This study investigated the reading profiles of middle school Spanish-speaking emergent bilinguals (EBs) with significantly below grade level reading comprehension and whether these profiles varied in their reading comprehension performance over time.

Despite the importance of identifying individuals with reading disabilities, existing operational definitions of reading disability do not result in reliable identification. A large part of the problem arises from measurement error when a cut-point is imposed on a continuous distribution, especially for low base-rate conditions. One way to reduce measurement error is to include additional predictors in reading disability models. The present study examined co-occurring math disability as a possible additional criterion for predicting reading disability. Meta-analysis was used to examine the probability of individuals with reading disability also having a comorbid math disability. Possible moderators including age, severity of disability, and language were examined. The main result was an average weighted odds ratio of 2.12, 95% confidence interval [1.76, 2.55], indicating that students with a math disability are just over two times more likely to also have a reading disability than those without a math disability. Implications of the results are discussed.

Poor comprehenders (PCs) are characterized by poor reading comprehension despite intact decoding and general cognitive ability. Poor word meaning knowledge is one of the earliest deficits associated with a PC profile. We examined processes underpinning word learning in PCs using a category learning paradigm. Adolescent participants (20 TD, 19 PC, ages 13-18) learned novel categories with two key manipulations: information type (verbal vs. nonverbal) and training type (directed vs. undirected). We found that PCs showed more benefit from directed training than TD individuals overall; however, both groups performed similarly when receiving directed blocks first. Moreover, when undirected training was received first, TD individuals showed better performance in directed as compared to undirected blocks, whereas PCs who receive undirected training first showed no significant difference between training types. Our investigation indicates that PCs may have different strategies for learning, especially when their attention is not externally directed towards relevant features.

This paper introduces a new observation system that is designed to investigate students' and teachers' talk during literacy instruction, (COLT). Using video-recorded observations of 2-3 grade literacy instruction (=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.

Deficits in reading fluency and in spelling can dissociate during development, resulting in groups with reading deficit only (RD), spelling deficit only (SD) and combined reading and spelling deficit (RSD). The current study investigated the one-to-two-year longitudinal stability of these subgroups in 167 German-speaking children. Reading fluency deficits (irrespective of spelling skills) were stable over time, while spelling deficits were stable in the RSD-group but not in the SD-group. Lower stability in the SD-group resulted from the fact that many children improved their spelling skills over time. Improvement in spelling was associated with good performance in phoneme awareness together with intact RAN and decoding skills.

We assessed nonword repetition (NWR) skills in 7-9 year-old children with dyslexia (dyslexia-only), developmental language disorder (DLD-only), co-occurring DLD+dyslexia, and typical development (TD) with a norm-referenced and an experimental task. The experimental task manipulated phonemic variability (dissimilarity among consonant phonemes within the nonword) and presentation modality (audio-only versus audiovisual) to probe potential phonological processing differences among the groups. Across tasks, the dyslexia-only and DLD-only groups performed similarly to each other and intermediately to the TD and DLD+dyslexia groups. In the experimental task, nonwords with low phonemic variability were produced less accurately in both modalities, and audiovisual presentation facilitated accurate repetition of low phonemic variability nonwords. A lack of a group interaction with phonemic variability or presentation modality suggests similarities, despite group differences, in how underlying phonological representations influence task performance. Overall, results suggest that poor NWR is associated with both dyslexia and DLD, and that co-occurrence compounds this difficulty.

In the present study, we used latent variable structural equation modeling to investigate relations between oral language, decoding, and two components of executive function (cognitive flexibility and working memory) and reading comprehension in a sample of 271 native English-speaking 9.00- to 14.83-year-olds. Results of the mediation analyses indicated that both oral language and decoding fully mediated the relations between working memory and cognitive flexibility and reading comprehension. These findings suggest that executive function is likely associated with reading comprehension through its relation with decoding and oral language and provide additional support for the role of executive function in reading comprehension as a potentially crucial precursor to skilled reading.

The probability of a child reading a word correctly is influenced by both child skills and properties of the word. The purpose of this study was to investigate child-level skills (set for variability and vocabulary), word-level properties (concreteness), word structure (mono- vs. polymorphemic), and interactions between these properties and word structure within a comprehensive item-level model of complex word reading. This study is unique in that it purposely sampled both mono- and polymorphemic polysyllabic words.

