Standardized Reading Achievement Tests Research Articles

Reciprocal Relations Between Children’s Social and Academic Skills Throughout Elementary School

The purpose of this study was to estimate the longitudinal and reciprocal predictive relations between children’s social skills, measured by an adaptation of the frequently used Social Skills Rating Scale, and their standardized academic achievement. A large nationally representative sample of elementary school students were assessed at least annually from kindergarten through fifth grade in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 ( n = 7963). Structural equation modeling was used to test a panel model of teacher-rated interpersonal and self-control skills and children’s scores on standardized reading, math, and science achievement tests. Reciprocal relations between children’s social skills and achievement were supported throughout elementary school, with achievement showing a stronger and consistent pattern of influence on children’s subsequent social skills.

Higher Sound Levels in K-12 Classrooms Correlate to Lower Math Achievement Scores

Sound levels from occupied classrooms have been gathered from 220 classrooms across four grade levels (3, 5, 8 and 11) over six school days each and processed with k-means clustering into speech and non-speech clusters. Three metrics describing the classroom acoustics, including the average daily A-weighted equivalent level for non-speech, the average daily difference between the A-weighted equivalent levels for speech and non-speech (a signal to noise ratio), and the mid-frequency averaged reverberation time, were analyzed against classroom-aggregated standardized reading and math achievement test scores, while controlling for classroom demographics including socioeconomic status. Interactions between the metrics and demographics were also tested. A statistically significant relationship was found between the average daily non-speech levels in classrooms and math test scores; higher daily non-speech levels were correlated with lower math test scores (p < 0.05). No statistically significant main effects of acoustic metrics were found on reading achievement. There were some significant differences and an interaction found between grades, but these may be due to uneven sample distributions as there were fewer grade 8 and 11 classrooms measured. Children learn in occupied classrooms, and the findings from this investigation based on data from occupied conditions suggest that designing for lower unoccupied sound levels can lead to occupied environments that are conducive to better student learning outcomes.

Cognition in context: Validating group-based executive function assessments in young children

The current article describes and validates a set of group-based executive function (EF) assessments for use with young children. These situational tasks involve instructing groups of young students to march to music while completing tasks that place demands on their EF abilities. These efforts were motivated by providing researchers with a set of measures that assess EF subcomponents while also accounting for the dynamic social processes present in group settings. These assessments take place in schools, are relatively simple to administer, and include multiple EF indicators. Drawing on a diverse sample of 283 kindergarteners (Mage = 5.8 years, SD = 0.38), we found that group-based EF assessments were significantly related to individually assessed EF measures and differentially predicted children’s performance on standardized tests of math and reading achievement. Overall, this study represents a first step toward developing a set of group-based EF measures that are appropriate for use with young children.

Exploring the mediating effect of academic engagement on math and reading achievement for students who have experienced maltreatment

BackgroundStudents who experience maltreatment tend to underperform academically relative to their peers, requiring an understanding of academically-related mechanisms that are potential intervention targets. Academic engagement, a multidimensional construct that is influential in students’ investment in learning and the school context, is one such mechanism that has been associated with positive academic outcomes and develops through interactions between students and their environment. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine how maltreatment experiences and trauma symptoms were indirectly associated with academic achievement in adolescence through academic engagement. Participants and settingThe study was conducting on a subsample of 583 youths from the National Study of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing II (NSCAW II) cohort. MethodsStructural equation modeling was used to examine the indirect effect engagement on the relationship between maltreatment and trauma symptomology and academic achievement. ResultsAcademic engagement significantly mediated trauma symptoms and later standardized reading (β = −0.02; 95 % CI [−0.04, −0.0004]) and math (β = −0.02; 95 % CI [−0.05, −0.0003]) achievement test scores. However, similar mediating effects were not found for engagement on maltreatment and later standardized reading (β = −0.01; 95 % CI [−0.03, 0.01]) and math (β = −0.01; 95 % CI [−0.03, 0.01]) achievement test scores. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that variability in academic outcomes was indirectly associated with engagement but only for students who exhibited trauma symptoms rather than experiencing maltreatment alone. The findings suggest future researchers should consider engagement should as an academically-related mechanism to help students who were maltreated succeed academically.

Predicting Second-Grade Students’ Yearly Standardized Reading Achievement Using a Computer-Adaptive Assessment

The present study investigated the predictability of a computer-adaptive, curriculum-based reading assessment for measuring second-grade students’ overall and comprehension reading achievement on a standardized reading achievement test. Specifically, second-grade student scores (N = 428) of the Istation’s Indicators of Progress for Early Reading (ISIP-ER) and the Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR Reading) in one state were examined. Linear regression analysis was conducted in Mplus to determine the predictability between the ISIP-ER and STAR Reading scores, identifying that both the ISIP-ER overall reading and comprehension scores in December predicted the standardized reading scores in Spring (May). Confidence intervals were estimated to identify the ISIP-ER cut scores that predict STAR Reading scores for all achievement levels. Overall, ISIP-ER shows promise as a universal screening tool for second-grade student yearly reading skills.

