Developmental Changes in LD Readers' Encoding Preferences

1987 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-174
Author(s):  
H. Lee Swanson
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Strategy Training ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Ability Group ◽  
Retrieval Processes ◽  
Ability Groups ◽  
Disabled Readers ◽  
Independent Effects

The present study addressed the question, “Do encoding preferences underlie disabled readers' recall deficiencies and, if so, what cognitive mechanisms influence these preferences?” The free recall of learning disabled readers, ages 8 and 10, was compared with that of nondisabled readers during directive and nondirective encoding conditions. The former training condition was implemented to assess the independent effects of semantic and nonsemantic encoding. Both ability groups were found to recall more semantically than nonsemantically organized items. Age and ability group differences emerged in recall, but not in retrieval organization. During the nondirective phase readers' encoding preference for categorically organized and unrelated items was assessed. Although no ability group differences emerged, disabled readers preferred to encode categorically organized items nonsemantically whereas nondisabled readers organized items by semantic features. Results, discussed in terms of mismatch between encoding and retrieval processes, semantic cohesiveness of item retrieval, and children's word knowledge base, question the popular notion that strategy training eliminates processing differences between ability groups.

Strategy Transformation in Learning Disabled and Nondisabled Students

1985 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Lee Swanson ◽  
John B. Cooney
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Disabled Children ◽  
Simple Arithmetic ◽  
Ability Group ◽  
Alternative Method ◽  
Strategy Transformation ◽  
Arithmetic Computation

In the present study we assessed whether learning disabled and non-disabled children differ in their ability to make strategy transformations. Seven types of strategy transformations were presented on simple arithmetic computation tasks. Nondisabled children were found to be superior in performance on all transformations. Significant ability-group differences emerged on (a) reduction to answer, (b) saving partial results, (c) unit building, and (d) alternative method transformations. Results of strategy-awareness measures suggested that the locus of experimental effects was related to accessing and applying strategy transformations. Three implications of the findings are discussed.

Early Spelling Acquisition: Does Writing Really Beat the Computer?

1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Vaughn ◽  
Jeanne Shay Schumm ◽  
Jane Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Primary Grade ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Spelling Acquisition ◽  
Instructional Activity ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Based Instruction

This research evaluated the efficacy of handwriting, letter tiles, and computer-based instruction on the early spelling acquisition of normal achieving (NLD) and learning disabled (LD) elementary students. The study replicated and extended the Cunningham and Stanovich (1990) study. Forty-eight primary-grade students (24 non-learning disabled; 24 learning disabled) received spelling training under three experimental conditions that involved different types of instructional activity: writing, sorting letter tiles, or typing on the computer. Results indicated no significant differences between the LD and NLD groups on words spelled correctly for any of the three conditions. Since the number of spelling words learned was low across conditions and groups, the number of correctly learned bigrams was examined. No within-group differences emerged for condition (writing, tile, computer); however, significant differences between the groups were found on number of bigrams learned for writing, tile, and computer, with the NLD group outperforming the LD group on all three conditions. Statistically significant time effects for bigrams were also noted for all three conditions. Unlike the Cunningham and Stanovich (1990) study, results did not replicate the superiority of the handwriting condition for the NLD group, nor was the handwriting condition found to be significantly more effective for the LD group.

A Hierarchy of “Confusable” High-Frequency Words in Isolation and Context

1981 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica K. Krieger
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Sight Words ◽  
Spearman Rank Correlation ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Isolated Word ◽  
Disabled Readers ◽  
Target Words ◽  
High Frequency Words

This study assessed the degree to which disabled readers commonly and identically confuse high-frequency sight words in isolation and context. Disabled readers from a university reading clinic and from fourth-grade classrooms were tested for their ability to recognize 22 target words in word lists and in a story. Series of analyses of variance indicated that both groups recognized more words in context than in isolation, and that the clinic and natural school groups did not differ in the number of errors produced in isolation or in context. A Spearman rank-correlation coefficient yielded a very low, statistically significant correlation between the number of errors in isolation and context for the 22 target words. Hierarchical arrangements of words confused in both conditions and words frequently confused in isolation, but rarely in context, are presented. Inspection of these errors suggests that readers relied on visual characteristics of words for isolated word recognition, whereas errors on these words in context were generally regulated by semantic and syntactic constraints of the story. Findings are discussed in terms of diagnosis and instruction through the use of context materials. Suggestions are given for futher research with learning disabled students in natural school settings to identify specific reversal problems with high-frequency words.

