Reading Failure Research Articles

Longitudinal Analysis of Hispanic Literacy Development in the Southwestern US: Addressing the Fourth-Grade Slump and Corresponding Matthew Effect

Hispanic literacy development in the Southwestern US is examined through standardized assessment data derived from recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR). This longitudinal study focuses on significant variables across a spectrum of grade levels for Hispanics of Mexican descent. Results confirm a steady decline in reading performance after 4th grade. At the secondary level, a corresponding Matthew effect is also detected—whereby students whose reading development begins to decline in 4th grade continues to decline in secondary grades. Socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and bilingual language development are correlated as mitigating factors for reading performance. Hispanic students who attended a slightly more affluent and racially diverse high school showed moderately better reading scores. Hispanic males with low SES should be seen as most at-risk for reading failure in this region. Recommendations for alleviating these developmental literacy challenges include a more systematic implementation of Science of Teaching Reading (STR) at the earlier grade levels and raising awareness about gender differences in reading instruction. Parents, educators, and administrators interested in Hispanic reading development should find this study informative.

Improving Word Recognition Skills of Children Learning to Read in a Second Language Through Podcasts

<p style="text-align:justify">Failure in visual word recognition brings about frustration and failure in reading which impinge on the achievement and reading progress of learners. In order to contribute towards assisting every child to achieve minimum proficiency in reading, this investigation examined the impact of podcasts on the abilities of second language learners in sight word recognition. The study which is quasi-experimental, made use of the pre-test post-test nonequivalent groups method. The study participants who were purposively sampled from a privately owned primary school in Enugu urban, South East, Nigeria comprise thirty elementary two learners. Pre-and post-tests were administered to the participants who were grouped into intervention and control groups. The intervention group listened to podcasts in word recognition skills while the control group learned word recognition through the usual method. Statistical tools such as means, standard deviation and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were utilized to analyze the data collected. The research question was answered through Standard Deviation and the learners’ mean achievement scores, while the hypothesis, which was set at <0.05 level of significance, was tested with the ANCOVA. The results of the investigation showed that podcasts facilitated improvement in the word recognition skills of English as a second language (ESL) learners. The study concluded that the use of podcast proves to be an efficient instructional media capable of promoting achievement in word recognition skills of learners in an ESL classroom. On the basis of the results, exploring the use of podcasts in the teaching of word recognition skills among ESL learners was recommended.</p>

From spelling to reading: An intervention program with children at risk of reading failure

This study aimed to assess the impact of an interactive spelling program on reading acquisition of children at risk of developing reading difficulties as well as to assess its effect on spelling and phonemic awareness. From an initial pool of 144 first-grade children attending four Portuguese primary schools, 53 children with low performances in letter knowledge and phonemic awareness tasks, and considered by their teachers to be at risk of developing reading difficulties, were selected. These children were randomly assigned to three groups: an experimental group that underwent an interactive spelling program, a comparison group that underwent a phonological awareness program, and a control group that underwent a copying program. The programs, conducted in pairs, comprised 12 sessions lasting 20 to 30 min twice a week. The pretest and posttest included word reading, word spelling, and phonemic awareness assessments. Data analysis showed that the spelling group significantly outperformed the other groups across all measures except in the phonemic awareness task, where there were no differences with the phonological group. The word copying group consistently yielded the lowest results. Unlike the other two groups, the posttest results of the experimental group also reached the class average in word reading. For ethical reasons, after the final assessments the control group underwent a version of the interactive spelling program. This study suggests that spelling activities can contribute significantly to reading acquisition and can serve as a valuable pedagogical tool to proactively address challenges in learning to read.

Novel Three-Dimensional Artificial Neural Network Based on an Eight-Layer Vertical Memristor with an Ultrahigh Rectify Ratio (>107) and an Ultrahigh Nonlinearity (>105) for Neuromorphic Computing.