Researchers have developed a constellation model of decoding-related reading disabilities (RD) to improve the RD risk determination. The model's hallmark is its inclusion of various RD indicators to determine RD risk. Classification methods such as logistic regression (LR) might be one way to determine RD risk within the constellation model framework. However, some issues may arise with applying the logistic regression method (e.g., multicollinearity). Machine learning techniques, such as random forest (RF), might assist in overcoming these limitations. They can better deal with complex data relations than traditional approaches. We examined the prediction performance of RF and compared it against LR to determine RD risk.

Bayesian-based models for diagnosis are common in medicine but have not been incorporated into identification models for dyslexia. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate Bayesian identification models that included a broader set of predictors and that capitalized on recent developments in modeling the prevalence of dyslexia.

A large body of literature showed that word reading and listening comprehension-two proximal predictors of reading comprehension according to the simple view of reading-are related. Grounded on the direct and indirect effects model of reading (Kim, 2020a, 2020b, 2023), we examined the extent to which the relation is explained by domain-general cognitions or executive functions (working memory and attentional control) and emergent literacy skills (language and code-related skills including morphological awareness, phonological awareness, orthographic pattern recognition, letter naming fluency, and rapid automatized naming).

Using data from 1,868 children from the US, Australia, and Sweden who took a 10-word spelling test in kindergarten and a standardized spelling test in Grades 1, 2, and (except for the Australian children) Grade 4, we examined two questions. First, does the quality of a child's errors on the kindergarten test help predict later spelling performance even after controlling for the number of correct responses on the kindergarten test? Second, does spelling develop at a faster pace in Swedish than in English?

The lexical quality (LQ) hypothesis predicts that a skilled reader's lexicon will be inhabited by a range of low- to high-quality items, and the probability of representing a word with high quality varies as a function of person-level, word-level, and item-specific variables. These predictions were tested with spelling accuracy as a gauge of LQ.

We examined sixth graders' detection of inconsistencies in narrative and expository passages, contrasting participants who were monolingual speakers (N = 85) or Spanish-English DLLs (N = 94) when recruited in pre-kindergarten (PK). We recorded self-paced reading times and judgments about whether the text made sense, and took an independent measure of word reading. Main findings were that inconsistency detection was better for narratives, for participants who were monolingual speakers in PK, and for those who were better word readers. When the text processing demands were increased by separating the inconsistent sentence and its premise with filler sentences there was a stronger signal for inconsistency detection during reading for better word readers. Reading patterns differed for texts for which children reported an inconsistency compared to those for which they did not, indicating a failure to adequately monitor for coherence while reading. Our performance measures indicate that narrative and expository texts make different demands on readers.

To date, research on effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has focused on a broad range of cognitive impairments, but relatively few studies have examined effects of PAE on development of reading skills. Although PAE has been linked to poorer reading comprehension, it remains unclear whether this impairment is attributable to deficits in phonological processing, word reading, oral language skills, and/or executive functioning.

Previous research has generally focused on understanding individual variation in either on-line processing or off-line comprehension even though some theories explicitly link difficulty in processing to comprehension problems. The goal of the current study was to examine individual variation in performance both during on-line and off-line reading measures. A battery of psycholinguistic and cognitive tests was administered to community college and university students. In addition, participants read texts in an eye-tracker and answered comprehension questions about them. Multi-level modeling was used to determine the individual-difference factors that modulated the relation between word-level characteristics (e.g., length, frequency, surprisal) and fixation durations. The analyses showed that language experience, decoding, and WMC interacted with word characteristics to influence fixation durations, whereas language experience and reasoning predicted comprehension. The results suggest that individual variation in processing does not map directly to variation in comprehension as some theories predict.

