Mobile Devices for Early Literacy Intervention and Research with Global Reach

Extensive work focuses on the uses of technology at scale for post-literate populations (e.g., MOOC, Learning Games, LMS’s). Little attention is afforded to non-literate populations, particularly in the developing world. This paper presents an approach using mobile devices with the ultimate goal to reach 770 million people. We developed a novel platform with a cloud backend to deliver educational content to over a thousand marginalized children in different countries:specifically, in remote villages without schools, urban slums with overcrowded schools, and at-risk, rural schools. Here we describe the theoretical basis of our system and results from case studies in three educational contexts. This model will help researchers and designers understand how mobile devices can help children acquire basic skills and aid each other’s learning when the benefit of teachers is limited or non-existent.Italian Development CouncilMRP FoundationRoanoke County School

The Varieties of Pathways to Dysfluent Reading Comparing Subtypes of Children With Dyslexia at Letter, Word, and Connected Text Levels of Reading

The majority of work on the double-deficit hypothesis (DDH) of dyslexia has been done at the letter and word levels of reading. Key research questions addressed in this study are (a) do readers with different subtypes of dyslexia display differences in fluency at particular reading levels (e.g., letter, word, and connected text)? and (b) do children with dyslexia identified by either low-achievement or ability–achievement discrepancy criteria show similar differences when classified by the DDH? To address these questions, the authors assessed a sample of 158 children with severe reading impairments in second and third grades on an extensive battery and classified them into three reader subtypes using the DDH. The results demonstrated that the three DDH subtypes exhibited differences in fluency at different levels of reading (letter, word, and connected text), underscoring the separate reading profiles of these subtypes and the different possible routes to dysfluency in reading disabilities. Furthermore, the results suggest that the different patterns among DDH subtypes are primarily driven by the ability–achievement discrepancy group. The implications of these findings are discussed for intervention, reading theory, and a more refined understanding of heterogeneity

Intensity vs. Duration: Comparing the Effects of a Fluency-Based Reading Intervention Program, in After-School vs. Summer School Settings

Two versions of RAVE-O, a fluency-based reading intervention were examined over a 2-intervention period: a 9-month, 44-hour afterschool intervention program, and a month long, 44-hour summer intervention program.  80 children in grades 1-3 were tested on the two subtests of the Test of Word-Reading Efficiency and were assigned to one of 6 groups compromising of different combinations of one vs. two intervention packets.  Results show that while both programs showed gains after a single intervention, a significant difference was seen between intervention groups, with the afterschool intervention showing larger pre-post intervention difference scores. All groups who received a 2-package intervention either increased or maintained performance after the second intervention, suggesting that an additional intervention is beneficial. Moreover, the afterschool group who received a consecutive summer intervention group showed significant gains as compared to the other 2-intervention groups. Results from this study indicate the overall number of intervention hours may not be the indicator of a successful intervention. Instead, in the first intervention, a longer period of skill introduction may be needed for information consolidation; the second intervention may require an intense period for skill rehearsal. Implications for future reading interventions and scaling-up are discussed

Measuring socioeconomic status: Reliability and preliminary validity of different approaches

This study investigated issues related to commonly used socioeconomic status (SES) measures in 140 participants from three cities (Atlanta, Boston, and Toronto) in two countries (United States and Canada). Measures of SES were two from the United States (four-factor Hollingshead scale, Nakao and Treas scale) and one from Canada (Blishen, Carroll, and Moore scale). Reliability was examined both within (interrater agreement) and across (intermeasure agreement) measures. Interrater reliability and classification agreement was high for the total sample (range r = .86 to .91), as were intermeasure correlations and classification agreement (range r = .81 to .88). The weakest agreement across measures was found when families had one wage earner who was female. Validity data for these SES measures with academic and intellectual measures also were obtained. Some support for a simplified approach to measuring SES was found. Implications of these findings for the use of SES in social and behavioral science research are discussed

Literacy abilities and well-being in children: Findings from the application of EUREKA, the Italian adaptation of the RAVE-O Program