In recent years, memristors have successfully demonstrated their significant potential in artificial neural networks (ANNs) and neuromorphic computing. Nonetheless, ANNs constructed by crossbar arrays suffer from cross-talk issues and low integration densities. Here, we propose an eight-layer three-dimensional (3D) vertical crossbar memristor with an ultrahigh rectify ratio (RR > 107) and an ultrahigh nonlinearity (>105) to overcome these limitations, which enables it to reach a >1 Tb array size without reading failure. Furthermore, the proposed 3D RRAM shows advanced endurance (>1010 cycles), retention (>104 s), and uniformity. In addition, several synaptic functions observed in the human brain were mimicked. On the basis of the advanced performance, we constructed a novel 3D ANN, whose learning efficiency and recognition accuracy were enhanced significantly compared with those of conventional single-layer ANNs. These findings hold promise for the development of highly efficient, precise, integrated, and stable VLSI neuromorphic computing systems.

Effects of Computer-Assisted Reading Interventions on Literacy Skill Gains of At-Risk Students During a Summer Break

Learning to read is an essential skill for later academic success, positive self-esteem, and gainful employment. Students who display reading difficulties/disabilities at the end of third grade are less likely to succeed in content areas and graduate from high school. Recent data suggests that many students in today’s schools do not become skilled readers, and the reading loss widens during summer months due to skill regression. Regression of reading skills is greater for students from low Socioeconomic status (SES) families and for students with disabilities. This study examined the effects of two computer-assisted reading programs on the reading skills of 21 students at-risk for reading failure during a summer break. All students were pre- and post-tested after 8 weeks of intervention. Furthermore, tutors’ and students’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness and desirability of the programs were measured. A description of the computer programs, results, implications, and limitations of the study are discussed.

Towards a dynamic, comprehensive conceptualization of dyslexia

Here we build from the central strength of the existing definition of dyslexia—its emphasis on neurobiological origins—and proffer a set of seven core principles for a new, more comprehensive conceptualization of dyslexia. These principles derive from two major research directions: (1) the still evolving history of attempts to explain dyslexia, including in varied writing systems; and (2) the study of the reading brain circuit, its development, and its genetic and environmental influences. What emerges from connecting these two directions is a dynamic conceptualization of dyslexia that incorporates the extensive research on the heterogeneity of dyslexia and the interdependent contributions of multiple biological and socio-cultural risk and preventive factors. A new definition of dyslexia, therefore, needs to transcend both past unitary characterizations and past assumptions based largely on the English orthography. Such a conceptualization references the ways that different languages interact with the reading brain circuit to produce different sources of reading failure. Similarly, the characteristics and consequences of dyslexia that have been considered as secondary sequela (e.g., reduced reading comprehension, social-emotional issues) should be part of a more comprehensive narrative. Of critical importance, any definition of dyslexia should clarify persisting misconceptions that associate dyslexia with a lack of intelligence, potential to learn, or talents. Thus, the overall purpose of such a definition should serve as an instrument of knowledge and an enduring reason for pursuing growth in reading for the individual, the educator, and the public.

How RFID technology enables the supply chain and retail 4.0: A survey with Italian stakeholders

The research aims at assessing the level of interest towards and adoption of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology among a sample of manufacturers, retailers, logistic service providers, solution providers and vertically integrated fashion retailers belonging to the Fashion, Consumer Goods and Healthcare sectors in Italy. A survey was created in collaboration with GS1 Italy, a no-profit organization that develops standards for enhancing collaboration between companies, associations, institutions and consumers and enrols more than 40,000 companies. Overall, 58 useful responses were collected. Statistical analyses were carried out with the support of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows and MS Excel. Results show that RFID solutions are implemented by 31% of the interviewees and tested by 21% of them, mainly thanks to the favourable ROI and the possibility of gaining a competitive advantage over competitors through the automation of logistics processes, visibility of inventory and production progress, and avoided stock out. The RFID users often achieved results above expectations regarding the order picking errors reduction, the increase of operational efficiency and inventory accuracy. The few obstacles encountered are the read failures or the over-performing reading, but they are not perceived as relevant. Overall, most experimenters and non-users currently adopt barcode solutions, but showed their intention to implement RFID systems in the future, underlying a strong interest towards this identification technology.

