Research Summaries

Validating Craft Knowledge : An Empirical Examination of Elementary-Grade Students’ Performance on an Informal Reading Assessment; Morris et al. (in press)

Research Question: What is the strongest predictor of reading rate? What is the average end of grade scores on IRI measures?

Methods: There were 274 students in 8 elementary schools in Western North Carolina in this study. These students were followed for four years. The students were divided into two cohorts; cohort A and cohort B. Cohort A evaluated 137 randomly chosen second graders and cohort B evaluated 137 randomly chosen third graders. Students were evaluated using components of the IRI reading assessment. This includes a flash word recognition test, timed reading passages both orally and silently and a spelling test.

Findings: The results of the study indicated the best predictor of reading rate from second to fifth grade was the flash word recognition test. The findings were slightly different at sixth grade. Sixth graders flash word recognition was equal to reading accuracy.  The study showed an increase in reading rate in second to fourth grade however the fifth and sixth grade students reading rates were the same 128 words per minute. This was true for both oral and silent reading passages. It is proposed this “stall” in rate is due to the reading content required of fourth through sixth graders. At these levels the reading content increases in difficulty.

Instructional Implications: Reading rate is an important factor in determining the instructional reading level of a child. Teachers have not focused on this aspect of the reading assessment yet it is a critical component.  When a student’s reading rate is equal to the instructional level of the reading passages this indicates the student is gaining automaticity in their reading. When students become more automatic in their reading at lower grade levels it will give them an instructional advantage when they are presented with a more complex reading content in the fourth through sixth grade.

The Inconsistency Effect by Reading Skill

Dr. Long and Dr. Chong studied how college readers monitor their comprehension when reading passages with global and local conditions; some of the passages had inconsistent information.  The local condition reading passages had  three sentences between the character description and the target action. The global reading passages had six sentences between the character description and the target action. The college students were skilled and unskilled readers. The reading times were measured to see if it took a reader longer to read the passage with inconsistent information both in a global conditions and a local condition.  The times of the skilled and unskilled readers were compared. The study found that skilled readers do take longer to read passages with inconsistencies in both the global and local reading condition. The unskilled readers had a longer reader time when reading passages in the local condition; however, there reading times were equal in the global condition reading passages. This indicates skilled readers are monitoring their comprehension while they are reading. The unskilled readers are only able to monitor their comprehension when there is less information between the character description and the target action.

The Mnemonic Power of Print

Rosenthal, J. & Ehri, L. (2008). The mnemonic value of orthography for learning vocabulary. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 1, 175-191.

Question: What are the effects of word spellings for vocabulary learning?

Methods: Low-frequency nouns were taught to 2^nd and 5^th graders. Students practiced word pronunciations and meanings several trials. During the initial study trial, the words were introduced. The next set of trials tested students’ ability to recall the words. After each recall attempt, correct responses were provided. Meanings of words were taught through pictures, definitions, and multiple sentences containing the words and these were used to give students a clearer understanding of word meanings and use. Trials continued until students reached maximum number of trials. During the treatment condition of the study the spelling of the words accompanied the pronunciations and definitions. During the control students did not receive spellings, only pictures, pronunciations and definitions.

Findings:  This study showed the second graders found it easier to remember the meanings of words than they remember pronunciations. Recall of word pronunciations improved when spelling accompanied the pronunciation and definitions

Instructional Implications:  Students should be exposed to rich vocabulary through books. When we discuss new words from the books we read it is important not only to discuss the words but to also accompany this discussion with the written form of the word.  The use of a word wall or word chart would be an excellent resource in the classroom.  This will help student amalgamate the word into their memory.

Daneman and Carpenter

Daneman, M. & Carpenter,P.(1980).Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 19, 450-466.

Research Question: What is the relationship between working memory and reading comprehension?

Methods: Twenty undergraduates were given three tests; a reading span test to measure their working memory span, a traditional word span test and a reading comprehension test that asked questions about facts and pronominal references.  The reading comprehension test consisted of twelve narrative passages of 140 words. After reading each passage the subjects were asked two questions: First,  A question about the referent of a pronoun mentioned in the last sentence and  Second, A question about a fact in the passage. These pronouns always occurred in the last sentence of the paragraph. The distance of the pronoun and its antecedent noun was varied across passage; from two, three, four, five, six or seven sentences prior to the final pronoun sentence.