This study presents the programs RAVE-O (Reading, Automaticity, Vocabulary, Engagement-Orthography) by M. Wolf and its Italian adaptation EUREKA (EnthUsiasm, ResEarch, CApacity). They are aimed at improving literacy in children through activities promoting engagement in written language processing. Data from an experimental research on the application of EUREKA show that this training has positive effects not only on literacy, but also on child’s well-being, in general and in school context. Abilità di lettura e benessere nei bambini: primi risultati dell’applicazione di EUREKA, adattamento italiano del programma RAVE-OIn questo lavoro viene illustrato il RAVE-O (Reading, Automaticity, Vocabulary, Engagement-Orthography) di M. Wolf, un programma finalizzato al potenziamento delle abilità di lettura e scrittura attraverso attività, da svolgersi in piccolo gruppo, che stimolano il coinvolgimento attivo dei bambini nell’apprendimento del linguaggio scritto. Viene poi presentato uno studio sperimentale sull’adattamento italiano EUREKA (EntUsiasmo, RicErca, CApacità) (Traficante, 2017), che mostra l’efficacia dell’intervento non solo sull’apprendimento del linguaggio scritto, ma anche sull’esperienza di benessere generale del bambino e, in particolare, nel contesto scolastico.

Neurocognitive Predictors of Reading Outcomes for Children With Reading Disabilities

This study reports on several specific neurocognitive process predictors of reading outcomes for a sample of 278 children with reading disabilities. Three categories of response (i.e., poor, average, and good) were formed via growth curve models of six reading outcomes. Two nested discriminant function analyses were conducted to evaluate the predictive capability of the following models: (a) an intervention and phonological processing model that included intervention group, phonological awareness, and rapid naming and (b) an additive cognitive neuropsychological model that included measures of memory, visual processes, and cognitive or intellectual functioning. Over and above the substantial explanatory power of the base model, the additive model improved classification of poor and good responders. Several of the cognitive and neuropsychological variables predicted degree of reading outcomes, even after controlling for type of intervention, phonological awareness, and rapid naming

Multiple component remediation of developmental reading disabilities: A Controlled factorial evaluation of the influence of IQ, socioeconomic status, and race on outcomes

Results from a controlled evaluation of remedial reading interventions are reported: 279 young disabled readers were randomly assigned to a program according to a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design (IQ, socioeconomic status [SES], and race). The effectiveness of two multiple-component intervention programs for children with reading disabilities (PHAB + RAVE-O; PHAB + WIST) was evaluated against alternate (CSS, MATH) and phonological control programs. Interventions were taught an hour daily for 70 days on a 1:4 ratio at three different sites. Multiple-component programs showed significant improvements relative to control programs on all basic reading skills after 70 hours and at 1-year follow-up. Equivalent gains were observed for different racial, SES, and IQ groups. These factors did not systematically interact with program. Differential outcomes for word identification, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary were found between the multidimensional pro- grams, although equivalent long-term outcomes and equal continued growth confirmed that different pathways exist to effective reading remediation

Psychometric Stability of Nationally Normed and Experimental Decoding and Related Measures in Children with Reading Disability

Achievement and cognitive tests are used extensively in the diagnosis and educational placement of children with reading disabilities (RD). Moreover, research on scholastic interventions often requires repeat testing and information on practice effects. Little is known, however, about the test–retest and other psychometric properties of many commonly used measures within the beginning reader population, nor are these nationally normed or experimental measures comparatively evaluated. This study examined the test–retest reliability, practice effects, and relations among a number of nationally normed measures of word identification and spelling and experimental measures of achievement and reading-related cognitive processing tests in young children with significant RD. Reliability was adequate for most tests, although lower than might be ideal on a few measures when there was a lengthy test–retest interval or with the reduced behavioral variability that can be seen in groups of beginning readers. Practice effects were minimal. There were strong relations between nationally normed measures of decoding and spelling and their experimental counterparts and with most measures of reading-related cognitive processes. The implications for the use of such tests in treatment studies that focus on beginning readers are discussed

The Woodcock Reading Mastery Test: Impact of Normative Changes

This study examined the magnitude of differences in standard scores, convergent validity, and concurrent validity when an individual’s performance was gauged using the revised and the normative update (Woodcock, 1998) editions of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test in which the actual test items remained identical but norms have been updated. From three met- ropolitan areas, 899 first to third grade students referred by their teachers for a reading in- tervention program participated. Results showed the inverse Flynn effect, indicating systematic inflation averaging 5 to 9 standard score points, regardless of gender, IQ, city site, or ethnicity, when calculated using the updated norms. Inflation was greater at lower raw score levels. Implications for using the updated norms for identifying children with reading disabilities and changing norms during an ongoing study are discussed