This within-subjects experimental study investigated the relative effects of word reading and word meaning instruction (WR+WM) compared to word-reading instruction alone (WR) on the accuracy, fluency, and word meaning knowledge of 4-5 graders with dyslexia. We matched word lists on syllables, phonemes, frequency, number of definitions, and concreteness. We assigned half the words to WR and half to WR+WM. Word reading accuracy, word reading fluency, and word meaning knowledge were measured at pretest, immediately following each intervention session, and at posttest, administered immediately following the 12, 45-minute, daily instructional sessions. Compared to WR instruction alone, WR+WM significantly improved accuracy ( = 0.65), fluency ( = 0.43), and word meaning knowledge ( = 1.92) immediately following intervention, and significantly improved accuracy ( = 0.74), fluency ( = 0.84), and word meaning knowledge ( = 1.03) at posttest. Findings support the premise that word meaning knowledge facilitates accurate and fluent word reading, and that instruction explicitly integrating word reading and word meaning may be an effective support for upper elementary students with dyslexia.

This study examined the effects of a small group intervention targeting paraphrasing and text structure instruction on the main idea generation and reading comprehension of students with reading disabilities in Grades 4 and 5. Students ( = 62) were randomly assigned to receive the Tier 2-type intervention or business-as-usual instruction. Students in the intervention received 25, 40-minute lessons focused on paraphrasing sections of text by identifying the main topic and the most important idea about that topic. Students utilized the text structure organization to inform their main idea generation. Results yielded statistically significant, positive effects in favor of the intervention group on near-transfer and mid-transfer measures of text structure identification ( = 0.75) and main idea generation ( = 0.70), but no statistically significant effect on a far-transfer measure of reading comprehension. These findings provide initial support for utilizing this instruction to improve students' main idea generation on taught and untaught structures.

We examined the relation between reading prosody and reading comprehension, using a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the strength of the relation and to understand whether the strength of the relation varies by prosody feature (adult-like contour, F0 sentence-final declination, grammatical pauses, ungrammatical pauses, prosody scale), students' developmental phase of reading skill as examined by grade level, and orthographic depth. A total of 35 studies ( = 98; = 9,349; Grades 1-9, 8 languages) met inclusion criteria. Overall a moderate relation (.51) was found between reading prosody and reading comprehension. Furthermore, the strength varied by prosody feature such that the relation was stronger for prosody rating scale than for pitch indicators such as adult-like contour and F0 sentence-final declination. However, grade and orthographic depth were not significant moderators. These results suggest that the relation between reading prosody and reading comprehension is not unitary and should consider specific aspects of reading prosody.

Many students with reading difficulties and disabilities (RD) also have Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This randomized clinical trial compared the effects of ADHD treatment alone (medication, parent training), intensive reading intervention alone, and their combination on the reading fluency and comprehension of students with both disorders. Students with ADHD and RD were randomly assigned to receive (a) Reading Intervention only (n=74), (b) ADHD Treatment only (n=78), or (c) simultaneous Combined ADHD and RD Treatment (n=70). For phonemic decoding fluency, the Reading Intervention group and the Combined Treatment group both had significantly better outcomes than the ADHD Treatment group, but did not differ from one another. For passage comprehension, the ADHD Treatment group had significantly better outcomes than the Reading Intervention group, while the other groups did not differ from one another. ADHD treatment may support passage comprehension in this population, while fluent decoding is best supported through intensive reading intervention.

Phonological representations are important for reading. In the current work, we examine the relationship between speech-perceptual memory encoding and consolidation to reading ability in skilled adult readers.

The multiple deficit model (MDM) was proposed because the prevailing single-deficit model provided an inadequate account of atypical neuropsychological development. Across methods and levels of analysis, there has been support for the two fundamental tenets of the MDM, that multiple predictors contribute probabilistically to neurodevelopmental disorders and shared risk factors contribute to comorbidity. Diagnostically, the multiplicity of factors means that no single cognitive deficit or combination of deficits can be used to rule in or out most neurodevelopmental disorders. Challenges for the MDM are that the theory is difficult to falsify and that current cross-sectional studies cannot establish causality. Prospects for further development of the MDM include incorporating an explicit focus on promotive and protective factors and pursuing mechanistic connections between multiple factors across levels of analysis.

