Levels Of Reading Achievement Research Articles

Language anxiety does not affect the growth of L2 reading achievement: The latent growth curve model approach

Abstract Second language (L2) anxiety has been proposed to play a causal role in L2 achievement. However, most studies have failed to acknowledge confounding variables that may be relevant to the study of anxiety and L2 achievement or to investigate the causal effect of L2 anxiety using longitudinal data. For these reasons, we investigated the effect of L1 reading achievement, L2 aptitude, and L2 anxiety as covariates on the growth of L2 reading achievement across three time points. We used the latent growth curve model (LGCM) to estimate the growth trajectory of US secondary school students’ L2 reading growth in Spanish (N = 307) over three school years. The findings showed that students’ L1 reading achievement and L2 aptitude strongly and significantly predicted L2 reading achievement growth. However, L2 anxiety did not predict L2 reading achievement growth. Findings suggest that growth in L2 reading achievement depends on the language-related skills used for L1 reading and the language skills that comprise L2 aptitude, but not on anxiety. Similar to past cross-sectional studies, L2 anxiety related only to initial levels of L2 reading achievement, suggesting that anxiety reflects students’ initial experience of L2 reading but not their L2 achievement.

Intelligence, academic achievement, and pediatric injury among a large sample of kindergartners

Objectives: Previous work reports mixed results on the roles of intelligence and academic achievement on child injury risk. Some early research offered evidence of links between lower levels of intelligence and higher rates of pediatric injury, but other work has suggested there is no relation between the variables. This study investigated the matter further, in the context of a large sample and with strong statistical power. Methods: Data from a national sample of 8002 kindergartners in the United States, all from low-income families, were analyzed. Intelligence was estimated using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised and academic achievement with the Reading and Mathematics scales of the Woodcock Johnson Psycho- Educational Battery-Revised. Mothers reported whether children had experienced an injury in the previous year that required professional medical attention. Results: Results of both bivariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression models suggest higher levels of reading achievement and of mathematics achievement were associated with slightly reduced risk of pediatric injury. Intelligence was not related to injury history. Conclusions: Academic achievement, but not intelligence, appears to relate in a small but statistically significant inverse manner with risk for pediatric injury among kindergartners from a low-income background. Possible mediators include children’s ability to learn and remember safety-related rules or the fact that parents who encourage learning in the household might also safeguard children more effectively.

Unlocking the Potential of Second Grade Students : Emotional Quotient as a Catalyst for Early Reading Skills Development

This study aims to analyze the Emotional Quotient level, reading achievement level, and emotional quotient's effect on reading achievement in grade II students. This method of research was ex-post facto with a quantitative approach. The instrument used to measure students' emotional quotient levels was a questionnaire; meanwhile, the instrument used to measure students' reading achievement levels was documentation. Furthermore, the data analysis technique was descriptive analysis, then proceeded with the prerequisite analysis test, starting from the normality and linearity tests. Finally, the research hypothesis was tested using a simple linear regression test and the F test. The result was that most students have a relatively low EQ, so their reading achievement was relatively low too. The results of a straightforward regression analysis yield the equation Y = 45.788 + 0.406X, which showed that an increase in the reading performance score of 0.406 would occur for every additional unit of emotional quotient score. Thus, a significant positive relationship existed between kids' EQ and reading achievement. Self-awareness, mood management, self-motivation, empathy, and relationship management were essential considerations when increasing students' emotional quotient (EQ). While age, teaching strategies, the environment in which students learn, and parental and educational support for encouraging and assisting students in learning to read were among the elements that influence students' reading achievement.

The Impact of Digital Environment vs. Traditional Method on Literacy Skills; Reading and Writing of Emirati Fourth Graders

This study aimed to determine the extent to which fourth-grade students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are able to develop their reading comprehension and creative writing abilities. The study used a quasi-experimental approach to achieve the study objectives, and the sample included (120) male and female students, who were divided equally into two groups: a control group and an experimental group. As a result of the differences observed between the tribal and remote measurements, favoring the dimensional measurements of the experimental group, the results of the study indicated that the use of digital learning platforms (Teams, platform LMS, Nahla and Nahil) led to an improvement in the students’ levels of achievement in reading and writing. The results showed statistically significant differences in the students’ performance in literacy skills, reading and writing, between students learning via digital environment and those learning using traditional methods, with these differences favoring the digital environment. It is recommended that students’ needs and learning styles be met by shifting towards a digital environment, but gradually and cautiously.

