Rhythm production at school entry as a predictor of poor reading and spelling at the end of first grade

Rhythm plays an organisational role in the prosody and phonology of language, and children with literacy difficulties have been found to demonstrate poor rhythmic perception. This study explored whether students’ performance on a simple rhythm task at school entry could serve as a predictor of whether they would face difficulties in word reading and spelling at the end of grade 1. The participants were 479 Norwegian 6-year-old first graders randomized as controls in the longitudinal RCT on track (n = 1171). Rhythmic timing and pre-reading skills were tested individually at school entry on a digital tablet. On the rhythm task, the students were told to tap a drum appearing on the screen to two different rhythms (2 Hz paced and 1.5 Hz paced). Children’s responses were recorded as they tapped on the screen with their index finger. Significant group differences were found in rhythm tapping ability measured at school entry, when groups were defined upon whether children went on to score above or below the 20th percentile reading and spelling thresholds in national assessment tests at the end of grade one. Inclusion of the school-entry rhythmic tapping measure into a model of classification accuracy for above or below threshold reading and spelling improved accuracy of classification by 6.2 and 9.2% respectively.publishedVersio

Country differences in numeracy skills: how do they vary by job characteristics and education levels?

To what extent do favourable job characteristics contribute to the variation in numeracy skills between countries? Based on theory of maintenance and further development of pre-existing skills, this is explored by applying data on numeracy skills among employed persons in seven European countries participating in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). Regression analyses are used to examine the extent to which numeracy skills vary with job characteristics and education levels across the seven countries, when controlling for industrial sector, work hours, demographic variables (gender, age, Western and Non-Western immigrant background), cultural capital (books at home and parental education level). The findings indicate that job characteristics and the individuals’ educational level have large and equal statistical impact on the total skills variation in the seven countries. However, regarding the country- differences, variations in education level play a lesser role than job characteristics.publishedVersio

Kartleggingsprøver i lesing: Tid for nytenking?

Som en del av det nasjonale kvalitetsvurderingssystemet for grunnopplæringen (NKVS) i norsk utdanning har vi i dag forskjellige leseprøver med ulike formål og utforminger for bruk i det 13-årige skoleløpet. I denne artikkelen tegner vi opp en historisk bakgrunn for innføringen av kartleggingsprøvene i lesing i begynneropplæringen, og peker på flere forhold som krever at man tenker nytt om dette prøvekonseptet. I artikkelen viser vi ved hjelp av data fra en longitudinell studie hvordan en kort oppgave gjennomført i slutten av 1. klasse forutsier vansker med leseforståelse i 3. klasse. Med utgangspunkt i disse resultatene drøfter vi kimen til et mulig nytt prøvekonsept med potensial for a) bedre samsvar mellom teori om lesing og måling av lesing, b) longitudinell prediksjon, og c) en prøve med forbedret pedagogisk potensial som kan gjennomføres på kortere tid. Sentralt i dette forslaget står tanken om en kort inngangsprøve som oppfyller hovedformålet om å identifisere de elevene som står i fare for å utvikle vansker med lesing. Denne følges av en utforskende del som gjennomføres en-til-en og gir læreren informasjon om hvordan vanskene arter seg.At present, the national Norwegian quality-assessment system for basic education (NKVS) includes a range of reading tests with different purposes and designs, to be administered at various points during a 13-year period of schooling. In this article, we trace the historical background to the introduction of screening tests of reading in early education and identify a number of circumstances that call for a rethink of the overall test concept. Using data from a longitudinal study, we show that scores on a brief task administered towards the end of grade 1 predict reading-comprehension difficulties in grade 3. Taking that finding as our starting point, we discuss an idea for a possible new test concept that might have the potential to (a) improve the match between reading theory and reading-skill measurements, (b) enable longitudinal prediction, and (c) take less time to administer and be more useful in an educational context. The central elements of this new test concept are a short initial test meeting the primary objective of identifying students at risk of developing reading difficulties, and a follow-up explorative part to be carried out one-on-one, which will provide the teacher with information about the nature of each student’s difficulties.publishedVersio

Can children's instructional gameplay activity be used as a predictive indicator of reading skills?

