Tracking children who fly below the radar: Latent transition modeling of students with late-emerging reading disability

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine (1) the stability of latent classes associated with reading disability (RD) and typical development (TD) across time, (2) the importance of speeded word recognition as a latent class indicator of RD and TD, and (3) possible early indicators of students with late-emerging RD. Analyses were based on a longitudinal sample of 177 students, some of whom had been assigned randomly to small-group tutoring in either fall or spring of 1st grade. At the end of 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades, students were assessed on word identification, sight word efficiency (SWE), and passage comprehension. Latent transition analysis models were developed to examine classification transitions from 1st to 4th grade and 2nd to 4th grade. Results indicated that RD/TD classification was relatively stable across time, however 5 students were consistently identified as having late-emerging RD. Findings indicated that SWE measured in 2nd grade reduced the number of false negatives for RD and was therefore important for the classification of RD. Finally, although students with late-emerging RD had poorer listening comprehension skill at the start of 1st grade and smaller word reading fluency slopes during 1st grade compared to TD children, these indicators did not reliably distinguish students with late-emerging RD from TD due to high rates of false positives.

Section snippets

Participants

Analyses are based on 177 children from the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD; D. Fuchs, Reschly, Deshler, Fuchs, Compton, & Mellard, 2001) longitudinal sample on whom we had complete data from first through fourth grades. Participants were selected from 42 first-grade classrooms in 16 schools (8 Title I, 8 non-Title I) from two school districts (1 urban, 1 suburban) in Tennessee during the fall. All students who returned consent (n = 783, 90% of sample) were screened on

Results

The data for this study consisted of indicator variables assessed in the fall of first grade, WIF growth during first grade, and measures of reading outcomes (i.e., word reading accuracy, word reading efficiency, and reading comprehension) assessed at the end of first, second, and fourth grades. Table 2 presents means and SDs for fall of first-grade indicator variables; reading growth during first grade; and means, SDs, and percentage of children scoring below a cut-off score of 85 on the

Discussion

We employed latent transition analysis (LTA) to examine the stability of latent classes associated with RD and TD children across time (grades 1–4), to evaluate the importance of using speeded word recognition as a latent class indicator for RD and TD, and explore potential early (i.e., first grade) indicators of children who exhibit late-emerging RD. In general, results indicate that RD and TD latent classes are fairly stable across time, with only five children transitioning from the TD to RD

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    This research was supported in part by Grant #H324U010004 from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs and Core Grant #HD15052 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Vanderbilt University. Statements do not reflect the position or policy of these agencies, and no official endorsement by them should be inferred.

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