THE EFFECT OF INTONATION ON READING COMPREHENSION DURING READING ALOUD THIRD SECONDARY LEARNERS PREPARATORY AS A MODEL

In this article, we discuss the role of intonation in developing the performance and comprehension abilities of learners: Performance by tracing the positive impact of prosodic reading in general, and intonation in particular, on the learners’ reading aloud, which some learners often find difficult and repel them in order to avoid making mistakes in front of the teacher and peers. And comprehension by tracing the impact of this prosodic feature on improving the reading comprehension skill of these learners, and their ability to penetrate into the semantics of the readable text, and thus, moving reading to the level of oral reading achievement coupled with understanding, analysis, taste and conclusion. In order to ascertain the effectiveness of this prosodic variable didactically (reading), we conducted an experimental field study in this regard, during which we dealt with a sample of the third secondary preparatory learners by dividing them into two groups: a control group and an experimental group, using the statistical method (SPSS) to read the most important results of this study will be presented at the end of the article

CHALLENGES FOR CHILDREN FROM MARGINALISED INDIAN COMMUNITIES

Backround: Literacy is a necessary first step toward social and economic development for India's underprivileged communities. They can not only gain access to the numerous basic services and rights to which they are entitled, but also improve their standard of living by expanding their options. Children from underserved Indian communities who do not have access to literacy materials such as books and stories, as well as formal language, reading, and writing development, do not develop their brains as well as their more privileged counterparts. A large proportion of India's youngsters are unable to demonstrate even the most basic levels of reading achievement, a problem that has been highlighted in children from low-income households, scheduled castes and tribes, and ethnic minority groups. Methodology: This review study is based on the source of secondary data include books, articles, libraries, reports, personal sources, journals, newspapers, websites, government records and online data, etc Aims and Objectives: It is aim in this review article to identify the factors that cause children to be marginalised within socially disadvantaged groups as well as the challenges and opportunities that hinder or enable marginalised and vulnerable children from gaining access to their right to education. Conclusion: To achieve equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning for everyone, it is critical to not only give access, but also to guarantee that marginalized children stay in school. Marginalised groups are frequently left behind, depriving children from their right to education. Discrimination fosters an unwelcoming environment, which can lead to absenteeism and eventually the children’s refusal to attend school. It appears that present educational programmes should equip to address the requirements of children who are vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion for establishing a brighter future together.

Item wording effects in self-report measures and reading achievement: Does removing careless respondents help?

This study examined the impact of item wording effects on the factor structure of the Student Confidence in Reading (SCR) scale in the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). First, using a large sample of students from seven English-speaking countries, item wording effects in the SCR scale were investigated for the entire sample and the subgroups of students based on their reading achievement levels in PIRLS 2016. Second, the presence of item wording effects was re-examined after identifying and removing students who answered negatively worded items inconsistently. The results showed that the use of negatively worded items distorted the factor structure of the SCR scale, leading to an unintentionally multidimensional factor structure. Removing students with careless responses had a negligible impact on the model fit for students at the lowest achievement level, whereas it considerably improved the model fit for other students with moderate to high reading achievement.

The Dimensionality of Reading Self-Concept: Examining Its Stability Using Local Structural Equation Models.

For results from large-scale surveys to inform policy and practice appropriately, all participants must interpret and respond to items similarly. While organizers of surveys assessing student outcomes often ensure this for achievement measures, doing so for psychological questionnaires is also critical. We demonstrate this by examining the dimensionality of reading self-concept-a crucial psychological construct for several outcomes-across reading achievement levels. We use Programme for International Student Assessment 2018 data (N = 529,966) and local structural equation models (LSEMs) to do so. Results reveal that reading self-concept dimensions (assessed through reading competence and difficulty) vary across reading achievement levels. Students with low reading achievement show differentiated responses to the two item sets (high competence-high difficulty). In contrast, students with high reading achievement have reconciled responses (high competence-low difficulty). Our results highlight the value of LSEMs in examining factor structure generalizability of constructs in large-scale surveys and call for greater cognitive testing during item development.