Children's Ability to Write Stories as a Function of Variation in Task, Age, and Developmental Level

1987 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edna Barenbaum ◽  
Phyllis Newcomer ◽  
Barbara Nodine
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Low Achievers ◽  
Developmental Level ◽  
Action Sequence ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Learning Capacity ◽  
Ability Groups ◽  
Written Compositions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Continuum

In this study of children's ability to write stories, written compositions were classified by means of a system consisting of the following categories: story, primitive story, action sequence, descriptive, and expressive. Three groups of children served as subjects: learning disabled, low achievers, and normal achievers in grades 3, 5 and 7. Findings permit conclusions pertaining to (a) the performance of the three ability groups; (b) the relationship between age / grade and writing ability; (c) the continuum of composition categories used; (d) composition consistency; and (e) effect of task on performance. Specifically, the percentages of the various composition categories varied according to subjects' age and learning capacity. Also, the structure of the writing tasks and the length of compositions produced by the subjects were found to relate to story category.

Comparison of the WISC-R Patterns of Children of Average and Exceptional Ability

1983 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. P. J. Schmidt ◽  
D. H. Saklofske
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Retarded ◽  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Disabled Children ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Exceptional Groups ◽  
Diagnostic Usefulness ◽  
Verbal Performance

This study investigated the diagnostic usefulness of WISC-R Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancies, subtest scatter, and Bannatyne's subtest recategorizations with educationally normal and exceptional groups of children. The subjects for this study were four groups of 74 learning disabled, 24 mentally retarded, 94 gifted, and 85 educationally normal children. No significant differences in discrepancies in Verbal-Performance IQs occurred among the four groups although learning disabled children more often showed Performance > Verbal discrepancies. No differences were found between the samples in the amount of subtest scatter. Group differences were noted in the patterns of scores on Bannatyne's recategorizations.

Construct Validity and Psychometric Properties of the Cornell Critical Thinking Test (Level Z): A Contrasted Groups Analysis

1992 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 291-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig L. Frisby
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Internal Consistency Reliability ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Ability Group ◽  
Total N ◽  
Ability Groups ◽  
Test Level

Total scores and section scores (both corrected and uncorrected for guessing) on the Cornell Critical Thinking Test—Level Z were analyzed for evidence of construct validity. The test performance of three ability groupings of college students and a “no-booklet” (guessers) group (Total N = 527) was examined. Statistically significant differences were found among the corrected total score means for all four groups. Differences among the means of the three ability groups were statistically significant on one corrected and one uncorrected section of the test. In addition, the formula which corrects for guessing substantially improved the estimate of internal consistency reliability for the low-ability group only. Support for the heterogeneity of the thinking skills measured by Form Z was mixed and inconclusive. Implications for the use or modification of the test are discussed.

Strategy Training: A Need for Clarification

1987 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie U. deBettencourt
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Training Needs ◽  
Strategy Training ◽  
Disabled Children ◽  
Disabled Students ◽  
Training Interventions ◽  
Precise Understanding

On the basis of research in the field of learning disabilities it has been concluded that many learning disabled students can be characterized as strategy-deficient, inactive learners. However, a precise understanding of strategy training procedures is frequently obscured by researchers. The term “strategy training” needs to be defined more clearly so that the approaches are understood more universally. In this article I discuss the rationale for strategy training interventions with learning disabled children, describe three approaches that are currently being studied in the field, and discuss the issues that arise.

