The term "specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychologica... more The term "specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning disabilities which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, or mental retardation, or emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. (USOE, 1968, p. 34) After P.L. 94-142 was passed and federal funds became available, states were expected to identify children with LD. It quickly became apparent that states needed assistance with criteria for identification of LD, leading to publication of the Procedures for Evaluating Specific Learning Disabilities in the Federal Register (USOE, 1977). These procedures recommended that LD be defined as: a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in one or more of the areas: (1) oral expression; (2) listening comprehension; (3) written expression; (4) basic reading skill; (5) reading comprehension; (6) mathematics calculation; or (7) mathematic reasoning. The child may not be identified as having a specific learning disability if the discrepancy between ability and achievement is primarily the result of: (1) a visual, hearing, or motor handicap; (2) mental retardation; (3) emotional disturbance, or (4) environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
English language learner (EL) status has high stakes implications for determining when and how EL... more English language learner (EL) status has high stakes implications for determining when and how ELs should be evaluated for academic achievement. In the US, students designated as English learners are assessed annually for English language proficiency (ELP), a complex construct whose conceptualization has evolved in recent years to reflect more precisely the language demands of content area achievement as reflected in the standards of individual states and state language assessment consortia, such as WIDA and ELPA21. The goal of this paper was to examine the possible role for and utility of using content area assessments to validate language proficiency mastery criteria. Specifically, we applied mixture item response models to identify two classes of EL students: (1) ELs for whom English language arts and math achievement test items have similar difficulty and discrimination parameters as they do for non-ELs and (2) ELs for whom the test items function differently. We used latent cla...
This study used simulation techniques to evaluate the technical adequacy of three methods for the... more This study used simulation techniques to evaluate the technical adequacy of three methods for the identification of specific learning disabilities via patterns of strengths and weaknesses in cognitive processing. Latent and observed data were generated and the decision-making process of each method was applied to assess concordance in classification for specific learning disabilities between latent and observed levels. The results showed that all three methods had excellent specificity and negative predictive values, but low to moderate sensitivity and very low positive predictive values. Only a very small percentage of the population (1%-2%) met criteria for specific learning disabilities. In addition to substantial psychometric issues underlying these methods, general application did not improve the efficiency of the decision model, may not be cost effective because of low base rates, and may result in many children receiving instruction that is not optimally matched to their specific needs. The statutory definition of specific learning disabilities (SLD) states that the term "means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations" (U.S. Office of Education, 1968, p. 34). Advocates for a cognitive discrepancy framework to identifying SLD focus on the component of the statutory definition indicating that SLD involves psychological processes, arguing that these processes should be directly assessed (Hale et al., 2010; Reynolds & Shaywitz, 2009). Considerable evidence shows that cognitive processes are associated with different types of SLD, especially when the definition specifies an academic component skill as a primary characteristic (e.g., word recognition, reading comprehension, math calculations
The cognitive attributes of Grade 1 students who responded adequately and inadequately to a Tier ... more The cognitive attributes of Grade 1 students who responded adequately and inadequately to a Tier 2 reading intervention were evaluated. The groups included inadequate responders based on decoding and fluency criteria (n ϭ 29), only fluency criteria (n ϭ 75), adequate responders (n ϭ 85), and typically achieving students (n ϭ 69). The cognitive measures included assessments of phonological awareness, rapid letter naming, oral language skills, processing speed, vocabulary, and nonverbal problem solving. Comparisons of all four groups identified phonological awareness as the most significant contributor to group differentiation. Measures of rapid letter naming, syntactic comprehension/working memory, and vocabulary also contributed uniquely to some comparisons of adequate and inadequate responders. In a series of regression analyses designed to evaluate the contributions of responder status to cognitive skills independently of variability in reading skills, only the model for rapid letter naming achieved statistical significance, accounting for a small (1%) increment in explained variance beyond that explained by models based only on reading levels. Altogether, these results do not suggest qualitative differences among the groups, but are consistent with a continuum of severity associated with the level of reading skills across the four groups.
This study examined the effectiveness of a yearlong, researcher-provided, Tier 2 (secondary) inte... more This study examined the effectiveness of a yearlong, researcher-provided, Tier 2 (secondary) intervention with a group of sixth-graders. The intervention emphasized word recognition, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Participants scored below a proficiency level on their state accountability test and were compared to a similar group of struggling readers receiving school-provided instruction. All students received the benefits of content area teachers who participated in researcher-provided professional development designed to integrate vocabulary and comprehension practices throughout the school day (Tier 1). Students who participated in the Tier 2 intervention showed gains on measures of decoding, fluency, and comprehension, but differences relative to students in the comparison group were small (median d ϭ ϩ0.16). Students who received the researcher-provided intervention scored significantly higher than students who received comparison intervention on measures of word attack, spelling, the state accountability measure, passage comprehension, and phonemic decoding efficiency, although most often in particular subgroups.