To expand our understanding of script-general and script-specific principles in the learning of letter names, we examined how three characteristics of alphabet letters-their frequency in printed materials, order in the alphabet, and visual similarity to other letters-relate to children's letter-name knowledge in four languages with three distinct scripts (English [ = 318; age = 4.90], Portuguese [ = 366; age = 5.80], Korean [ = 168; age = 5.48], and Hebrew [ = 645; age = 5.42]). Explanatory item response modeling analysis showed that the frequency of letters in printed materials was consistently related to letter difficulty across the four languages. There were also moderation effects for letter difficulty in English and Korean, and for discriminatory power of letters in Korean. The results suggest that exposure to letters as measured by letter frequency is a language-general mechanism in the learning of alphabet letters.

According to the Multiple Deficit Model, comorbidity results when the genetic and environmental risk factors that increase the liability for a disorder are domain-general. In order to explore the role of domain-general etiological risk factors in the co-occurrence of learning-related difficulties, the current meta-analysis compiled 38 studies of third through ninth-grade children to estimate the average genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental correlations between reading and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and reading and math, as well as their potential moderators. Results revealed average genetic, shared and nonshared environmental correlations between reading and ADHD symptoms of .42, .64, and .20, and reading and math of .71, .90, and .56, suggesting that reading and math may have more domain-general risk factors than reading and ADHD symptoms. A number of significant sources of heterogeneity were also found and discussed. These results have important implications for both intervention and classification of learning disabilities.

This study examined whether strong cognitive skills (i.e. vocabulary, rapid naming, verbal working memory [VWM], and processing speed [PS]) contributed to resilience in single-word reading skills in children at risk for reading difficulties because of low phonological awareness scores (PA). Promotive factors were identified by main effects and protective factors through PA x cognition interactions. This study included 1,807 children ages 8-16. As predicted, all cognitive skills were significantly related to reading, consistent with promotive effects. A significant, but small effect PA x vocabulary interaction (R change=.002, p=.00038) was detected but its form was not consistent with a classic protective effect. Rather, the PA x vocabulary interaction was consistent with a "skill-enhancement" pattern, such that children with strong PA and vocabulary skills had better than expected reading. This study provides a framework for reading resilience research and directs attention to promotive mechanisms underlying reading success.

Reading fluency undoubtedly underlies reading competence; yet, the role of executive functions (EF) is less well understood. Here, we investigated the relationship between children's reading fluency and EF. Children's (n = 82) reading and language performance was determined by standardized assessments and EF by parental questionnaire. Results revealed that production of more miscues was explained by poorer reading and language performance and EF. Yet, self-correcting a miscue was predicted by better EF, beyond reading and language abilities. Intriguingly, EF partially mediated the relationship between reading and self-correction, suggesting that self-correction reflects parallel recruitment and coordination of domain-specific and domain-general processes.

Attention is correlated with reading, but the extent to which behavioral ratings and sustained attention relate to reading skills is unclear. We assessed 245 4 and 5 grade struggling readers (mean age = 10.3 years) on behavioral ratings of attention, sustained attention, and reading over a school year. Contributions of behavioral ratings and sustained attention were considered cross-sectionally and longitudinally in the context of other important predictors of reading. Results suggest that sustained measures and behavioral ratings assess distinct, yet overlapping, aspects of attention. Both types of attention accounted for unique variance in comprehension, but not word reading accuracy or fluency, when evaluated cross-sectionally. Results also support the role of behavioral ratings of attention in fluency and in comprehension growth. Findings suggest that multidimensional assessment of attention is useful when considering its relation to reading, and highlights the need to integrate conceptualizations of attention that arise from different theoretical approaches.

To investigate the neural basis of a common statistical learning mechanism involved in motor sequence learning and decoding, we recorded same participants' brain activation in a serial reaction time (SRT) and word reading task using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In the SRT, a manual response was made depending on the location of a visual cue, and the order of the locations was either fixed or random. In the word reading task, visual words were passively presented. Compared to less skilled readers, more skilled readers showed greater differences in activation in the inferior frontal gyrus pars triangularis (IFGpTr) and the insula between the ordered and random condition in the SRT task and greater activation in those regions in the word reading task. It suggests that extraction of statistically predictable patterns in the IFGpTr and insula contributes to both motor sequence learning and orthographic learning, and therefore predicts individual differences in decoding skill.

Reading fluency establishes the basis for the strong literacy skills needed for academic success. We aim to trace how reading fluency develops from childhood to adulthood and identify factors that influence this development.