after accounting for individual school mobility experiences, and this effect worsened as children reached third grade.

Predicting Children's Reading and Mathematics Achievement from Early Quantitative Knowledge and Domain-General Cognitive Abilities

One hundred children (44 boys) participated in a 3-year longitudinal study of the development of basic quantitative competencies and the relation between these competencies and later mathematics and reading achievement. The children's preliteracy knowledge, intelligence, executive functions, and parental educational background were also assessed. The quantitative tasks assessed a broad range of symbolic and nonsymbolic knowledge and were administered four times across 2 years of preschool. Mathematics achievement was assessed at the end of each of 2 years of preschool, and mathematics and word reading achievement were assessed at the end of kindergarten. Our goals were to determine how domain-general abilities contribute to growth in children's quantitative knowledge and to determine how domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to children's preschool mathematics achievement and kindergarten mathematics and reading achievement. We first identified four core quantitative competencies (e.g., knowledge of the cardinal value of number words) that predict later mathematics achievement. The domain-general abilities were then used to predict growth in these competencies across 2 years of preschool, and the combination of domain-general abilities, preliteracy skills, and core quantitative competencies were used to predict mathematics achievement across preschool and mathematics and word reading achievement at the end of kindergarten. Both intelligence and executive functions predicted growth in the four quantitative competencies, especially across the first year of preschool. A combination of domain-general and domain-specific competencies predicted preschoolers' mathematics achievement, with a trend for domain-specific skills to be more strongly related to achievement at the beginning of preschool than at the end of preschool. Preschool preliteracy skills, sensitivity to the relative quantities of collections of objects, and cardinal knowledge predicted reading and mathematics achievement at the end of kindergarten. Preliteracy skills were more strongly related to word reading, whereas sensitivity to relative quantity was more strongly related to mathematics achievement. The overall results indicate that a combination of domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to development of children's early mathematics and reading achievement.

How socioeconomic status, executive functioning and verbal interactions contribute to early academic achievement in Chinese children

The present study investigated the relative importance of executive functioning, parent–child verbal interactions, phonological awareness and visual skills on reading and mathematics for Chinese children from low-versus middle-socio economic status (SES) backgrounds. A total of 199 kindergarten children were assessed on executive functioning, verbal interactions, phonological awareness, visual skills, mathematics and word reading in Chinese and English. Results revealed that low-SES children exhibited lower levels of cognitive-linguistic skills, verbal interactions, reading and mathematics achievement than their middle-SES counterparts. Path analyses also indicated that executive functioning and verbal interactions made significant and direct contributions to mathematics, and indirect contributions to reading through phonological awareness. These results suggest that executive functioning and verbal interactions provide the foundation for phonological awareness and visual skills, which in turn affect reading and mathematics achievement. Overall, findings underscore the potential importance of SES inequalities, cognitive-linguistic skills and parental verbal input to their children for early reading and mathematics achievement.

Within- and Cross-Language Relations Between Oral Language Proficiency and School Outcomes in Bilingual Children With an Immigrant Background

Sixteen meta-analyses were conducted to examine relations of typically developing bilingual immigrant-background children’s oral language proficiency in their first and second language with the school outcomes of early literacy ( k = 41), reading ( k = 61), spelling ( k = 9), mathematics ( k = 9), and academic achievement ( k = 9). Moderate to strong within-language relations were found for all school outcomes (.22 < r < .43), and cross-language relations for early literacy and reading (.12 < r < .22). Within-language relations were stronger than cross-language relations (.14 < d < .35). Only 6 out of 96 moderator effects tested were significant. Based on our findings, we propose a task-dependent bidirectional transfer hypothesis: The strength of cross-language transfer depends on the type of language proficiency task and the type of school outcome. Stimulating oral language proficiency in both languages can be a key factor in improving school outcomes of bilingual immigrant background children.

The Development of Reading Skills in Kindergarten Influence of Parental Beliefs About School Readiness, Family Activities, and Children’s Attitudes to School

Children’s early home learning experiences are important influences on children’s adjustment and achievement in the early years of school. This study explores the relationships between parental beliefs about school readiness, family engagement in home learning activities, on children’s attitudes to school as reported by parents, and children’s reading achievement in kindergarten. The analyses draw on data from 3309 children who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of Kindergartners. The analyses use structural equation modeling to test the influence of parent and family influences, including sociodemographic variables on children’s attitudes to school and children’s reading achievement in the kindergarten year. Analyses revealed that parents’ readiness beliefs and family activities were significantly related to children’s reading skills. Family activities were related to children’s attitudes about school, but these attitudes were not related to the development of reading skills. The findings suggest that higher engagement in shared parent–child activities may be an important focus in intentional efforts aimed at enhancing early reading achievement. Early childhood educators and other family practitioners can encourage parents to participate in home activities with their children because these activities encourage language interactions which are important to the development of children’s literacy.