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Neuropsychological outcome was evaluated in a prospective, longitudinal follow-up study of childr... more Neuropsychological outcome was evaluated in a prospective, longitudinal follow-up study of children age 4 months to 7 years at injury with either mild-to-moderate (N = 35) or severe (N = 44) traumatic brain injury (TBI). Age-appropriate tests were administered at baseline, 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months after the injury. Performance was compared on (1) composite IQ and motor, (2) receptive and expressive language, and (3) Verbal and Perceptual–Performance IQ scores. In comparison to mild-to-moderate TBI, severe TBI in infants and preschoolers produced deficits in all areas. Interactions between task and severity of injury were obtained. Motor scores were lower than IQ scores, particularly after severe TBI. Both receptive and expressive scores were reduced following severe TBI. Expressive language scores were lower than receptive language scores for children sustaining mild-to-moderate TBI. While severe TBI lowered both Verbal and Perceptual– Performance IQ scores, Verbal IQ scor...
This study leverages advances in multivariate cross-classified random effects models to extend th... more This study leverages advances in multivariate cross-classified random effects models to extend the Simple View of Reading to account for variation within readers and across texts, allowing for both the personalization of the reading function and the integration of the component skills and text and discourse frameworks for reading research. We illustrate the Complete View of Reading (CVR i) using data from an intensive longitudinal design study with a large sample of typical ( N = 648) and struggling readers ( N = 865) in middle school and using oral reading fluency as a proxy for comprehension. To illustrate the utility of the CVR i, we present a model with cross-classified random intercepts for students and passages and random slopes for growth, Lexile difficulty, and expository text type at the student level. We highlight differences between typical and struggling readers and differences across students in different grades. The model illustrates that readers develop differently an...
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Objectives: Long-term neurological response to treatment after a severe traumatic brain injury (s... more Objectives: Long-term neurological response to treatment after a severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) is a dynamic process. Failure to capture individual heterogeneity in recovery may impact findings from single endpoint sTBI randomized controlled trials (RCT). The present study re-examined the efficacy of erythropoietin (Epo) and transfusion thresholds through longitudinal modeling of sTBI recovery as measured by the Disability Rating Scale (DRS). This study complements the report of primary outcomes in the Epo sTBI RCT, which failed to detect significant effects of acute treatment at 6 months post-injury. Methods: We implemented mixed effects models to characterize the recovery time-course and to examine treatment efficacy as a function of time post-injury and injury severity. Results: The inter-quartile range (25th–75th percentile) of DRS scores was 20–28 at week1; 8–24 at week 4; and 3–17 at 6 months. TBI severity group was found to significantly interact with Epo randomization ...
This study reports the effectiveness of a year-long, small-group, tertiary (Tier 3) intervention ... more This study reports the effectiveness of a year-long, small-group, tertiary (Tier 3) intervention that examined 2 empirically derived but conceptually different treatments and a comparison condition. The researchers had randomly assigned all students to treatment or comparison conditions. The participants were seventh- and eighth-grade students from the previous year who received an intervention and did not meet exit criteria. The researchers assigned them to one of two treatments: standardized (n = 69) or individualized (n = 71) for 50 min a day, in group sizes of 5, for the entire school year. Comparison students received no researcher-provided intervention ( n = 42). The researchers used multigroup modeling with nested comparisons to evaluate the statistical significance of Time 3 estimates. Students in both treatments outperformed the comparison students on assessments of decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Intervention type did not moderate the pattern of effects, although stu...
Few studies have investigated specific learning disabilities (SLD) identification methods based o... more Few studies have investigated specific learning disabilities (SLD) identification methods based on the identification of patterns of processing strengths and weaknesses (PSW). We investigated the reliability of SLD identification decisions emanating from different achievement test batteries for 1 method to operationalize the PSW approach: the concordance/discordance model (C/DM; Hale & Fiorello, 2004). Two studies examined the level of agreement for SLD identification decisions between 2 different simulated, highly correlated achievement test batteries. Study 1 simulated achievement and cognitive data across a wide range of potential latent correlations between an achievement deficit, a cognitive strength and a cognitive weakness. Latent correlations permitted simulation of case-level data at specified reliabilities for cognitive abilities and 2 achievement observations. C/DM criteria were applied and resulting SLD classifications from the 2 achievement test batteries were compared ...
Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2009
The contents of this document were developed under cooperative agreement S283B050034 with the U.S... more The contents of this document were developed under cooperative agreement S283B050034 with the U.S. Department of Education. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Editorial, design, and production services provided by RMC Research Corporation.
Page 1. THE TIMING OF EARLY READING ASSESSMENT IN KINDERGARTEN Kristi L. Santi, Mary York, Barbar... more Page 1. THE TIMING OF EARLY READING ASSESSMENT IN KINDERGARTEN Kristi L. Santi, Mary York, Barbara R. Foorman, and David J. Francis Abstract. Under the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind legislation, screening for reading risk has become rou ...
There is a lack of comprehensive research on Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) feasibility to... more There is a lack of comprehensive research on Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) feasibility to study occupational stress, especially its long-term sustainability. EMA application in education contexts has also been sparse. This study investigated the feasibility of using EMA to study teacher stress over 2 years using both objective compliance data and a self-reported feasibility survey. It also examined the influence of individual and school factors on EMA feasibility. Participants were 202 sixth through eighth grade teachers from 22 urban middle schools in the southern United States. EMA was implemented via an iPod-based Teacher Stress Diary (TSD). Teachers recorded demands, stress responses, and resources during 12 days (6 waves) over 2 years. Feasibility was assessed via compliance data generated by the TSD (e.g., entry completion) and an EMA Feasibility Survey of self-reported user-friendliness and EMA interference. The results showed high compliance regarding entry and item completion, and completion time, which was sustained over time. User-friendliness was appraised as very high and EMA interference as low. Initial difficulties regarding timing and length of assessments were addressed via EMA method refinement, resulting in improved feasibility. Teachers' ethnicity, age, marital status, grade/course taught, class size, class load, and daily workload impacted feasibility. The results supported the feasibility of using EMA to study work stress longitudinally and the value of continued feasibility monitoring. They also support EMA use to study teacher stress and inform EMA implementation in schools. Some teacher and school factors need to be taken into consideration when deciding on EMA implementation in education contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record
The integration of knowledge during reading was tested in 1,109 secondary school students. Readin... more The integration of knowledge during reading was tested in 1,109 secondary school students. Reading times for the second sentence in a pair (Jane's headache went away) were compared in conditions where the first sentence was either causally or temporally related to the first sentence (Jane took an aspirin vs. Jane looked for an aspirin). Mixed-effects explanatory item response models revealed that at higher comprehension levels, sentences were read more quickly in the causal condition. There were no condition-related reading time differences at lower comprehension levels. This interaction held with comprehension-and inference-related factors (working memory, word and world knowledge, and word reading efficiency) in the models. Less skilled comprehenders have difficulty in knowledge-text integration processes that facilitate sentence processing during reading. Comprehension involves the construction of a coherent mental representation of the situation described by the text (Gernsbacher, 1997; Kintsch, 1988). These situational representations connect text with the real-world situations that the text describes and, as such, may contain information about character's motivations and goals, their spatial locations, the temporal nature of events, and physical causal relations (Zwaan, Langston, & Graesser, 1995). The conditions under which integration of knowledge during reading is more or less likely to occur has been a topic of considerable research (review in Schmalhofer, McDaniel, & Keefe, 2002). Knowledge is more likely to be integrated with text to maintain local causal coherence than to elaborate on text or make predictions
Many questions of interest in child psychiatry, psychology, and neuropsychology are questions abo... more Many questions of interest in child psychiatry, psychology, and neuropsychology are questions about change and its prediction. For instance, do children who suffer closed-head injuries at an early age recover more slowly and show greater long-term deficits than children injured at a later age? Do initial deficits in verbal or spatial functioning lead to deterioration in adaptive functioning after injury? Do characteristics of the child moderate the effectiveness of interventions for attention deficit disorder? To address such questions, researchers frequently employ longitudinal designs that lend themselves naturally to addressing questions about change and its prediction. Unfortunately, some traditional statistical models for longitudinal data are unsatisfactory for characterizing change at the individual level and for studying correlates of change. Consequently, after expending considerable effort to collect longitudinal data, researchers often fail to satisfactorily address questions about change in their analyses. The limitations of many traditional statistical models have led to increased interest in the behavioral sciences in the use of individual growth models for measuring change and examining correlates of change.
