Predicting Second and Third Graders' Reading Comprehension Gains: Observing Students' and Classmates Talk during Literacy Instruction using COLT.

This paper introduces a new observation system that is designed to investigate students' and teachers' talk during literacy instruction, Creating Opportunities to Learn from Text (COLT). Using video-recorded observations of 2nd-3rd grade literacy instruction (N=51 classrooms, 337 students, 151 observations), we found that nine types of student talk ranged from using non-verbal gestures to generating new ideas. The more a student talked, the greater were his/her reading comprehension (RC) gains. Classmate talk also predicted RC outcomes (total effect size=0.27). We found that 11 types of teacher talk ranged from asking simple questions to encouraging students' thinking and reasoning. Teacher talk predicted student talk but did not predict students' RC gains directly. Findings highlight the importance of each student's discourse during literacy instruction, how classmates' talk contributes to the learning environments that each student experiences, and how this affects RC gains, with implications for improving the effectiveness of literacy instruction

Direct impact of mindset on reading-based outcomes in upper elementary students with reading difficulties

Mindset involves an array of beliefs related to the malleability of certain attributes, including intelligence. One’s growth mindset comprises a variety of cognitive and motivational factors (e.g., learning goals, effort beliefs) and the perception that skill attainment and outcome in any domain are tethered to personal effort. A fixed mindset encompasses goals, beliefs, and perceptions that skill level is not malleable or impacted by effort. Structural equation models tested investigated direct and indirect pathways of mindset and motivational variables (i.e., learning goals, effort beliefs) with reading outcomes (i.e., word reading, fluency, reading comprehension) in a diverse sample of fourth grade students (n = 408) with reading difficulties. Results revealed a direct impact of fixed mindset (−0.21 to −0.36) and effort beliefs (0.18–0.31) on all standardized, reading-based outcomes. There were no significant mediating pathways. Results are juxtaposed to other research in this area, and practical implications are discussed. Growth mindset appears a robust predictor of positive academic outcomes, and it may be beneficial to facilitate growth mindset in classrooms

Exploring the dimensionality of morphological knowledge for adolescent readers

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135649/1/jrir12064.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135649/2/jrir12064_am.pd

Game Design Considerations for Screening, Interim, and Diagnostic Educational Assessments

To inform instruction, screening and diagnostic assessments must collect accurate data about the current state of the learner. Unfortunately, students may find assessments unengaging, intimidating, or irrelevant, undermining the quality of their effort and the quality of the data. The application of gaming to assessments may provide a way to boost and sustain effortful test-taker engagement, an integration that has thus far yielded mixed results, at best. Our interdisciplinary team reviewed and evaluated existing gamification research to consolidate a set of guiding principles for effectively merging diagnostic assessment tasks and protocols with a motivating game-like context in ways that specifically foster high levels of test-taker effort. We share our work in this paper to help inform ongoing research and development leading to more efficient and effective assessments of children

Psychometric Evaluation of the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment Sentence Repetition Task for Clinical Decision-Making

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was a) to examine the underlying components or factor structure of the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment (Peña et al., 2014) sentence repetition task and b) to examine the relationship between Spanish-English speaking children\u27s sentence repetition and vocabulary performance. Method: Participants were 291 Spanish-English speaking children in kindergarten and first grade. Item analyses were used to evaluate the underlying factor structure for each language version of the sentence repetition tasks of the BESA. The tasks were then examined in relation to a measure of English receptive vocabulary. Results: Bifactor models, which include a single underlying general factor and multiple specific factors, provided the best overall model fit for both the Spanish and English versions of the task. There was no relation between children’s overall Spanish sentence repetition performance and their English vocabulary. However, children’s pronoun, noun phrase, and verb phrase item scores in Spanish significantly predicted their English vocabulary scores. For English sentence repetition, both children’s overall performance and their specific performance on the noun phrase items were predictors of their English vocabulary scores. Follow-up analyses revealed that, for the purposes of clinical assessment, the BESA sentence repetition tasks can be considered essentially unidimensional, lending support to the current scoring structure of the test. Conclusions: Study findings suggest that sentence repetition tasks can provide insight into Spanish-English speaking children’s vocabulary skills in addition to their morphosyntactic skills when used on a broad research scale. From a clinical assessment perspective, results indicate that the sentence repetition task has strong internal validity and support to the use of this measure in clinical practice

