Project Activities
The project will use a longitudinal design to collect data on the reading skills of students identified with or at risk for SLD. The researchers will identify all students at risk for SLD through universal screening, monitor their progress for 1 year, and monitor progress for a subsample of students referred for evaluation and identified with SLD by their school for an additional year. They will also collect data related to instruction and the SLD identification process. They will examine how student characteristics, instructional practices, and identification processes relate to SLD identification and student academic outcomes.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The research will take place in 30 elementary schools in Florida, Missouri, and Texas with a focus on diversity in geography, demographics, and SLD identification frameworks among the schools.
Sample
Approximately 900 third- and fourth-grade students at significant risk for SLD, identified through a standardized screening measure, and their teachers and school administrators will participate in this research.
Factors
Factors of interest in this exploration study are student reading skills and cognition, classroom instructional practices, and school SLD identification processes.
Research design and methods
Researchers will use a two-cohort, non-overlapping longitudinal design for data collection over 2 years for participating students, educators, and schools. For the first research aim, researchers will identify all students at risk for SLD through universal screening, monitor their progress for 1 year, and administer a core reading assessment battery. General education teachers will provide information on the interventions in which the students participate (i.e., intervention focus, dosage) and schools will provide information on SLD identification processes. For the second research aim, researchers will monitor the progress of a subsample of students referred for evaluation and identified with SLD by their school for an additional year and administer a cognitive assessment battery. Special education teachers will provide information on intervention practices and schools will provide updated information on SLD identification processes. The researchers will use these data to examine how student characteristics, instructional practices, and identification processes relate to SLD identification and student academic outcomes.
Control condition
Due to the nature of the research design, there is no control condition.
Key measures
Student reading skills (decoding, fluency, and comprehension) and cognition will be measured using the Woodcock-Johnson assessment batteries. Instructional practices will be measured using a researcher-developed survey of instructional practices, Effective Teacher Practices Survey, and classroom observations using the Instructional Content Emphasis Instrument-Revised. Information on SLD identification processes will be collected from schools through surveys and review of school-based assessment data. The Gates MacGinitie Reading Test will be used to identify students as eligible (significant risk for SLD).
Data analytic strategy
For the first research aim, the researchers will use multilevel logistic regression to create a baseline predictive model of SLD identification and then augment that model with instructional and identification method covariates to identify moderators of the identification process. For the second aim, they will model academic growth with linear growth curves, establishing a baseline model that identifies which student characteristics predict the growth and then developing models to examine instructional practices and SLD identification processes as moderators of growth.
Cost analysis strategy
The researchers will monitor costs associated with assessment activities through monthly tracking forms and estimate relevant activity costs across multiple units (such as per student and per school) using descriptive statistics.
Products and publications
Products: The project will result in an understanding of how student characteristics, instructional practices, and SLD identification processes are related to SLD identification and academic outcomes for these students. Products will also include access to the final dataset, peer-reviewed publications and presentations, and additional dissemination products that reach education stakeholders, including the provision of reports and assessment data to participating schools to help with decision making.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Supplemental information
Co-Principal Investigators: Burns, Matthew; Maki, Kathrin; Taylor, W. Pat
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.