The term "specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychologica... more The term "specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning disabilities which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, or mental retardation, or emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. (USOE, 1968, p. 34) After P.L. 94-142 was passed and federal funds became available, states were expected to identify children with LD. It quickly became apparent that states needed assistance with criteria for identification of LD, leading to publication of the Procedures for Evaluating Specific Learning Disabilities in the Federal Register (USOE, 1977). These procedures recommended that LD be defined as: a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in one or more of the areas: (1) oral expression; (2) listening comprehension; (3) written expression; (4) basic reading skill; (5) reading comprehension; (6) mathematics calculation; or (7) mathematic reasoning. The child may not be identified as having a specific learning disability if the discrepancy between ability and achievement is primarily the result of: (1) a visual, hearing, or motor handicap; (2) mental retardation; (3) emotional disturbance, or (4) environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
English language learner (EL) status has high stakes implications for determining when and how EL... more English language learner (EL) status has high stakes implications for determining when and how ELs should be evaluated for academic achievement. In the US, students designated as English learners are assessed annually for English language proficiency (ELP), a complex construct whose conceptualization has evolved in recent years to reflect more precisely the language demands of content area achievement as reflected in the standards of individual states and state language assessment consortia, such as WIDA and ELPA21. The goal of this paper was to examine the possible role for and utility of using content area assessments to validate language proficiency mastery criteria. Specifically, we applied mixture item response models to identify two classes of EL students: (1) ELs for whom English language arts and math achievement test items have similar difficulty and discrimination parameters as they do for non-ELs and (2) ELs for whom the test items function differently. We used latent cla...
This study used simulation techniques to evaluate the technical adequacy of three methods for the... more This study used simulation techniques to evaluate the technical adequacy of three methods for the identification of specific learning disabilities via patterns of strengths and weaknesses in cognitive processing. Latent and observed data were generated and the decision-making process of each method was applied to assess concordance in classification for specific learning disabilities between latent and observed levels. The results showed that all three methods had excellent specificity and negative predictive values, but low to moderate sensitivity and very low positive predictive values. Only a very small percentage of the population (1%-2%) met criteria for specific learning disabilities. In addition to substantial psychometric issues underlying these methods, general application did not improve the efficiency of the decision model, may not be cost effective because of low base rates, and may result in many children receiving instruction that is not optimally matched to their specific needs. The statutory definition of specific learning disabilities (SLD) states that the term "means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations" (U.S. Office of Education, 1968, p. 34). Advocates for a cognitive discrepancy framework to identifying SLD focus on the component of the statutory definition indicating that SLD involves psychological processes, arguing that these processes should be directly assessed (Hale et al., 2010; Reynolds & Shaywitz, 2009). Considerable evidence shows that cognitive processes are associated with different types of SLD, especially when the definition specifies an academic component skill as a primary characteristic (e.g., word recognition, reading comprehension, math calculations
The cognitive attributes of Grade 1 students who responded adequately and inadequately to a Tier ... more The cognitive attributes of Grade 1 students who responded adequately and inadequately to a Tier 2 reading intervention were evaluated. The groups included inadequate responders based on decoding and fluency criteria (n ϭ 29), only fluency criteria (n ϭ 75), adequate responders (n ϭ 85), and typically achieving students (n ϭ 69). The cognitive measures included assessments of phonological awareness, rapid letter naming, oral language skills, processing speed, vocabulary, and nonverbal problem solving. Comparisons of all four groups identified phonological awareness as the most significant contributor to group differentiation. Measures of rapid letter naming, syntactic comprehension/working memory, and vocabulary also contributed uniquely to some comparisons of adequate and inadequate responders. In a series of regression analyses designed to evaluate the contributions of responder status to cognitive skills independently of variability in reading skills, only the model for rapid letter naming achieved statistical significance, accounting for a small (1%) increment in explained variance beyond that explained by models based only on reading levels. Altogether, these results do not suggest qualitative differences among the groups, but are consistent with a continuum of severity associated with the level of reading skills across the four groups.
This study examined the effectiveness of a yearlong, researcher-provided, Tier 2 (secondary) inte... more This study examined the effectiveness of a yearlong, researcher-provided, Tier 2 (secondary) intervention with a group of sixth-graders. The intervention emphasized word recognition, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Participants scored below a proficiency level on their state accountability test and were compared to a similar group of struggling readers receiving school-provided instruction. All students received the benefits of content area teachers who participated in researcher-provided professional development designed to integrate vocabulary and comprehension practices throughout the school day (Tier 1). Students who participated in the Tier 2 intervention showed gains on measures of decoding, fluency, and comprehension, but differences relative to students in the comparison group were small (median d ϭ ϩ0.16). Students who received the researcher-provided intervention scored significantly higher than students who received comparison intervention on measures of word attack, spelling, the state accountability measure, passage comprehension, and phonemic decoding efficiency, although most often in particular subgroups.