The Impact of Knowledge-Building Curricula on Reading Achievement: Closing the Poverty Gap

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of knowledge-building curricula on closing the opportunity gap between students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds compared to more affluent peers. Data consisted of fourth through eighth-grade students’ reading achievement levels on state- wide summative reading assessments from 2015 to 2019 attending US school districts implementing, and not implementing, knowledge-building curricula. Of the school districts implementing knowledge-building curricula, four separate knowledge-building curricula were analyzed among six experimental districts. We found statistically significant differences in the frequencies of students performing at varying proficiency levels between districts that implemented a knowledge-building curriculum versus districts that did not. A greater frequency of students than expected who were attending school districts implementing a knowledge-building curriculum was performing at higher proficiency levels compared to matched controls in twenty-two of twenty-seven comparisons. Overall, our study found that there is evidence to the claim that exposure to knowledge-building curricula closes the opportunity gap in reading achievement for students residing in economically disadvantaged environments.

The evolution of the association between ICT use and reading achievement in 28 countries

This paper examines the evolution of 15-year-old students’ use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for fun and for learning at school and at home between 2009 and 2018. It also considers how the association between ICT use and reading achievement evolved over the same period. Results indicate that ICT use increased and that the increase was especially marked when considering ICT used for learning (both at school and at home). Boys increased their use of ICT for fun and for learning at school more than girls. Trends in ICT use did not differ by parental educational attainment. Over the same period, no quantitatively meaningful changes in reading achievement were observed. In line with the previous literature, we find that the association between different forms of ICT use and reading achievement takes an inverted U shape, with students engaging in low and high levels of use having lower levels of reading achievement than students engaged in medium levels of use. Over time, the association between different uses of ICT and reading achievement changed and became more positive at low levels and less negative at high levels of use. However, the large and rapid increases in levels of use observed between 2009 and 2018 led to more students being located in the ‘high levels of use’ category. The cumulative, contrasting effects of changes in levels of use and changes in the association between ICT use and reading achievement led to stable levels of achievement at the population level.

A Multilevel Person-Centered Examination of Teachers' Workplace Experiences: Replication and Extension With Links to Instructional Support and Achievement.

In a replication and extension of an earlier study, we relied on person-centered analyses to identify teacher (Level 1) and school (Level 2) profiles based on teachers' experiences of job demands (barriers to professional development, disruptive student behavior), job resources (teacher collaboration, input in decision-making), and personal resources (self-efficacy). We examined data from 5,439 teachers working in 364 schools in Australia and 2,216 teachers working in 149 schools in England. Latent profile analysis revealed six teacher profiles: Low-Demand-Flourisher (11%), Mixed-Demand-Flourisher (17%), Job-Resourced-Average (11%), Balanced-Average (14%), Mixed-Resourced-Struggler (11%), and Low-Resourced-Struggler (36%). Two school profiles were identified: an Unsupportive school profile (43%) and a Supportive school profile (57%). Several significant relations between these profiles and teacher/school characteristics and work-related outcomes were also identified at both levels. Although our results generally replicated prior findings, some differences were also observed, possibly as a results of recent changes in policies regarding in teacher support and accountability. Next, we extended prior work using a subsample of the Australian teachers for whom we had matching student data. This second set of results revealed that schools with a greater proportion of low-SES students were more likely to present an Unsupportive school profile. Moreover, the Supportive school profile was associated with higher levels of student-reported instructional support and school-average achievement in reading, mathematics, and science.