Kindergarten self-control mediates the gender reading achievement gap: A population-based cohort study

Could superior self-control explain the gender difference in reading achievement favoring girls? To test this idea, we drew on a unique population-based sample (N = 11,336) where self-control was measured in kindergarten using a multimethod battery of assessments. Girls showed substantially higher levels of self-control in kindergarten (β = 0.47) and outperformed boys on standardized tests of reading achievement in third/fourth grade (β = 0.20). Further, kindergarten self-control prospectively predicted reading achievement throughout elementary school (β = 0.37). Connecting these findings, our mediation analyses revealed that the female self-control advantage in kindergarten could account for subsequent gender differences in reading achievement. Our results suggest that early gender differences in self-control may represent a key pathway through which gender disparities in reading skills, vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension occur.

Reading Fluency As a Predictor of School Outcomes across Grades 4-9.

This study analyzed the predictive relationship between reading fluency and school outcomes across school levels (primary, secondary, and high school), after controlling on the effect of reading comprehension. The sample included 489 children attending Italian primary (grades 4 and 5), secondary (grades 6 and 8), and high schools (grade 9). Students' reading fluency and comprehension were examined with a standardized reading achievement test. At the end of the school year, we requested the school reports of each participant. According to our data, reading fluency predicted all school marks in all literacy-based subjects, with reading rapidity being the most important predictor. School level did not moderate the relationship between reading fluency and school outcomes, confirming the importance of effortless and automatized reading even in higher school levels. Overall this study emphasizes the importance of identifying evidence-based tasks that can be administered in a short time and to many different individuals, which are easy to create, and are linked to school outcomes.

Effect of Vocabulary Test Preparation on Low-Income Black Middle School Students’ Reading Scores

Black middle school students in the United States continue to perform poorly on standardized reading achievement tests in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups. The purpose of this research study was to examine the effectiveness of a vocabulary-focused test preparation program for Black middle school students. The theoretical framework consisted of Thorndike’s concept of test-wiseness, a test-taking capacity. Teachers at the research site were trained on Larry Bell’s 12 Powerful Words strategy that aims to make students test-wise, that is, to familiarize them with key vocabulary terms related to tests. An intact-group comparison was conducted, involving a total of N = 679 Black students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 with 370 girls and 309 boys. An analysis of covariance showed significant effects for Grade 6, marginally significant effects for Grade 7, and nonsignificant effects for Grade 8. These findings suggest that the 12 Powerful Words are effective and that their effect decreases with students’ age. As a practical consequence, instructional leaders will be able to make more informed decisions regarding test preparation and potentially reduce the number of underperforming students in classrooms.

Toward educational testing reform: Inside reading achievement tests

The commentary (1) uses the U. S. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) as a prototype for examining standardized reading achievement tests at the item level, and (2) sketches an alternative based on an initiative underway in the United Kingdom.

Toward Educational Testing Re-Form: Inside Reading Achievement Tests

The paper (1) uses the U. S. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) as a prototype for examining standardized reading achievement tests at the item level, and (2) sketches an alternative based on an initiative underway in the United Kingdom.

Designing for Diversity

This study examined the relative contribution of reading comprehension strategies and interactive vocabulary in Improving Comprehension Online (ICON), a universally designed web-based scaffolded text environment designed to improve fifth-grade monolingual English and bilingual students’ reading achievement. Seventy-five monolingual English and 31 bilingual students from six classrooms were assigned to one of three ICON conditions: reading comprehension strategies, vocabulary, or a combined version of comprehension strategies and vocabulary. Students read eight multimedia folktales and informational texts within their respective ICON condition and completed embedded activities, researcher measures of comprehension and vocabulary, and pre- and postintervention standardized reading achievement tests. ANCOVA results indicated that after controlling for initial reading achievement, there was a main effect for condition on the researcher measure of vocabulary, with the combination group and vocabulary groups both significantly outperforming the strategy group. There was also an interaction effect, with differences between monolingual and bilingual Spanish-speaking students greatest in the strategy group. There was no effect of condition on comprehension, nor was there an effect of language status on narrative comprehension. However, there was a main effect of language status on expository text comprehension and standardized vocabulary achievement, with monolingual students performing more strongly than bilingual Spanish-speaking students. The results add to a growing body of research on the design and use of scaffolded digital text for diverse learners.

Enduring effects of prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses on children: follow-up of a randomized trial among children at age 12 years.

