Sample Of First-grade Students Research Articles

Optimized Screening for At-Risk Students in Mathematics: A Machine Learning Approach

Traditional screening approaches identify students who might be at risk for academic problems based on how they perform on a single screening measure. However, using multiple screening measures may improve accuracy when identifying at-risk students. The advent of machine learning algorithms has allowed researchers to consider using advanced predictive models to identify at-risk students. The purpose of this study is to investigate if machine learning algorithms can strengthen the accuracy of predictions made from progress monitoring data to classify students as at risk for low mathematics performance. This study used a sample of first-grade students who completed a series of computerized formative assessments (Star Math, Star Reading, and Star Early Literacy) during the 2016–2017 (n = 45,478) and 2017–2018 (n = 45,501) school years. Predictive models using two machine learning algorithms (i.e., Random Forest and LogitBoost) were constructed to identify students at risk for low mathematics performance. The classification results were evaluated using evaluation metrics of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, F1, and Matthews correlation coefficient. Across the five metrics, a multi-measure screening procedure involving mathematics, reading, and early literacy scores generally outperformed single-measure approaches relying solely on mathematics scores. These findings suggest that educators may be able to use a cluster of measures administered once at the beginning of the school year to screen their first grade for at-risk math performance.

Academic learning difficulties among a sample of first grade students in Erbil governorate

The present research aimed to identify the students who suffer from academic difficulties in (writing, reading and math) among the first grade students who are displaced in Erbil province. The study also aimed to know whether these difficulties vary according to gender (males and females). The research sample consisted of (75) pupils, (36) M (39) F. For the purpose of verifying the research objectives, questionnaire , was adopted, the psychometric properties of the questionnaire was created by Abduial 2012 presenting it to a number of the fields of education, psychology and special education. The most important academic learning difficulties, it has been shown from the research results that pupils (Naz While those who suffer from academic and arithmetic difficulties came first in terms of size and importance, followed by difficulties related to writing, and finally difficulties related to reading, while, did not show significant statistical differences between males and females in academic learning difficulties. The researcher ended up with a number of conclusions, recommendations and suggestions in the light of her research findings.

فاعلیة الذات الأکادیمیة وعلاقتها بالذکاء العملى لدى عینة من طلاب الصف الأول بالتعلیم الثانوى ( العام والفنى )Academic self – efficacy and its relationship to practical intelligence among a sample of first year general and technical secondary students

هدف البحث الحالى إلى دراسة فاعلية الذات الأکاديمية وعلاقتها بالذکاء العملى لدى عينة من طلاب الصف الأول الثانوى (عام وفنى) ، وتکونت عينة البحث من (350) طالب وطالبة من طلاب الصف الأول الثانوى (العام والفنى) ، وطبقت الباحثة مقياس فاعلية الذات الأکاديمية إعداد محمد السيد (2004) ومقياس الذکاء العملى إعداد الباحثة (2020) ، وقد أسفرت النتائج عن عدم وجود علاقة بين فاعلية الذات الأکاديمية والذکاء العملى ، کما أسفرت عن وجود فروق دالة إحصائيا بين طلاب الصف الأول الثانوى (العام والفنى) لصالح التعليم الفنى. This study aimed to identify the relationship between the effectiveness of the academic self and its relationship to practical intelligence among sample of first grade students in general and technical secondary education. The research sample consisted of (350) students and from the first year of high school (general and technical), the research applied the measure of academic self-efficacy, prepared by Mohamed El-sayed (2004) and the scale of practical intelligence prepared by the researcher (2020), the results revealed that there is no relationship between the effectiveness of the academic self and practical intelligence. It also resulted in a statistically significant difference between the first gear technical and general students.