THE PHONEMIC AWARENESS AND READING COMPREHENSION OF THE SECOND GRADERS

English literacy has been taught to students as a foreign language due to globalization. Learning English reading literacy begins at a young age and starts by learning words. Phonemic awareness aids the students in learning words in-depth and acts as the platform to identify a reading failure. The current research aims to find whether phonemic awareness and reading comprehension are related. The data for measuring phonemic awareness and reading comprehension was collected using a test and analyzed using IBM SPSS 25.0. The current study revealed that phonemic awareness is related positively to reading comprehension. Moreover, the students are revealed to understand learned words well. This research brings significance to teaching phonemes to young children to aid them in learning reading English. For future research, phonemic awareness should be paid attention to in learning reading comprehension by giving the students various English word reading exercises

Modified Decoupled Sense Amplifier with Improved Sensing Speed for Low-Voltage Differential SRAM

A modified decoupled sense amplifier (MDSA) and modified decoupled sense amplifier with NMOS foot-switch is proposed for improved sensing in differential SRAM for low-voltage operation at the 22-nm technology node. The MDSA and MDSANF both offer notable improvements to read delay over conventional voltage and current sense amplifiers. At an operating voltage of 0.8 V, the MDSA exhibited a reduced delay of 28.6%, 41.79%, 37.74%, and 30.94% compared to modified clamped sense amplifier (MCSA), double tail sense amplifier (DTSA), modified hybrid sense amplifier (MHSA), and conventional latch-type sense amplifier (LSA), respectively. Similarly, the MDSANF demonstrated a delay reduction of 26.13%, 39.78%, 35.58%, and 28.55% over MCSA, DTSA, MHSA, and LSA, respectively. To validate the performance, the MDSA and MDSANF are evaluated using the variation in delay and power consumption across various supply voltages, process corners, input differential bit line voltage (ΔV BL ), bit line capacitance (C BL ), and the sizing of decoupling transistors. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to analyse the impact of voltage threshold variations on transistor mismatch which leads to an increased occurrence of read failures and a decline in SRAM yield. The performance analysis of various voltage and current sense amplifiers is presented along with MDSA and MDSANF. Area consideration for selection of sensing scheme is important and as such layout of MDSA and MDSANF was performed conforming to the design rules and estimated area for MDSA is 0.297 μm 2 whereas MDSANF occupies 0.5192 μm 2 .

An Analysis of the Current Situation of Chinese University Students' English Reading Self-efficacy and A Proposed Intervention Program for Enhancement

China attaches great importance to the development of English language learning and education, and English language education is still in the process of continuous exploration and improvement. Improving students' English reading self-efficacy to enhance their English reading is an attempt to enhance students' English reading from the perspective of non-linguistic factors. Taking a Chinese university (Hunan University of Science and Engineering, HUSE) as an example, a questionnaire survey and data analysis on university students' English reading self-efficacy found that: The university students are generally at a medium level in English reading self-efficacy. Guaranteeing students' time investment in reading, improving students' reading materials, strengthening of strategic guidance for students' reading, improving students' reading style, strengthening teachers' guidance on attribution of students' reading failures and on praising students for successful reading events are the proposed intervention program for enhancement of English reading self-efficacy.

Supporting multilingual children at-risk of reading failure: impacts of a multilingual structured pedagogy literacy intervention in Kenya

Supporting multilingual children at-risk of reading failure: impacts of a multilingual structured pedagogy literacy intervention in Kenya

Education and Learning Services for Children with Learning Difficulties The Child With Special Needed

Various types of children with special needs, one of which is children with learning difficulties, namely individuals who experience disturbances in a basic psychological process, central nervous system dysfunction, or neurological disorders which are manifested in real failures in comprehension, impaired listening, speaking, reading, spelling, thinking, writing, arithmetic, or social skills. Learning difficulties can be experienced by anyone, from students with average intelligence to those with high intelligence. Learning difficulties can have a negative impact not only on the mastery of academic achievement but also on the development of one's personality. Neurological dysfunction often not only causes learning difficulties but can also lead to mental retardation and emotional disturbances. Of these, various causes can cause interference from a mild level to a severe level. A model is needed in the form of an early intervention program which is a combination of elements of kindergarten education and special education to encourage optimal and integrated growth and development of various potentials of children. This intervention program departs from the view that children are as a whole so that their development must cover all physical, emotional, language, social and cognitive aspects.