To test the effect of prenatal and infancy home visits by nurses on 12-year-old, firstborn children's use of substances, behavioral adjustment, and academic achievement. Randomized controlled trial. Public system of obstetric and pediatric care in Memphis, Tennessee. We studied 12-year-old, firstborn children (n = 613) of primarily African American, economically disadvantaged women (743 randomized during pregnancy). Program of prenatal and infancy home visits by nurses. Use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana; internalizing, externalizing, and total behavioral problems; and academic achievement. By the time the firstborn child was 12 years of age, those visited by nurses, compared with those in the control group, reported fewer days of having used cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana during the 30-day period before the 12-year interview (0.03 vs 0.18, P = .02) and were less likely to report having internalizing disorders that met the borderline or clinical threshold (22.1% vs 30.9%, P = .04). Nurse-visited children born to mothers with low psychological resources, compared with their control group counterparts, scored higher on the Peabody Individual Achievement Tests in reading and math (88.78 vs 85.70, P = .009) and, during their first 6 years of education, scored higher on group-administered standardized tests of math and reading achievement (40.52 vs 34.85, P = .02). No statistically significant program effects were found on children's externalizing or total behavioral problems. Through age 12, the program reduced children's use of substances and internalizing mental health problems and improved the academic achievement of children born to mothers with low psychological resources.

Curriculum-Based Measurement Oral Reading as an indicator of reading achievement: A meta-analysis of the correlational evidence

This meta-analysis summarized the correlational evidence of the association between the CBM Oral Reading measure (R-CBM) and other standardized measures of reading achievement for students in grades 1–6. Potential moderating variables were also examined (source of criterion test, administration format, grade level, length of time, and type of reading subtest score). Results indicated a significant, strong overall correlation among R-CBM and other standardized tests of reading achievement and differences in correlations as a function of source of test, administration format, and reading subtest type. No differences in the magnitude of correlations were found across grade levels. In addition, there was minimal evidence of publication bias. Results are discussed in terms of existing literature and directions for future research.

Reading and Integrated Literacy Strategies (RAILS): An Integrated Approach to Early Reading

The goal of this project was to develop and test the efficacy of a research-based early reading program that provided integrated reading instruction in kindergarten through 2nd grade. The Reading and Integrated Literacy Strategies (RAILS) program provided integrated instruction in word reading, vocabulary development, and comprehension to students in regular and self-contained special education classes in 2 schools serving low-income populations. Teachers provided explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle, phonemic analysis, word reading, vocabulary development, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. Classes were organized so students received 2 periods of reading instruction daily, a longer morning period of instruction and a shorter afternoon review of instruction. The students in the RAILS program had significantly higher performance on standardized reading and language achievement tests, as well as on individually administered tests of phonemic awareness and reading fluency. The implications for research-based instructional practice that integrates instruction in word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension are discussed.

Examining the Relationships between Reading Achievement and Tutoring Duration and Content for Gifted Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students from Low-Income Backgrounds

This article describes a study designed to examine the relationship of tutoring in specific reading comprehension strategies to gains in reading achievement for children enrolled in self contained classrooms for gifted students from low-income, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and heterogeneous with respect to reading achievement. Participants were 58 students in grades 3–5, including 12 English learners. Eleven adult tutors received training in decoding and 3 basic and 3 higher level reading comprehension strategies consistent with the district's reading program and adapted to include increasing levels of challenge and support for English learners. Scores on a standardized reading achievement test and an assessment of reading fluency served as outcome measures. Findings suggest that tutoring in decoding and higher level reading comprehension strategies supported gains in reading achievement. Gifted students who are English learners appear to benefit from tutoring in decoding and the full range of lower and higher level reading comprehension strategies.

Grade-related changes in the production of African American English.

This investigation examined grade as a source of systematic variation in the African American English (AAE) produced by students in preschool through fifth grades. Participants were 400 typically developing African American boys and girls residing in low- or middle-income homes in an urban-fringe community or midsize central city in the metropolitan Detroit area. Between preschoolers and kindergartners, and between first through fifth graders, there were no significant differences in the amounts of dialect produced during a picture description language elicitation context. However, there was a significant downward shift in dialect production at first grade. Students who evidenced dialect shifting outperformed their nonshifting peers on standardized tests of reading achievement and vocabulary breadth.

