Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised Research Articles

Effects of Unilateral Hearing Loss on Speech-Evoked Auditory Brainstem Responses and Reading: A Preliminary Study.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the speech-evoked auditory brainstem responses (sABRs) obtained by stimulating the ear with normal sensitivity in children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) were different from that of children with normal hearing (NH), and to explore correlations between the sABR findings and measures of reading. Eleven children with UHL and 11 children with NH were tested via the BioMARK sABR protocol using the syllable /da/; latency and amplitudes of Waves V, A, C, D, E, F, and O were measured. Participants also were tested on the Phonemic Synthesis Test (PST) and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised (WRMT-R), particularly the Reading Readiness, Basic Skills, and Comprehension subtests. Multivariate analysis of variance testing showed a significantly higher amplitude for Wave A for the NH group as compared to the UHL group. Separate ANOVAs also found significantly lower scores for the UHL group compared to the NH group on Basic Skills and Comprehension subtests of the Woodcock. Significant positive Spearman rho correlations were found for the UHL group between wave amplitudes for V, A, and O and the Reading Readiness score, and between wave amplitudes for V, A, D, and O and the Reading Comprehension score. A significant correlation also was found between the Total Reading score and wave amplitudes for V and A. No such correlations were found between wave amplitude and Woodcock scores for the NH group. Further testing of the UHL data found significant relationships between the pure-tone average of the hearing loss ear and the Basic Skills, Comprehension, and Total Reading scores from the WRMT-R. There was also a significant correlation between the PST score and Wave C amplitude. There may be a connection between speech encoding and measures of reading in children with UHL.

The effect of adherence to spectacle wear on early developing literacy: a longitudinal study based in a large multiethnic city, Bradford, UK

ObjectivesTo determine the impact of adherence to spectacle wear on visual acuity (VA) and developing literacy following vision screening at age 4–5 years.DesignLongitudinal study nested within the Born in Bradford...

Impact of visual acuity on developing literacy at age 4–5 years: a cohort-nested cross-sectional study

ObjectivesTo estimate the prevalence of poor vision in children aged 4–5 years and determine the impact of visual acuity on literacy.DesignCross-sectional study linking clinical, epidemiological and education data.SettingSchools located in...

Two Studies of Tier II Literacy Development: Throwing Sixth Graders a Lifeline

Abstract Two experimental studies at one urban middle school investigated the effects of the combination of Tier I and Tier II evidence-based reading instruction compared to Tier I alone on struggling sixth-grade readers (N = 109). All participants received free or reduced-price lunch, and 95% were considered English learners at some point in their school history. In both studies, Tier II intervention consisted of intensive instruction in word analysis, fluency building, comprehension, and vocabulary for 30 hours across 10 weeks. Results of both studies taken individually and combined indicated significant differences in favor of the intervention groups on oral reading fluency. The second study indicated significantly stronger performances for the intervention group on the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test—Revised (WRMT-R/NU) passage comprehension subtest. Tier II interventions and Response to Intervention (RTI) for older struggling readers are discussed related to educational implications and future research.

Self-concept development and measurement in children with mild intellectual disabilities

Objective: Using a multi-trait–multi-method technique, self-concept was analysed as a function of chronological age in children with mild intellectual disabilities. Also, relations between reading achievement and self-concept were measured.Methods: Participants were assessed on the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test–Revised, the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance and the Self-Description Questionnaire I–Individual Administration.Results: A median split was run to divide participants into younger and older groups; older participants evidenced coefficients that revealed more multidimensionality, stability and discriminant validity. Also, a significant canonical correlation was found between the Harter Pictorial Scale at Time 1 and WRMT-R at Time 2, χ2(8) = 17.99, r = 0.62, p = 0.02.Conclusion: As a whole, these results suggest that children with intellectual disabilities evince self-concept development similar to what would be expected in typically-developing children.

Principles for School-Age Language Intervention: Insights from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Principles for School-Age Language Intervention: Insights from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Factors Related to Reading Performance in Children Exposed to Domestic Violence

The purpose of this study was to determine factors associated with reading performance in children exposed to domestic violence. Twenty children ages 6 to 9 who had been exposed to domestic violence were tested on reading and prereading skills using the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised and the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing. Results indicated that psychological aggression of the mother toward her partner and externalizing behavior problems were strongly negatively correlated with reading scores. The number of months at the current residence in the past year was positively correlated with reading performance. Physical assault by the partner toward the mother was not significantly correlated with reading skills. Higher incidence of risk factors was significantly associated with risk for reading disabilities.