Rapid Automated Naming Performance of Young Spanish-English Speaking Children

The aim of this preliminary study was to examine the feasibility of a rapid automatic naming (RAN) task for young Spanish–English speaking dual language learners (DLLs) and to examine the relationship between children’s performance on RAN and other standardized language and literacy assessments. A total of 275 Spanish–English speaking children in kindergarten and first grade attempted a RAN task and completed assessments of language and early literacy. Correlational analyses and quantile regression was conducted to examine relationships. Overall the RAN task was feasible for 74% (n = 203) of the DLLs; however, 42% of participants in kindergarten were unable to complete the task. There was a moderate positive correlation between RAN performance and standard scores in receptive vocabulary and letter identification, a small positive correlation with non-verbal intelligence, and no significant relationship with phonological awareness. There was a differential relation between RAN and English sentence imitation. The results support further consideration of RAN as a feasible and useful measure for young Spanish–English speaking DLLs

Exploring the relative effectiveness of reading interventions for high school students

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to explore the relative effectiveness of intensive reading interventions for struggling high school readers. A yearlong randomized control study was conducted to estimate causal effects, as measured by the criterionreferenced state assessment test, for 1,265 ninth-grade students in 89 classes across 7 high schools in a large school district. Students in the high risk group and the moderate risk group were randomly assigned to one of four intensive reading interventions (three new interventions and a "business as usual" control condition.) Results indicated that for all four interventions, gains made by students in the high risk group exceeded the benchmark for expected annual growth. For the moderate risk group, random effects mixed modeling showed that reliable differences were observed in the state outcome gain scores between two of the intensive interventions and the "business as usual" control condition (Glass's adjusted = .27, .30)

Predicting word reading ability:a quantile regression study

Predictors of early word reading are well established. However, it is unclear if these predictors hold for readers across a range of word reading abilities. This study used quantile regression to investigate predictive relationships at different points in the distribution of word reading. Quantile regression analyses used preschool and kindergarten measures of letter knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid automatised naming, sentence repetition, vocabulary and mother’s education to predict first-grade word reading. Predictors generally varied in significance across levels of word reading. Notably, rapid automatised naming was a significant unique predictor for average and good readers but not poor readers. Letter knowledge was generally a stronger unique predictor for poor and average readers than good readers. Well-known word reading predictors varied in significance at different points along the word read- ing distribution. Results have implications for early identification and statistical analyses of reading-related outcomes

The Effect of E-book Vocabulary Instruction on Spanish-English Speaking Children

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effect of an intensive vocabulary intervention embedded in e-books on the vocabulary skills of young Spanish-English speaking English learners (ELs) from low-socioeconomic status backgrounds. Method: Children (N = 288) in kindergarten and 1st grade were randomly assigned to treatment and read-only conditions. All children received e-book readings approximately 3 times a week for 10-20 weeks using the same books. Children in the treatment condition received e-books supplemented with vocabulary instruction that included scaffolding through explanations in Spanish, repetition in English, checks for understanding, and highlighted morphology. Results: There was a main effect of the intervention on expressive labeling (g = 0.38) and vocabulary on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (g = 0.14; Dunn & Dunn, 2007), with no significant moderation effect of initial Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test score. There was no significant difference between conditions on children\u27s expressive definitions. Conclusion: Findings substantiate the effectiveness of computer-implemented embedded vocabulary intervention for increasing ELs\u27 vocabulary knowledge. Implications: Computer-assisted vocabulary instruction with scaffolding through Spanish explanations, repetitions, and highlighted morphology is a promising approach to facilitate word learning for ELs in kindergarten and 1st grade

What Quantile Regression Does and Doesn't Do: A Commentary on Petscher and Logan (2014)

Petscher and Logan's (2014) description of quantile regression (QR) might mislead readers to believe it would estimate the relation between an outcome, y, and one or more predictors, x, at different quantiles of the unconditional distribution of y. However, QR models the conditional quantile function of y given x just as linear regression models the conditional mean function. This article's contribution is twofold: First, it discusses potential consequences of methodological misconceptions and formulations of Petscher and Logan's (2014) presentation by contrasting features of QR and linear regression. Second, it reinforces the importance of correct understanding of QR in empirical research by illustrating similarities and differences in various QR estimators and linear regression using simulated data