The Impact of a High-Dosage Tutoring Program on Reading Achievement of Beginning Readers: A Multi-Level Analysis

The purpose of this randomized control trial (RCT) was to examine the impact of one-to-one high-dosage tutoring on reading achievement of kindergarten and first grade students, many at risk of reading failure. This nearly two-year study collected reading assessment data from 185 students, from across 13 classrooms, randomly assigned to either the one-to-one high-dosage tutoring group or the teacher-instruction-only group. Treatment students received tutoring support 2-3 times per week across the school year from specially trained tutors using a digital literacy platform. Tutoring focused on sequenced skills beginning with letter identification and sounds and moved to reading stories. The results of the Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analysis, from both Chapter One assessments as well as the nationally recognized assessments, indicate that Chapter One’s high impact tutoring program is highly effective in helping at-risk kindergarten and first grade students achieve reading proficiency. Tutored students outperformed non-tutored students on multiple measures of reading achievement.

Exploring reading profiles of rural school students

This study investigates the reading profiles of rural Grade 5 and 6 students (N = 262), a sample with a high proportion of English language learners. We administered a battery of reading and cognitive assessments to classify students’ reading profiles and evaluate if performance on cognitive measures predicted membership in particular profiles. Data were analyzed using latent profile analysis. Latent profile analysis showed four distinct reading profiles in our sample: students with severe reading disabilities (< 2%), students at high risk of reading disability (14%), students at some-risk of reading disability (46%), and students who are typical readers (38%). Lower performance on cognitive measures was associated with group membership in the severe reading profile group compared to the group of students at some-risk of reading failure. In contrast, higher performance on cognitive measures was associated with group membership in the typical reader group compared to students at some-risk of reading failure. In keeping with the findings from past studies documenting reader profiles, we found heterogeneity in the reading profiles of rural upper-elementary grade students. We discuss the need for multicomponent interventions that target all areas of reading with some flexibility in the dosage of each reading component dependent on the reader profiles established prior to intervention.

Simultaneous Prompting to Teach Intraverbal Synonyms to Struggling Readers.

In simultaneous prompting procedures, an immediate (i.e., 0-s) prompt is presented during all training trials, and transfer to the target discriminative condition is assessed during daily probes. Previous research suggests that simultaneous prompting procedures are efficacious and may produce acquisition in fewer errors to mastery when compared to prompt delay procedures. To date, only a single study on simultaneous prompting has included intraverbal targets. The current study evaluated the efficacy of a simultaneous prompting procedure on the acquisition of intraverbal synonyms for six children at risk for reading failure. Simultaneous prompting alone produced responding at mastery levels in seven of the 12 evaluations. Antecedent-based procedural modifications were effective in four of the five remaining evaluations. Errors were generally low for all but one participant. The current findings support the use of simultaneous prompting procedures when targeting intraverbals for young children exhibiting reading deficits.

The visual basis of reading and reading difficulties.

Most of our knowledge about the neural networks mediating reading has derived from studies of developmental dyslexia (DD). For much of the 20th C. this was diagnosed on the basis of finding a discrepancy between children's unexpectedly low reading and spelling scores compared with their normal or high oral and non-verbal reasoning ability. This discrepancy criterion has now been replaced by the claim that the main feature of dyslexia is a phonological deficit, and it is now argued that we should test for this to identify dyslexia. However, grasping the phonological principle is essential for all learning to read; so every poor reader will show a phonological deficit. The phonological theory does not explain why dyslexic people, in particular, fail; so this phonological criterion makes it impossible to distinguish DD from any of the many other causes of reading failure. Currently therefore, there is no agreement about precisely how we should identify it. Yet, if we understood the specific neural pathways that underlie failure to acquire phonological skills specifically in people with dyslexia, we should be able to develop reliable means of identifying it. An important, though not the only, cause in people with dyslexia is impaired development of the brain's rapid visual temporal processing systems; these are required for sequencing the order of the letters in a word accurately. Such temporal, "transient," processing is carried out primarily by a distinct set of "magnocellular" (M-) neurones in the visual system; and the development of these has been found to be impaired in many people with dyslexia. Likewise, auditory sequencing of the sounds in a word is mediated by the auditory temporal processing system whose development is impaired in many dyslexics. Together these two deficits can therefore explain their problems with acquiring the phonological principle. Assessing poor readers' visual and auditory temporal processing skills should enable dyslexia to be reliably distinguished from other causes of reading failure and this will suggest principled ways of helping these children to learn to read, such as sensory training, yellow or blue filters or omega 3 fatty acid supplements. This will enable us to diagnose DD with confidence, and thus to develop educational plans targeted to exploit each individual child's strengths and compensate for his weaknesses.