Improving Students’ Reading Skill Using The Little Prince Novel

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of using The Little Prince Novel to improve students’ reading skill. Participants in this study were 35 students of grade 11 IPA at Madrasah Aliyah Miftahul Umam. To find out this, a pretest was carried out to determine the students’ ability to read before using the novel, then do the treatment using a novel. Finally, a post test was performed to assess the level of reading achievement of students. The method of this research is quantitative and using a pre-experimental design. The average of pre-test was 64.57 and the average of post-test was 89.37. It is significantly different from the result of pre-test and post-test scores. The results of the pre-test and post-test were calculated using SPSS 22. The significant is equal to 0.00 with significant level a = 0.05 (2-tailed). Since the score is 0.00 < a (0.05), H1 was accepted and H0 was rejected. It was found that substantial students’ outcomes were seen, an improvement in the value of reading skill assessment was shown, which meant that the novel could enhance the learners’ reading ability.

THE INTERPLAY OF READING ANXIETY, READING STRATEGY USE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT A UNIVERSITY IN THE NORTH OF VIETNAM

A quantitative research was carried out at the International School, Thai Nguyen University to measure the levels of reading anxiety among non-English majored students who had just finished one year of intensive English. These students were supposed to take a simulation IELTS exam with an expected result of 5.5 overall bands (B2-CEFR). The finding showed that the level of anxiety measured was at medium level (M = 3.31, SD = 0.59, SEM = 0.09, Min = 2.05, Max = 4.30, Skewness = -0.46, Kurtosis = -0.54). The second research question focuses on the correlation between reading anxiety and the use of reading strategies. The results showed that there was no significant difference between reading anxiety and the uses of reading strategies. The third research finding indicated that there was a significant difference between the levels of reading anxiety and academic reading achievement. Students with high level of anxiety attain low achievement. Low anxiety (M = 2.64, SD = 0.50) was significantly larger than for High anxiety (M = 1.40, SD = 0.52).

The Effects of a Vocabulary Intervention on Teaching Multiple-Meaning Words to Students Who Are d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Building vocabulary knowledge, especially breadth and depth of word meanings, is a crucial step in assisting students to read and comprehend print independently. A large body of research has documented the low reading achievement levels of a number of Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students. The goal of the present study was to examine the effects of a vocabulary intervention to teach 24 multiple-meaning words to fourth-grade DHH students in Saudi Arabia by utilizing a single-case experimental design (multiple probe design across participants). A total of 5 students with a profound hearing loss participated in the study. About 3 of 5 received the intervention, whereas two other students served as an additional control component and were administered the pretest and posttest only. The data showed that there was a significant improvement in the recognition and comprehension scores of students who received the intervention. In contrast, students who did not receive the intervention showed no significant improvement on the posttest.

The effect of the minimum wage on children’s cognitive achievement

At the center of the minimum wage debate is its role in improving the welfare of low-income families. However, there is little empirical evidence of whether minimum wage changes actually affect those families’ children. This paper examines the effect of the minimum wage on the math and reading achievement levels of children with low socioeconomic status whose parents are most likely to be affected by the minimum wage, comparing with children in households with high socioeconomic status. Estimates show that a $1 minimum wage increase reduces children’s math and reading scores by approximately 0.10–0.19 standard deviations. Further, there is evidence that increases in the minimum wage lead to deterioration in the home environment, which may be one potential mechanism underlying my main findings.

Leading reading improvements through professional learning

ABSTRACT This article discusses the impact of a professional learning activity called the Principals as Literacy Leaders (PALL) program on the strategies used by primary school leaders to support teacher professional learning with the view of assisting students to become more able readers. It uses data collected from participants in the PALL program, together with case study data collected from school leaders and teachers in seven schools, to analyze the actions taken by school leaders to improve teaching practices through professional learning. The study showed that school leaders felt more capable in their ability to lead their schools after completing the PALL program and that strategic professional learning activity led to improved teaching practices and higher levels of student engagement and achievement in reading. It showed that leaders used elements of the Leadership for Learning approach as key activities for supporting professional learning.