Reading comprehension development in at-risk vs. not at-risk first grade readers: The differential roles of listening comprehension, decoding, and fluency

This study examined the relations between and predictive power of three important subcomponents skills of reading comprehension: decoding, listening comprehension, and reading fluency. Through a series of structural equation models, we examine the relations within a full sample of first grade students at the beginning of the year (N = 290). Next, we conducted analyses to determine if differential relations exist between the variables in students who are identified as at-risk for reading failure, and potentially reading disability (n = 141) and those who are not (n = 149). Results indicate that in early first grade, the relations between the subcomponent skills are different dependent upon risk status. For the full sample, fluency was the strongest predictor of reading comprehension, followed by decoding and listening comprehension. When the sample was split based on early reading skills at the beginning of first grade, for the not at-risk students, fluency, decoding, and listening comprehension each made individual contributions to reading comprehension. For the at-risk students, decoding was only significantly related to reading comprehension via fluency; listening comprehension did not significantly predict reading comprehension for this subsample. The findings are discussed and related to implications for the development and implementation of early reading interventions for students who are identified as having reading difficulties and potentially reading disability.

A Comparative Effectiveness Study of Two High-Frequency Word Interventions: Traditional Drill and WordSheets

Traditional drill and practice (TDP) has been shown to be both effective and efficient for increasing word recognition. WordSheets (WS) is a novel drill procedure similar to TDP with two key differences: (a) WS increases opportunities to respond, which may increase efficiency and (b) WS present instructional stimuli in a context that more closely resembles actual reading passages, which may enhance generalization to connected text. The study sought to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of TDP and WS in a sample of first-grade students (n = 27) identified by their teachers as struggling readers. Results indicated that, although WS led to significantly more opportunities to respond, it was both less effective and efficient than TDP with regard to cumulative retention. However, there were no significant differences across interventions in regard to the maintenance or generalization of treatment gains. Limitations and implications of the current study for school-based professionals are discussed.

Self-Reported ADHD Symptoms and Interhemispheric Interaction in Adults: A Dimensional Approach

The present study applied the dimensional approach to test whether self-reported symptoms of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adults are associated with the speed of interhemispheric interaction. A sample of first grade students (N = 112) completed Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scales and letter matching reaction time tasks. In the tasks, participants had to match a single target letter displayed below the fixation cross, either on left or right visual field, with one of two letters displayed above the fixation cross, one letter on each visual field. For each task, identical letters were presented either within the same visual field (within hemisphere condition) or across visual fields (across hemisphere condition). Interhemispheric interaction was indexed as the difference in mean reaction time between within and across hemisphere conditions. Comorbid problems such as depression, anxiety, and stress may affect task performance and are controlled for in this study. Findings indicated that self-reported ADHD symptomology, especially hyperactivity, in the presence of stress was weakly but significantly associated with fast interhemispheric interaction.

A Pilot Study on the New USDA Meal Pattern for School Breakfast in a Sample of First-Grade Students

Background: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently modified the school breakfast program (SBP) to improve children’s nutrition. Based on the new patterns, schools must offer larger amounts of fruits, grains, and proteins/meats to children; the amounts of fluid foods (milk and juice) remained the same. This study examined the effect of the new food pattern on student’s consumption and food cost. Methods: The amounts and cost of foods served and wasted for one week in first grade students attending two elementary schools (n = 812) were measured. One school received the current SBP pattern (control breakfast, average number of students attending breakfast n = 81), the other school’s breakfast reflected the proposed changes (test breakfast, n = 82). To test the hypothesis that the test breakfast leads to significantly increased food cost and food waste compared to the control breakfast, the weekly average amount of the served solid and fluid foods (grams and milliliters) as well as their waste were compared between the two groups using paired student’s t-test in STATA 11 (significance at p-value < 0.05). Results: Data confirmed the hypothesis in that the test breakfast was associated with significantly higher food cost (by approximately $100/week) and solid food waste but there was no change in milk and juice consumption. Conclusions: This exploratory study indicates that a significant portion of the additional foods served to first-graders to improve their nutritional status were not consumed but wasted. Further studies in larger samples and including students from all grades are needed to examine this issue fully.

