Patterns of psychological and neuropsychological mesaures of performance : in inter and intra group comparisons in children with variations in reading and arithmetic achievement

The present study was designed to determine psychological and neuropsychological patterns of functioning in three groups of children with variations in reading and arithmetic achievement. The groups were divided on the basis of achievement patterns in arithmetic and reading. Group One consisted of subjects with reading achievement two and one-half years below arithmetic achievement. Group Two consisted of subjects with arithmetic achievement two and one-half years below reading achievement and Group Three consisted of subjects whose performance in arithmetic and reading were two and one-half years below achievement expectancy level based on age and ability levels. The results were discussed on the basis of the measured patterns of performance for the three groups.Subjects in this study were chosen from approximately 600 subjects who had received an extensive battery of psychological and neuropsychological tests over a five year period. The children were all enrolled in public school and were between the ages of 9 and 13.The data collected for each subject came from the following instruments: (1) the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological battery, (2) the Reitan-Klove Sensory Perceptual battery, (3) the KloveMatthews Motor Steadiness battery, (4) the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, (5) the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and (6) the Wide Range Achievement Test.The data were treated by one-way analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance. Group One differed significantly from Group Two on both Verbal and Performance measures of I.Q. as well as on verbal and auditory perceptual measures of the Halstead Reitan Neuropsychological battery. Although the difference between the two groups approached significance on the performance and visual perceptual measures of the Halstead-Reitan battery, the composite mean raw scores of the measures for the two groups did not differ statistically. Both groups differed significantly from the normative group.Under the constraints of the study, the following conclusions were drawn.Children with a Low Reading-High Arithmetic pattern of achievement present significantly lower Verbal than Performance I.Q., similar to a group of subjects with documented left hemisphere damage. Children with a High Reading-Low Arithmetic pattern present significantly lower Performance than Verbal I.Q., similar to a group of subjects with documented right hemisphere damage.Children with a Low Reading-High Arithmetic pattern present lower Verbal and higher Performance I.Q.’s than the High Reading-Low Arithmetic group. Children with a High Reading-Low Arithmetic pattern present a higher Verbal and lower Performance I.Q. than the Low Reading High Arithmetic Group.Children with a Low Reading-High Arithmetic pattern present a significantly lower performance on the verbal and auditory perceptual measures than the High ReadingLow Arithmetic pattern which perform significantly higher on these measures.Children with a High Reading-Low Arithmetic pattern tend to perform lower on the performance and visual perceptual variables than do Low Reading-High Arithmetic. groups.Children with a Low Reading-Low Arithmetic pattern present a significantly lower Verbal and Performance I.Q. and perform numerically in a position medial to and lower than the Low Reading-Higher Arithmetic and Low Arithmetic High Reading pattern.The High Reading-Low Arithmetic patterns demonstrate weaknesses in visual perceptual areas and strengths in verbal and auditory areas. This pattern would indicate that arithmetic skills, as measured by paper and pencil computation exercises, are greatly influenced by perceptual factors. Weaknesses are demonstrated in the performance of the skill and not in the conceptual abilities associated with that skill.A difference of two and one-half or more years between reading and arithmetic achievement is indicative of possible neurological impairment in the left hemisphere for the low reading pattern and in the right hemisphere for the low arithmetic pattern.Organizing subject groups on the basis of educational achievement levels and patterns yields results similar to studies in which the groups were organized on the basis of I.Q. score and lateralized motor deficit patterns.Thesis (D. Ed.

The Florida Problem-Solving/Response to Intervention Model: Implementing a Statewide Initiative

The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) approved and funded ($1.2 million/year) a 5-year project in spring, 2006, to implement the problemsolving/ response-to-intervention (PSM/RTI) model throughout the state. The project was awarded to the School Psychology Program at the University of South Florida. However, building the infrastructure necessary to implement the PSM/RTI model actually began in 1991, and the state systematically built capacity to support the implementation of this model. This chapter describes how the state built capacity to implement the PSM/RTI model, the three-stage implementation process, the training model, the implementation plan and the evaluation protocol