For children who may face reading difficulties, early intervention is a societal priority. However, early intervention requires early detection. While much research has approached the issue of identification through measuring component skills at single timepoints, an alternative is the utilisation of dynamic assessment. To this point, few initiatives have explored the potential for identification through progress data from play in digital literacy games. This study explored how well growth curves from progress data in a digital intervention can predict reading performance after gameplay compared to measuring component skills at a single timepoint (school entry). 137 six-year-old students played the digital Graphogame for 25 weeks. Latent growth curve analyses showed that variation in trajectories explained variation in literacy performance to a greater extent than risk status at school entry. Findings point to a potential for non-intrusive reading assessment in the application of a serious digital game in first grade.publishedVersio

Does parental educational level predict drop-out from upper secondary school for 16- to 24-year-olds when basic skills are accounted for? A cross country comparison

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research in October 2011, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2011.555925Drop-out from upper secondary school is considered a widespread problem, closely connected with youth unemployment. The aim of the current study was to examine whether parents’ level of education predicted drop-out for 16 – 24-year-olds when accounting for basic skills. For this purpose, data from the Norwegian (n ¼ 996) and American (n ¼ 641) samples in the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL) were used. Stepwise logistic regression showed that parents’ educational level was a significant predictor of early school leaving in both countries, but explained significantly more of the variance in USA than in Norway. Mothers’ educational level predicted early school leaving in USA also when accounting for youth’s basic skills, but this was not the case in Norway

Is a faster pace of letter instruction associated with other teaching practices?

The past few years have seen a shift towards a faster pace of letter instruction in Norwegian firstgrade classrooms. Introducing the letters faster has the potential to alter teaching practices more generally, not only by freeing up time for more individually adapted literacy instruction but also by making it possible for students to start reading and writing texts earlier. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether the pace of letter instruction is associated with the amount of time devoted to various other relevant teaching practices. Information about the pace of letter instruction and about other teaching practices was provided, through questionnaires completed in December and June, by 51 Norwegian first-grade teachers who finished letter instruction at various times between September and June. The results indicate that introducing the letters faster really does affect other teaching practices, mainly in the second semester, in that more time is devoted to students’ writing, greater use is made of levelled books and less time is spent on worksheets and on handwriting practice. However, there would seem to be room for teachers to further exploit the opportunities that arise when the letters are introduced faster.publishedVersio

Does Introducing the Letters Faster Boost the Development of Children’s Letter Knowledge, Word Reading and Spelling in the First Year of School?

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Scientific Studies of Reading on May 17, 2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10888438.2019.1615491.Learning the relationships between letters and sounds is a key component of early literacy development and a central aim during the first year of school. Introducing one new letter a week is the most common approach in many countries, but little is known about how the pace of letter instruction contributes to the development of early literacy skills. This study used a natural experiment to investigate how a faster pace of letter instruction influences the development of letter knowledge, word reading, and spelling during the first year of school. Regression analysis showed that a faster pace yielded significantly better results for all outcome measures, and logistic-regression models showed that the lowest-performing children benefited more than the highest-performing one from a faster pace. The study concludes with a discussion of those novel findings and suggestions about their implications for teaching practice.acceptedVersio

Does Introducing the Letters Faster Boost the Development of Children’s Letter Knowledge, Word Reading and Spelling in the First Year of School?

Learning the relationships between letters and sounds is a key component of early literacy development and a central aim during the first year of school. Introducing one new letter a week is the most common approach in many countries, but little is known about how the pace of letter instruction contributes to the development of early literacy skills. This study used a natural experiment to investigate how a faster pace of letter instruction influences the development of letter knowledge, word reading, and spelling during the first year of school. Regression analysis showed that a faster pace yielded significantly better results for all outcome measures, and logistic-regression models showed that the lowest-performing children benefited more than the highest-performing one from a faster pace. The study concludes with a discussion of those novel findings and suggestions about their implications for teaching practice

Screening tests of reading: Time for a rethink?

Som en del av det nasjonale kvalitetsvurderingssystemet for grunnopplæringen (NKVS) i norsk utdanning har vi i dag forskjellige leseprøver med ulike formål og utforminger for bruk i det 13-årige skoleløpet. I denne artikkelen tegner vi opp en historisk bakgrunn for innføringen av kartleggingsprøvene i lesing i begynneropplæringen, og peker på flere forhold som krever at man tenker nytt om dette prøvekonseptet. I artikkelen viser vi ved hjelp av data fra en longitudinell studie hvordan en kort oppgave gjennomført i slutten av 1. klasse forutsier vansker med leseforståelse i 3. klasse. Med utgangspunkt i disse resultatene drøfter vi kimen til et mulig nytt prøvekonsept med potensial for a) bedre samsvar mellom teori om lesing og måling av lesing, b) longitudinell prediksjon, og c) en prøve med forbedret pedagogisk potensial som kan gjennomføres på kortere tid. Sentralt i dette forslaget står tanken om en kort inngangsprøve som oppfyller hovedformålet om å identifisere de elevene som står i fare for å utvikle vansker med lesing. Denne følges av en utforskende del som gjennomføres en-til-en og gir læreren informasjon om hvordan vanskene arter seg