A descriptive study of school discipline referrals in first grade

School discipline referrals (SDRs) may be useful in the early detection and monitoring of disruptive behavior problems to inform prevention efforts in the school setting, yet little is known about the nature and validity of SDRs in the early grades. For this descriptive study, SDR data were collected on a sample of first grade students who were at risk for developing disruptive behavior problems (n = 186) and a universal sample (n = 531) from 20 schools. Most SDRs were given for physical aggression and the predominant consequence was time out. As expected, boys and at-risk students were more likely to receive an SDR and to have more SDRs than were girls and the universal sample. A large difference between schools regarding the delivery of SDRs was found. A zero-inflated Poisson model clustered by school tested the prediction of school-level variables. Students in schools that had a systematic way of tracking SDRs were more likely to receive one. Also, schools with more low-income students and larger class sizes gave fewer SDRs. SDRs predicted teacher ratings, and to a lesser extent, parent ratings of disruptive behavior at the end of first grade. Practitioners and researchers must examine school-level influences whenever first grade discipline referrals are used to measure problem behavior for the purpose of planning and evaluating interventions.

Performance of literacy and cortical brain functions in a sample of first grade students of Porto Alegre, Brazil

Cortical brain functions are the basis of the learning process and evolutionary neurological examination (ENE) provides the level of development of the brain. The purpose of this work was to study by means of the ENE the brain functions in a representative sample of first grade students of Porto Alegre, to investigate the learning performance. An observation, analytical and transversal delineated study was performed. The random sample had 484 children. It was observed: sex, age, race, weight, height, neurological examination, ENE, performance in the number sub-tests, completing figures and codes from WISC scale and literacy learning. The items of ENE were below the expected for the age in 11.4% and 38.2% of the children: the most affected ones were the sensitivity activity and gnosias (38.2%) and the least one was motor persistence (11.4%). In psychometric tests, 40.5% of the subjects had their development in numbers below the espected, 39.0% in accomplishing figures, 71.5% in codes. Concerning literacy, 94.4% of the children learned to read and write. The neuropsychological dysfunction and malestablished laterality were a risk factor for the learning process.

Prenatal Coke: What's Behind the Smoke?: Prenatal Cocaine/Alcohol Exposure and School-Age Outcomes: The SCHOO-BE Experiencea.

Despite media reports and educators' concerns, little substantive data have been published to document or refute the emerging reports that children prenatally exposed to cocaine have serious behavioral problems in school. Recent pilot data from this institution have indeed demonstrated teacher-reported problem behaviors following prenatal cocaine exposure after controlling for the effects of prenatal alcohol use and cigarette exposure. Imperative in the study of prenatal exposure and child outcome is an acknowledgment of the influence of other control factors such as postnatal environment, secondary exposures, and parenting issues. We report preliminary evaluation from a large ongoing historical prospective study of prenatal cocaine exposure on school-age outcomes. The primary aim of this NIDA-funded study is to determine if a relationship exists between prenatal cocaine/alcohol exposures and school behavior and, if so, to determine if the relationship is characterized by a dose-response relationship. A secondary aim evaluates the relationship between prenatal cocaine/alcohol exposures and school achievement. Both relationships will be assessed in a black, urban sample of first grade students using multivariate statistical techniques for confounding as well as mediating and moderating prenatal and postnatal variables. A third aim is to evaluate the relationship between a general standardized classroom behavioral measure and a tool designed to tap the effects thought to be specific to prenatal cocaine exposure. This interdisciplinary research team can address these aims because of the existence of a unique, prospectively collected Perinatal Database, funded in part by NIAAA and NICHD. The database includes repeated measures of cocaine, alcohol, and other substances for over 3,500 births since 1986. Information from this database is combined with information from the database of one of the largest public school systems in the nation. The final sample will be composed of over 600 first grade students for whom the independent variables, prenatal cocaine/alcohol exposures, were prospectively assessed and quantified at the university maternity center. After informed consent, the primary dependent variable, school behavior, is assessed, using the PROBS-14 (a teacher consensus developed instrument), the Child Behavior Check List, and the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale. The secondary dependent measure, school achievement, is measured by the Metropolitan Achievement Text and the Test of Early Reading Ability. Control variables, such as the environment and parenting, are measured by several instruments aimed at capturing the child and family ecology since birth. All analyses will be adjusted as appropriate for prospectively gathered control variables such as perinatal risk, neonatal risk, and other prenatal drug and cigarette exposures. Further adjustment will be made for postnatal social risk factors which may influence outcome. Of particular concern are characteristics of the home (adaptation of HOME), parent (depression, stress), and neighborhood (violence exposure). Finally, postnatal exposure to lead and other drugs is being considered.