Children with Low Literacy and Poor Stereoacuity: An Evaluation of Complex Interventions in a Community-Based Randomized Trial

To assess, among children with low literacy and poor stereoacuity, the efficacy of two intervention programs on child vision and education compared to a control program. Eighty-eight children aged 8 to 13 years who had reading problems, and demonstrated poor stereoacuity as measured by the Titmus stereocircle test (> 100 seconds arc) or computerized assessment were randomized to one of two intervention programs: Lawson vision or Phono-Graphix, or a control group: Parental Literacy Support. Vision (Lang test, visual acuity, convergence insufficiency symptom survey) and education assessments (Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised) were conducted at baseline, intervention end (10 weeks), and 36 weeks. Analysis used intention to treat multi-level models. Compared to the parental literacy support group, convergence insufficiency symptoms were reduced 36 weeks post-randomization amongst those receiving the Lawson orthoptic intervention (mean difference -5.55; 95% confidence interval (CI): -11.1 to -0.05, P < 0.05). Stereoacuity, measured by the Lang test, improved for both the Lawson and Phono-Graphix interventions compared to the parental literacy support group (-1.01; 95% CI: -1.6 to -0.4, P = 0.001, and -0.77; 95% CI: -1.4 to -0.2, P = 0.01). At the 36 week follow-up assessment, word identification had also improved for the Lawson and Phono-Graphix groups but other educational outcomes did not improve. A formal randomized control trial was feasible in this setting. Intervention among children with poor stereoacuity and low literacy produced small improvements in stereopsis and convergence insufficiency symptom scores. Further randomized control trials should be conducted to clarify the role of orthoptic intervention on literacy in selected child populations.

Characteristics of Reading Disability Types in Middle School Students Classified ED

Types of reading disabilities (RD) have not yet been investigated in students classified with emotional disturbance (ED). The prevalence of RD and differentiating characteristics were examined in 118 middle school students attending a self-contained school for ED students by defining RDs with reading standard scores &lt;85 on the two clusters of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test–Revised. Half of the students had no RD, whereas 7.6% had only a deficit in phonological processing, 14.4% only a deficit in reading comprehension, and 28.0% deficits in both reading skills. Race and IQ were found to significantly differentiate the four groups and were therefore used as covariates in subsequent comparisons. In addition to significant differences in reading skills and language services, only one symptom category of psychopathology (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) produced a significant difference among the groups as well as only one measure of school functioning for 1 year (grade point average for major subjects). These findings indicate the need for comprehensive neuropsychological testing of students with ED and comorbid RD. The proper balance of academic and behavioral interventions is implied. The results also have implications for such students requiring differing programs of reading and related interventions, as well as differing long-term planning for educational needs.

Associations Between Key Language-Related Measures in Typically Developing School-Age Children

Associations Between Key Language-Related Measures in Typically Developing School-Age Children

The Disconnect of Poor‐Urban Education: Equal Access and a Pedagogy of Risk Taking

AbstractIn an age of educational accountability and school competition, the gap between current poor‐urban school performance and standards of excellence remains glaringly obvious. As poor‐urban schools scramble to “close the gap,” many abandon sound pedagogy, becoming entrenched in a curriculum where basic‐skills worksheets are the primary method of educational delivery resulting in a disconnect between pedagogically sound educational practices and those very students that need it most. Two literacy pilot programs are discussed as applied examples showing that good teaching and accountability result in increases in early reading skills as measured by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test‐Revised (R.W. Woodcock, 1998). Results are discussed in light of raised teacher expectations, assessment‐driven small class grouping, and active student learning. In a supportive, challenging environment, the basis for a pedagogy of risk taking emerges. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 855–863, 2005.

Using CBM as an Indicator of Decoding, Word Reading, and Comprehension: Do the Relations Change With Grade?