Findings: There was a significant correlation between the reading span test and the global assessment reading test. The word span test showed no significant correlation.  The main effects showed subjects tended to be better when the passages had a shorter distance between pronouns and antecedent referents.  The most significant finding was the interaction effect between reading span and distance. Readers had difficulty when the span increased beyond 2-3 sentences. Readers were more apt to make errors when distance increased beyond a span of four sentences.   This study indicates that reading span is related to working memory.

Instructional Implications: Students with low working memory recall less. These students will struggle with comprehension of text they read. Students need to acquire strong word recognition skills. Word recognition needs to become an automatic process for low readers.

Cassar & Treiman

Cassar, M. & Treiman,R.(1997). The beginning of orthographic knowledge: Children’s knowledge of double letters in word. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 4, 631-644.

• Research question:  What age does acquisition occur for the  orthographic  and phonological rules  of doublets in English  ?
• Methods: The independent variables are the words presented by orthographic convention and the grade level of the subjects, k-college undergraduates. The dependant variable is the accuracy of student responses.The students were tested on their knowledge of phonological environment, position and identity of doubled consonants.  The students were shown sixteen pairs of  nonwords while hearing their pronunciation. One of the non words contained a single medial consonant and the other contained a double medial consonant. The students were asked to circle the nonword whose spelling look like the best spelling for that word based on what they heard.    They were also tested on 20 nonword pairs to test knowledge of position and identity of double consonants. One nonword in the pair contained a final doublet and the other contained and initial doublet. The nonwords used to test identity of  doublets used consonants that never double in English. The students were asked to circle the nonword of the pair that looked more like a word.
• Findings: The results gave a developmental picture of acquisition as early as kindergarten in the orthographic test with a mean percentage correct of 72.1 %. This indicates kindergarten students have an understanding of the orthographic relationship of doublets in words. The phonological results indicated the understanding of the relationship between short vowel and doublet is not evident until   second grade. The question becomes, is there a correlation between orthographic knowledge and exposure to print?  Stanovich and Cunningham answered this question by conducting a study in which this was a variable. This study involved 26 middle-class first grade students. These students were given a TRT test  to measure the literacy environment in their home and the SAT word reading and spelling test. The study confirms that exposure to print has a 40% correlation to orthographic knowledge of young readers.
• Instructional Implications: The implications of this study show that exposure to print increases students orthographic aquisition of doublets as early as kindergarten.  Second graders have knowledge of doublets and phonemes that come before the doublets. Stanovich and Cunningham confirm the importance of  exposure to print at student’s independent reading levels in elementary  classrooms.

Perfetti & Hogaboam

Perfetti,C. & Hogaboam, T. (1975). Relationship between single word decoding and reading comprehension skill. Journal of Educationa Psychology,67,4,461-469.

• Research Question: How do skilled and less skilled comprehenders compare on decoding of words for which they know the meaning and how do they compare on the decoding of words for which they do not know the meaning?
• Methods:The independant variables in the study were the skilled and unskilled readers, the use of high, low and pseudowords and different grade levels; third and fifth graders. The dependent variable in the study is the vocalization time of the readers. Words were projected  on slides using a projector with a shutter that had  a digital timer. The timer stopped when the reader initiated a response. Students were asked to move as quickly as they could but also were asked to try to be certain of their answer before they spoke. Following the presentation of the slides, students were then given a multiple choice vocabulary test of words in the slides. This gave information on student word knowledge.
• Findings: Skilled readers in both third and fifth grade had  faster word recognition times than the unskilled readers. There was little difference in skilled and unskilled readers as far as the recognition time of high frequency words. This is most likely due to the fact that unskilled readers are relying on the memorization of these high frequency words. There was a significant  difference in the recognition time  of low and pseudowords; the skilled readers could recognize these words faster than the unskilled readers.
• Instructional Implications: There is a strong relationship between decoding and reading comprehension.  The skilled readers did well on both low frequency and pseudowords giving them an advantage over the unskilled readers. This difference indicates decoding skills are an important asset during reading. Students decoding skills need to become an automatic process in order to free up processing for comprehension.