Communities of Practice

My career-long interest as a researcher has been in school literacy learning of students of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, particularly students of Native Hawaiian ancestry. The question I have been addressing recently, which drew me to research on teacher education, is how to develop a system that nurtures successful teachers of literacy in diverse, low-income communities. I consider my work a form of participatory action research, although my thinking has been influenced more by constructivist/interpretivist perspective than critical/historical perspective. I began this work about 6 years ago, by thinking about how teacher education might fit within context of Hawaiian community on Wai'anae or Leeward Coast of island of O'ahu. A sense of place has been central to my research because my primary interest is in trying to improve schooling in a single community, not in discovering broad generalizations applicable to teacher education in general. Nevertheless, I have been surprised by range of research questions that have become salient to me within this one setting. The Leeward Coast is only a 45-minute drive from downtown Honolulu, yet it is a world away. This rural community has all problems of low-income areas throughout United States: high rates of welfare, unemployment, crime, and drug abuse. Its seven elementary schools enroll about 5,000 students, nearly 60% of them Hawaiians. Students in these schools typically score at bottom three stanines on standardized tests of reading achievement. Fewer than 10% of teachers on Leeward Coast are of Hawaiian ancestry. Many teachers live outside community, and they usually transfer to schools in more affluent areas once they have received tenure. I thought that one solution to problem of teacher turnover would be to develop a teacher education initiative to prepare residents of Leeward Coast, especially Hawaiians, to become teachers. This initiative would differ from conventional teacher education efforts in two ways. First, goal would be specifically to prepare teachers to meet challenges of diversity found on Leeward Coast. The initiative would not take generic or universal approach of preparing teachers to work effectively in a broad range of settings, because in practice this approach chiefly prepares teachers to teach in middle-class, mainstream settings. Second, given this specific focus, initiative would build on resources in community. These were ideas behind what is now known as Ka Lama Teacher Education Initiative (or Ka Lama, for short). This project involves many partner organizations, principally College of Education at University of Hawai'i, and is coordinated by a nonprofit Hawaiian educational services organization, Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE). Although I had worked on Leeward Coast for more than 15 years before starting this work in teacher education, I had always focused my attention on schools and not on broader community. As a non-Hawaiian outsider, I was fortunate to receive guidance of Hawaiian colleagues who lived on Leeward Coast. TWO PERSPECTIVES ON COMMUNITY As I began to conduct research on Ka Lama, I came to understand term community from two different perspectives. The first perspective was outlined by John McKnight (1995) in his book The Careless Society: Community and Its Counterfeits. McKnight defined community as site for relationships among citizens. These relationships lead to care, which McKnight defined as the consenting commitment of citizens to one another (p. x). Society has become careless in sense that citizens now doubt their own capacity to care and have come to believe that responsibility for care is best turned over to social service institutions. …

Verbal Dichotic Listening in Boys at Risk for Behavior Disorders

The association between deficits in verbal processing skills and disruptive psychopathology remains one of the most frequently replicated findings in all of child psychiatry. This study uses a dichotic consonant-vowel listening test to examine the potential neural basis for this association. A series of 87 young boys recruited from a sample at risk for disruptive disorders received standardized psychiatric, neuropsychological, and language skills assessments. Approximately 1 year later, these boys received a reassessment of their psychiatric status and a test that assesses the neural basis of language-processing ability, a dichotic consonant-vowel listening test. Disruptive psychopathology predicted reduced right ear accuracy for dichotic syllables, indicative of a deficit in left hemisphere processing ability. Deficits in reading and language ability also correlated with right ear accuracy for dichotic syllables. Boys with disruptive behavior disorders, relative to at-risk but nondisruptive boys, exhibit a deficit in verbal processing abilities on dichotic listening tasks. This deficit in verbal processing ability is also manifested as low scores on standardized tests of reading achievement and language comprehension.

Literacy assessment in a cardiovascular nutrition education setting

We assessed functional literacy of hypercholesterolemic or hypertensive African Americans ( n=339) prior to their participation in a nutrition education program. A word pronunciation and recognition test using 20 common cardiovascular or nutrition terms was first developed based on correlations with standardized reading achievement test scores, then administered to program participants. Nearly half (48%) had word recognition scores equivalent to a ≤8th grade reading level. Lower scores were associated with less education, lower income, unemployment, heavier work activity if employed, less healthy diets, history of heart disease or diabetes, and higher depression scores (all P<0.01); several of these associations were independent of education. The educational materials were geared to a 5th to 8th grade reading level. However, when both audiotaped and printed instruction were provided, individuals with reading scores ≤8th grade preferentially used the tapes. This brief and relatively unobtrusive literacy assessment may help to identify persons who can benefit most from audiovisual approaches to cardiovascular nutrition education.

The Relationship Between Phonemic Awareness and Later Reading Achievement

ABSTRACT Two longitudinal studies were conducted to examine the relationship between phonemic awareness and reading achievement in the primary grades. In Study 1, scores on a test of phonemic awareness given in kindergarten were compared with scores on a standardized reading achievement test given in 2nd grade. A series of stepwise regression analyses confirmed a significant correlation between performance on some phonemic awareness tasks and reading achievement in 2nd grade. A 3-year follow-up of the children who scored in the lowest quartile was conducted in Study 2. Most of those students could not read fluently; however, they were not a homogeneous group. Early identification of children who lack phonemic awareness is useful for providing appropriate instruction, but it should not be used to justify retention or to infer within child deficits for identification of learning disabilities.