The primary purpose of this study was to assess whether the relation between curriculum-based measurement (CBM) and specific reading skills changes as a function of grade. In addition, this study sought to identify cutscores that correspond with benchmark performance on a variety of reading subskills at Grades 1 through 4. Participants were 310 students, distributed approximately equally across grades, from four schools. Participants were administered CBM reading passages and the Word Attack, Word Identification, and Passage Comprehension subtests from the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test—Revised. Findings indicated that the relation between CBM with decoding, word reading, passage comprehension, basic skills, and total reading-short was strong at each grade level. Benchmarks could not be differentiated for individual reading subskills, but were identified for overall reading competence at each grade level. Implications are drawn for helping school psychologists and other practitioners determine which students need further instructional support in reading.

The end of the reading age: grade and age effects in early schooling

During the school years, psychological test norms may be indexed by age or by grade. A number of studies have shown that using age-based norms appears to produce biases associated with grade assignment. Cahan and Cohen [Child Dev. 60 (1989) 1239–1249] showed that the effect of one grade was over twice the effect of 1 year of age for most verbal cognitive ability subtests in Grades 4–6. A higher ratio might be expected for more curriculum-related areas such as reading tests. Analysis of a representative sample of 4257 Grade 1 and 2 children in Tasmanian government schools (which use relatively strict age assignment to grades) for three subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test—Revised (WRMTR): Word Identification, Word Attack, and Passage Comprehension, showed that the grade effect is about twice the age effect. This data shows that using age-based norms instead of grade-based norms for reading and other verbal ability tests may produce bias in the early school years. Psychologists should thus be primarily concerned with children's educational history, as once children have entered school other developmental factors indexed by age have less influence on children's verbal performance.

Effects of Two Tutoring Programs on the English Reading Development of Spanish-English Bilingual Students

Spanish-dominant bilingual students in grades 2-5 were tutored 3 times per week for 40 minutes over 10 weeks, using 2 English reading interventions. Tutoring took place from February through April of 1 school year. One, Read Well, combined systematic phonics instruction with practice in decodable text, and the other, a revised version of Read Naturally, consisted of repeated reading, with contextualized vocabulary and comprehension instruction. The progress of tutored students (n = 51) was compared to that of nontutored classmates (n = 42) using subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised. Students who received systematic phonics instruction made significant progress in word identification but not in word attack or passage comprehension. There were no significant effects for students in the repeated reading condition.

Patterns of Word-Recognition Errors Among Adult Basic Education Native and Nonnative Speakers of English

Numerous studies have documented the decoding difficulties of adult basic education (ABE) students in the United States. However, the native speakers of English (NSE) and nonnative speakers of English (NNSE) in ABE classes present different reading behaviors. To explore this, 90 low-intermediate readers (45 NSE and 45 NNSE) were matched on pseudoword reading (Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised; Woodcock, 1987). Their substitution errors in word recognition (Diagnostic Assessments of Reading; Roswell & Chall, 1992) were then classified as phonetically plausible, phonetically implausible, or real words. Both groups made similar numbers of phonetically implausible errors. However, although both possessed comparable pseudoword decoding skills, NSE made more real-word substitutions than NNSE, and NNSE made more phonetically plausible substitutions than NSE. This suggests that ABE teachers should not only be aware of how much decoding students know but also to what extent they actually use that knowledge when reading.

EXAMINATION OF THREE TECHNIQUES FOR IDENTIFYING FIRST-GRADE CHILDREN AT RISK FOR DIFFICULTY IN WORD IDENTIFICATION WITH AN EMPHASIS ON REDUCING THE FALSE NEGATIVE ERROR RATE

The success of early intervention programs created to prevent children from experiencing reading failure is contingent upon the accurate identification of children at risk for reading difficulties. The present study assessed 291 first graders (M Age = 79.7 months; 54.9% female, 45.1% male) on reading, intelligence, and phonological processing at the beginning and end of the academic year to determine the accuracy of three different approaches to identification. The first procedure used the calibration data from a reference group's discriminant analysis, the second simply determined the children who scored below the mean on all of the reading and phonological variables (Simple Computation), and the last used a weighting system (Complex Computation). The children were classified into good and poor reading groups based on composite reading scores determined by averaging their standard scores on Word Identification, Word Attack, and Passage Comprehension of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised (Woodcock, 1987) at the end of the year. The poor readers were further classified, based on their scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (Dunn & Dunn, 1981) into groups containing children who had reading difficulties (RD) and children whose reading abilities were commensurate with their intelligence (intelligence commensurate, IC). Although all of the procedures provided relatively accurate identification, 80.2%, 87.3%, 89.7%, for the discriminant analysis, Simple Computation, and Complex Computation, respectively, the last procedure provided the best overall accuracy with the smallest percentage of false negatives (6.2%).