Ability Grouping in the Early Grades: Long-Term Consequences for Educational Equity in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-50
Author(s):  
Anthony Buttaro ◽  
Sophia Catsambis
Keyword(s):  
Test Scores ◽  
Ability Grouping ◽  
Educational Equity ◽  
Eighth Grade ◽  
High Ability ◽  
Ability Group ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Early Grades ◽  
Ability Groups ◽  
Educational Paths

Background Ability grouping has resurged in U.S. schools despite long-standing debates over its consequences for educational equity. Proponents argue that it is the best response to variation in academic skills because it allows teachers to customize the content and pace of instruction to students’ diverse needs. Critics answer that this practice places students in divergent educational paths that reproduce educational and social inequalities. Despite the contested nature of ability grouping, research has yet to produce reliable longitudinal evidence to evaluate critics’ claims. Objective We examine the degree to which exposure to within-class grouping for reading instruction from kindergarten to third grade is predictive of students’ reading test scores and English coursework in the middle grades. Research Design We use multilevel achievement growth models predicting average reading achievement from kindergarten to eighth grade as a function of years of exposure in low, average, or high ability groups in kindergarten through third grade and control variables relevant to each grade. We evaluate the achievement differences between students who are grouped in these ability groups for one or more years and those who were never ability grouped. We use multinomial logistic regression models to estimate the degree to which number of years in each ability group in K–3 grades predicts placements in eighth-grade English classes (below grade or honors, as opposed to regular English classes). Data We use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS–K), a national panel study of the 1998 U.S. kindergarten cohort sponsored by National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Our sample consists of 7,800 students with data for fall of kindergarten, and spring of kindergarten and first, third, fifth, and eighth grades. Findings Compared with similar students who were ungrouped in the early grades, those in high-ability reading groups have higher test scores, whereas those in low-ability groups have lower test scores in every grade from kindergarten to the eighth grade. In addition, compared with their ungrouped counterparts, students in low-ability groups in the early grades are more likely to enroll in eighth grade English classes that are below grade level, whereas those in high-ability groups in these grades are more likely to enroll in honors eighth-grade English classes. Achievement gaps between previously grouped and ungrouped students increase with every additional year of exposure to ability grouping. Conclusions Students’ ability group placements in the early grades evolve into divergent educational paths that grow further apart with multiple years of grouping. These findings provide the first longitudinal evidence linking ability grouping to the reproduction of educational inequalities.

Does the Organization of Instruction Differ in Charter Schools? Ability Grouping and Students’ Mathematics Gains

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Mark Berends ◽  
Kristi Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Mathematics Achievement ◽  
Ability Grouping ◽  
Market Theory ◽  
Ability Group ◽  
Achievement Gains ◽  
Traditional Public Schools ◽  
Ability Groups ◽  
Group Placement

Background Although we have learned a good deal from lottery-based and quasi-experimental studies of charter schools, much of what goes on inside of charter schools remains a “black box” to be unpacked. Grounding our work in neoclassical market theory and institutional theory, we examine differences in the social organization of schools and classrooms to enrich our understanding of school choice, school organizational and instructional conditions, and student learning. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Our study examines differences in students’ mathematics achievement gains between charter and traditional public schools, focusing on the distribution and organization of students into ability groups. In short, we ask: (1) How does the distribution of ability grouping differ between charter and traditional public schools? And (2) What are the relationships between ability group placement and students’ mathematics achievement gains in charter and traditional public schools? Research Design With a matched sample of charter and traditional public schools in six states (Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio), we use regression analyses to estimate the relationship between student achievement gains and school sector. We analyze how ability grouping mediates this main effect, controlling for various student, classroom, and school characteristics. Findings We find significant differences in the distribution of students across ability groups, with a more even distribution in charter compared to traditional public schools, which appear to have more selective placements for high groups. Consistent with prior research on tracking, we also find low-grouped students to be at a significant disadvantage when compared with high- and mixed-group peers in both sectors. Conclusions Although we find some significant differences between ability group placement and student achievement gains in mathematics, these relationships do not differ as much by sector as market theory (with its emphasis on innovation and autonomy) would predict. Consistent with institutional theory, both sectors still group students by ability and have similar relationships between gains and grouping.

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