Overselectivity during reading-related tasks for children at risk for reading failure

Stimulus overselectivity is defined as a learner’s performance coming under the control of a subset of elements in a compound stimulus. Research in this area has frequently included individuals with autism spectrum disorder, although overselectivity has also been shown in children and adults without developmental disabilities. In educational settings, textual stimuli serve as academically relevant compound stimuli made up of several elements (i.e., letters). The current study sought to identify potential overselective performances by five children at risk for reading failure when presented with 1-, 2-, or 3-element compound stimuli in a delayed matching-to-sample task. Stimuli were academically relevant targets presented in auditory (i.e., letter sounds or names) or visual (i.e., printed letters) modalities. Overall, stimulus overselectivity was more common during visual tasks and tasks that included compounds with three elements. These findings may inform interventions intended to remediate or prevent overselective performances in academic settings.

The triple-deficit hypothesis in Arabic: Evidence from children with and without dyslexia

AbstractThis study investigated the triple-deficit hypothesis in Arabic, a Semitic transparent orthography, among 258 native Arabic children from Grade 3, divided into a typical readers group (n = 204) and a dyslexia group (n = 54). Children were tested on word- and pseudoword-reading accuracy, word-reading fluency, phonological awareness (PA), naming speed (NS), orthographic processing (OP), and nonverbal reasoning ability. The results indicated that all children with dyslexia had either double or triple deficits, and none of them had a single deficit. Children with triple deficits showed lower performance than children with single and no deficits on all the reading measures. They have also lower performance to children with double deficits on word-reading accuracy but comparable scores in word- and pseudoword-reading fluency. In addition, OP was confirmed as an additional independent predictor of word-level reading skills besides PA and NS, while controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence. The classification findings showed that the presence of a triple deficit maximizes the risk of reading failure. These findings support the additive nature of combined deficits in PA, NS, and OP. Moreover, they establish the benefit of including OP as a third deficit, in addition to PA and NS, underlying dyslexia in Arabic.

Leakage-Current-Canceling Current-Sampling Sense Amplifier for Deep Submicrometer STT-RAM

In the design of nonvolatile memory (NVM), the sense amplifier (SA) contributes a major part of the power consumption due to high-frequency read operations. This brief proposes a leakage-current-canceling current-sampling sense amplifier (LCCS-SA) for the suppression of the read power consumption by operating in near-threshold region. The proposed LCCS-SA adopts the technology of offset cancellation and single-ended differential circuit structure to compensate the effect of the leakage current. The bit-line (BL) leakage-induced read failure is effectively suppressed in near-threshold region. Monte Carlo simulation demonstrates that the proposed LCCS-SA can operate at a supply voltage of 0.4 V and achieves 4.4 times lower read energy per bit compared to the conventional current-sampling-based SA.

The Influence of Attributional Beliefs On Indonesian EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

This research investigated how Indonesian EFL learners attributed their successes and failures in reading comprehension and whether or not there was any correlation between attributional beliefs and EFL learners’ monitoring strategies in reading. The researchers distributed Attributional Beliefs Questionnaire (ABQ) and Reading Monitoring Strategies Questionnaire (RMSQ) to undergraduate students in the third semester (n=36) of a private university in Kupang, the capital city of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province. The data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation scale. Six students were selected to be interviewed to obtain qualitative data. Based on the results, 56% of students attributed their successes and failures in reading to the internal factors (efforts and strategies) rather than the external ones (reading text and learning environment). There was a moderate and insignificant correlation between attributional beliefs and reading monitoring strategies with r=0.51. It indicated that students need to regulate themselves and navigate their learning based on their attributional beliefs or they would experience learned helplessness. This research offered two implications for the teaching of reading among Indonesian EFL learners. In order to gain a greater opportunity to experience more reading success, language teachers were recommended to introduce attribution concepts and implement all reading strategies to their students.