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the Woodcock reading mastery tests–revised with special education students

AbstractThe factor structure of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests–Revised (WRMT‐R) was analyzed using data from a sample of 140 special education students with learning disabilities, mild mental retardation, and serious emotional disturbance. Woodcock asserted that the WRMT‐R measured two important aspects of reading ability: Basic Skills and Reading Comprehension. According to Woodcock, the Word Identification and Word Attack Tests measure two elements of Basic Skills, and the Word Comprehension and Passage Comprehension Tests measure two elements of Reading Comprehension. Together, Basic Skills and Reading Comprehension produce the Total Reading Full‐Scale score. Principal axis factor analysis with a promax rotation and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate evidence that the four tests of the WRMT‐R combine to form the two factors: Basic Skills and Reading Comprehension. The results of the analyses indicated a robust single factor (Total Reading Full‐Scale), and provided little support for Woodcock's hypothesized two‐factor structure. © 2001 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc.

WISC-III third factor indexes learning problems but not Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Objective: to examine the clinical utility of the WISC-III third factor—"Freedom From Distractibility" (FFD)-in the diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and the contribution of behavioral, academic, and language variables to the factor. Method: 275 children, referred for attention, behavior, and learning difficulties, and 26 normal comparison children completed the WISC-III, subtests from the Wide Range Achievement Test-3, the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised, and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals. Parents and teachers completed DSM-IV-based rating scales. Results from the study showed that a child's FFD score was not a valid diagnostic indicator of either ADHD or subtype of ADHD. FFD scores were associated primarily with arithmetic and receptive language scores, implicating verbal working memory. Conclusion: Low FFD scores may signal learning problems, particularly with arithmetic, language, and working memory that may contribute to poor academic performance.

Factor Structure of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised, Forms G and H

The Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised (WRMT-R) is a test battery that is used to measure basic reading skills, reading comprehension skills, and total reading achievement. According to Woodcock (1987), the Word Identification and Word Attack tests measure two elements of basic reading skills, whereas the Word Comprehension and Passage Comprehension tests measure two elements of reading comprehension. Collectively, according to Woodcock, the four tests measure an individual's total reading achievement. This study evaluated Woodcock's claims by analyzing the factor structure of the WRMT-R for Forms G and H. Principal axis factor analyses with promax rotations were used to evaluate evidence that the WRMT-R contains a large unrotated general factor and, when rotated obliquely, two correlated factors representing basic skills and reading comprehension. Variables with pattern coefficients of .55 or greater were considered to be significant. Using these criteria, the WRMT-R produced a robust unrotated general factor for both forms. When the factor matrices were rotated obliquely, two factors emerged for each form based on the pattern coefficients. However, based upon the large interfactor correlations ( rs = .84, and .77), one might question the practical distinction between the two factors. Thus, Woodcock's assertions regarding the factor structure of the WRMT-R were partially supported.

A Process Approach to Remediating Word-Decoding Deficiencies in Chapter 1 Children

Difficulties in remediating reading deficiencies in Chapter 1 children have been well documented. Using samples of children from this population, we report the results of two studies employing a recently developed program designed to remediate word-decoding deficiencies. The Process-Based Reading Enhancement Program (PREP) is based on the Luria-Das model of information integration. It involves instruction twice weekly over 14 to 16 weeks. In Study 1, 50 children were randomly selected from a fourth-grade Chapter 1 population. From this group, random assignment was made to experimental and comparison groups ( N=25 in each group). The PREP was administered using a student-teacher ratio of 2 to 1. The Word Attack and Word Identification subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised (WRMT-R) were used as pre- and posttests. For both measures, significant group-by-time interactions were detected. In Study 2, a different sample of 100 Chapter 1 fourth-grade children was randomly divided into remediation and comparison groups (after attrition, Ns=37 and 41, respectively). As in Study 1, all children were pretested and posttested on alternate forms of the Word Attack and Word Identification subtests of the WRMT-R. The time x treatment interactions were significant for both measures. The results of these studies support the efficacy of the PREP to improve word-reading and decoding abilities.