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Neuropsychological outcome was evaluated in a prospective, longitudinal follow-up study of childr... more Neuropsychological outcome was evaluated in a prospective, longitudinal follow-up study of children age 4 months to 7 years at injury with either mild-to-moderate (N = 35) or severe (N = 44) traumatic brain injury (TBI). Age-appropriate tests were administered at baseline, 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months after the injury. Performance was compared on (1) composite IQ and motor, (2) receptive and expressive language, and (3) Verbal and Perceptual–Performance IQ scores. In comparison to mild-to-moderate TBI, severe TBI in infants and preschoolers produced deficits in all areas. Interactions between task and severity of injury were obtained. Motor scores were lower than IQ scores, particularly after severe TBI. Both receptive and expressive scores were reduced following severe TBI. Expressive language scores were lower than receptive language scores for children sustaining mild-to-moderate TBI. While severe TBI lowered both Verbal and Perceptual– Performance IQ scores, Verbal IQ scor...
This study leverages advances in multivariate cross-classified random effects models to extend th... more This study leverages advances in multivariate cross-classified random effects models to extend the Simple View of Reading to account for variation within readers and across texts, allowing for both the personalization of the reading function and the integration of the component skills and text and discourse frameworks for reading research. We illustrate the Complete View of Reading (CVR i) using data from an intensive longitudinal design study with a large sample of typical ( N = 648) and struggling readers ( N = 865) in middle school and using oral reading fluency as a proxy for comprehension. To illustrate the utility of the CVR i, we present a model with cross-classified random intercepts for students and passages and random slopes for growth, Lexile difficulty, and expository text type at the student level. We highlight differences between typical and struggling readers and differences across students in different grades. The model illustrates that readers develop differently an...
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Objectives: Long-term neurological response to treatment after a severe traumatic brain injury (s... more Objectives: Long-term neurological response to treatment after a severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) is a dynamic process. Failure to capture individual heterogeneity in recovery may impact findings from single endpoint sTBI randomized controlled trials (RCT). The present study re-examined the efficacy of erythropoietin (Epo) and transfusion thresholds through longitudinal modeling of sTBI recovery as measured by the Disability Rating Scale (DRS). This study complements the report of primary outcomes in the Epo sTBI RCT, which failed to detect significant effects of acute treatment at 6 months post-injury. Methods: We implemented mixed effects models to characterize the recovery time-course and to examine treatment efficacy as a function of time post-injury and injury severity. Results: The inter-quartile range (25th–75th percentile) of DRS scores was 20–28 at week1; 8–24 at week 4; and 3–17 at 6 months. TBI severity group was found to significantly interact with Epo randomization ...
This study reports the effectiveness of a year-long, small-group, tertiary (Tier 3) intervention ... more This study reports the effectiveness of a year-long, small-group, tertiary (Tier 3) intervention that examined 2 empirically derived but conceptually different treatments and a comparison condition. The researchers had randomly assigned all students to treatment or comparison conditions. The participants were seventh- and eighth-grade students from the previous year who received an intervention and did not meet exit criteria. The researchers assigned them to one of two treatments: standardized (n = 69) or individualized (n = 71) for 50 min a day, in group sizes of 5, for the entire school year. Comparison students received no researcher-provided intervention ( n = 42). The researchers used multigroup modeling with nested comparisons to evaluate the statistical significance of Time 3 estimates. Students in both treatments outperformed the comparison students on assessments of decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Intervention type did not moderate the pattern of effects, although stu...
Few studies have investigated specific learning disabilities (SLD) identification methods based o... more Few studies have investigated specific learning disabilities (SLD) identification methods based on the identification of patterns of processing strengths and weaknesses (PSW). We investigated the reliability of SLD identification decisions emanating from different achievement test batteries for 1 method to operationalize the PSW approach: the concordance/discordance model (C/DM; Hale & Fiorello, 2004). Two studies examined the level of agreement for SLD identification decisions between 2 different simulated, highly correlated achievement test batteries. Study 1 simulated achievement and cognitive data across a wide range of potential latent correlations between an achievement deficit, a cognitive strength and a cognitive weakness. Latent correlations permitted simulation of case-level data at specified reliabilities for cognitive abilities and 2 achievement observations. C/DM criteria were applied and resulting SLD classifications from the 2 achievement test batteries were compared ...
Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2009
The contents of this document were developed under cooperative agreement S283B050034 with the U.S... more The contents of this document were developed under cooperative agreement S283B050034 with the U.S. Department of Education. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Editorial, design, and production services provided by RMC Research Corporation.
Page 1. THE TIMING OF EARLY READING ASSESSMENT IN KINDERGARTEN Kristi L. Santi, Mary York, Barbar... more Page 1. THE TIMING OF EARLY READING ASSESSMENT IN KINDERGARTEN Kristi L. Santi, Mary York, Barbara R. Foorman, and David J. Francis Abstract. Under the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind legislation, screening for reading risk has become rou ...
There is a lack of comprehensive research on Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) feasibility to... more There is a lack of comprehensive research on Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) feasibility to study occupational stress, especially its long-term sustainability. EMA application in education contexts has also been sparse. This study investigated the feasibility of using EMA to study teacher stress over 2 years using both objective compliance data and a self-reported feasibility survey. It also examined the influence of individual and school factors on EMA feasibility. Participants were 202 sixth through eighth grade teachers from 22 urban middle schools in the southern United States. EMA was implemented via an iPod-based Teacher Stress Diary (TSD). Teachers recorded demands, stress responses, and resources during 12 days (6 waves) over 2 years. Feasibility was assessed via compliance data generated by the TSD (e.g., entry completion) and an EMA Feasibility Survey of self-reported user-friendliness and EMA interference. The results showed high compliance regarding entry and item completion, and completion time, which was sustained over time. User-friendliness was appraised as very high and EMA interference as low. Initial difficulties regarding timing and length of assessments were addressed via EMA method refinement, resulting in improved feasibility. Teachers' ethnicity, age, marital status, grade/course taught, class size, class load, and daily workload impacted feasibility. The results supported the feasibility of using EMA to study work stress longitudinally and the value of continued feasibility monitoring. They also support EMA use to study teacher stress and inform EMA implementation in schools. Some teacher and school factors need to be taken into consideration when deciding on EMA implementation in education contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record
The integration of knowledge during reading was tested in 1,109 secondary school students. Readin... more The integration of knowledge during reading was tested in 1,109 secondary school students. Reading times for the second sentence in a pair (Jane's headache went away) were compared in conditions where the first sentence was either causally or temporally related to the first sentence (Jane took an aspirin vs. Jane looked for an aspirin). Mixed-effects explanatory item response models revealed that at higher comprehension levels, sentences were read more quickly in the causal condition. There were no condition-related reading time differences at lower comprehension levels. This interaction held with comprehension-and inference-related factors (working memory, word and world knowledge, and word reading efficiency) in the models. Less skilled comprehenders have difficulty in knowledge-text integration processes that facilitate sentence processing during reading. Comprehension involves the construction of a coherent mental representation of the situation described by the text (Gernsbacher, 1997; Kintsch, 1988). These situational representations connect text with the real-world situations that the text describes and, as such, may contain information about character's motivations and goals, their spatial locations, the temporal nature of events, and physical causal relations (Zwaan, Langston, & Graesser, 1995). The conditions under which integration of knowledge during reading is more or less likely to occur has been a topic of considerable research (review in Schmalhofer, McDaniel, & Keefe, 2002). Knowledge is more likely to be integrated with text to maintain local causal coherence than to elaborate on text or make predictions
Many questions of interest in child psychiatry, psychology, and neuropsychology are questions abo... more Many questions of interest in child psychiatry, psychology, and neuropsychology are questions about change and its prediction. For instance, do children who suffer closed-head injuries at an early age recover more slowly and show greater long-term deficits than children injured at a later age? Do initial deficits in verbal or spatial functioning lead to deterioration in adaptive functioning after injury? Do characteristics of the child moderate the effectiveness of interventions for attention deficit disorder? To address such questions, researchers frequently employ longitudinal designs that lend themselves naturally to addressing questions about change and its prediction. Unfortunately, some traditional statistical models for longitudinal data are unsatisfactory for characterizing change at the individual level and for studying correlates of change. Consequently, after expending considerable effort to collect longitudinal data, researchers often fail to satisfactorily address questions about change in their analyses. The limitations of many traditional statistical models have led to increased interest in the behavioral sciences in the use of individual growth models for measuring change and examining correlates of change.
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