Language Learning Strategies Use and Challenges Faced by Taiwanese EFL Learners

Because of the effect of the globalization, Taiwanese EFL junior high school students are forced to learn English well in order to pass the senior high school entering exam. This study aimed to investigate the language learning strategy preference of Taiwanese EFL junior high school students, the correlation between language learning strategy and language learning motivation, and the students’ reading difficulties. In this research, twenty-five Taiwanese EFL junior high school students are asked to fill out the questionnaires about language learning strategy and language learning motivation. The findings presented Taiwanese EFL junior high school students preferred to use cognitive strategy, metacognitive strategy, and social strategy. The similarities of these three strategies are that students preferred doing more exercises or drills, practicing with peers or native speakers to improve their language learning abilities. On the other hand, the correlation between language learning strategy and language learning motivation is medium. It means if the students make good use of these language learning strategies, it will increase their self-confidence and learning achievement, and stimulate their learning motivation. At the same time, no matter what level of reading achievement the students are, they were lack of vocabulary bank and the background of the grammars and syntax. The application of language learning strategy will not only enhance learning achievement or motivation but also help them build vocabulary bank. Thus, language learning strategy is a significant and useful tool for EFL learners.

Reading achievement in China’s rural primary schools: a study of three provinces

ABSTRACT This paper aims to explore and quantify the reading achievement of primary school students from three different regions in rural China. Using survey data on 23,143 students from Shaanxi, Guizhou, and Jiangxi provinces, we find although gaps in student reading achievement exist among the three sample provinces, all sample students exhibit low levels of reading achievement. Compared to students from other countries that participated in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study reading tests, our sample students from rural China ranked last. Our regression analysis documented strong correlations between reading achievement and maths performance exist among the sample students in rural China. Additionally, we find male students, students with rural household registration, boarding students, and students from relatively poor families are more susceptible to having worse reading outcomes. Overall, our findings indicate the government should develop more effective policies to support reading skill development in China, especially in rural areas.

MORPHOLOGICAL AWARENESS AND ITS CORRELATION WITH EFL READING COMPREHENSION OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

This study investigates the correlation between morphological awareness and reading comprehension. It was conducted with a sample of 55 second-grade students from SMA (Senior High School) Laboratorium Unsyiah, Banda Aceh. The data measuring morphological awareness and reading comprehension were collected through a test of morphological awareness and the Florida comprehensive assessment test (FCAT) respectively. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was determined using SPSS 20 software to explore the relationship between these variables. Based on the findings, the result from morphological awareness test showed that 85% of the students managed to answer the test satisfactorily. It was also revealed that the students were on reading Achievement Level 4. This indicates that the students answered many questions correctly, but they seemed to be troubled by questions with more challenging contents. The results also show that there was a significant relationship between morphological awareness and reading comprehension. The correlation was found to be 0.527, with a significance level of 0.01, which is classified as a moderate-level correlation. Finally, the findings of this study suggest the inclusion of morphological awareness while learning reading comprehension at schools.

Physical home environment is associated with prefrontal cortical thickness in adolescents.

Biologically embedded experiences alter developmental trajectories in ways that can influence health, learning, and/or behavior. These systematic differences in experiences may contribute to different biological outcomes as individuals grow and develop, including at the neural level. Previous studies of biologically embedded experiences on neurodevelopment have focused on large-scale institutional or economic factors (e.g. socioeconomic status [SES]) and psychosocial factors (e.g. caregiving behavior). Less attention has focused on how the quality of the immediate home settings, such as the physical home environment (PHYS), influences neurodevelopment. Moreover, no study has investigated these effects in adolescents, who undergo significant physical maturation and neurodevelopment that may influence how they respond to their physical environments. The goal of the current study was to examine whether PHYS quality is biologically embedded in the developing adolescent brain as evidenced by cognitive achievement and cortical development in 56 (48% female) healthy adolescents (14-18years (M=16.83years, SD=1.17). Using in-home assessments of the physical home environment, anatomical brain scans, and indices of academic achievement, we found that adolescents who have more physical problems in the home (e.g. structural hazards, crowding, excessive noise, poorly lit) have thinner prefrontal cortices, which was associated with lower levels of reading achievement, independent of SES and psychosocial factors. By conducting home visits to assess physical characteristics of adolescents' home, we highlight a typically overlooked aspect of the home environment that has relevance for adolescents' cognitive and brain development.