Research on the question of creative benefit accompanying dyslexia has produced conflicting findings. In this meta-analysis, we determined summary effects of mean and variance differences in creativity between groups with and without dyslexia. Twenty studies were included (n = 770 individuals with dyslexia, n = 1,671 controls). A random-effects…

Most students with reading difficulties struggle to read words. We examined intervention effects for students with "significant" word reading difficulties (SWRD; standard score of 80 on at least one pretest measure of word reading), which includes individuals with or at risk for dyslexia. We investigated: (a) What are the effects of…

Text-to-speech and related read-aloud tools are being widely implemented in an attempt to assist students' reading comprehension skills. Read-aloud software, including text-to-speech, is used to translate written text into spoken text, enabling one to listen to written text while reading along. It is not clear how effective text-to-speech is at…

Despite concerted efforts to improve the reading skills of English language learners (ELLs), it remains unclear if the interventions they have been receiving produce any positive results. Thus, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine how effective reading interventions are in improving ELLs' reading skills and what factors may influence…

Researchers have increasingly investigated sources of variance in reading comprehension test scores, particularly with students with reading difficulties (RD). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine if the achievement gap between students with RD and typically developing (TD) students varies as a function of different reading…

The purpose of this research was to systematically review the effects of repeated reading (RR) interventions on reading fluency to provide instructional strategies for students with reading disabilities (RD). Correct words per minute were coded as an outcome variable in a search that yielded 34 RR intervention studies from 1990 to 2014 for…

Children with learning difficulties suffer from working memory (WM) deficits. Yet the specificity of deficits associated with different types of learning difficulties remains unclear. Further research can contribute to our understanding of the nature of WM and the relationship between it and learning difficulties. The current meta-analysis…

When classifying the evidence base of practices, special education scholars typically appraise study quality to identify and exclude from consideration in their reviews unacceptable-quality studies that are likely biased and might bias review findings if included. However, study quality appraisals used in the process of identifying evidence-based…

The current study employed a meta-analytic approach to investigate the relative importance of component reading skills to reading comprehension in struggling adult readers. A total of 10 component skills were consistently identified across 16 independent studies and 2,707 participants. Random effects models generated 76 predictor-reading…

In this article the authors report a meta-analysis that examines the association between internalizing problems (anxiety and depressive symptoms) and learning disabilities (LD) in adults. Two hypotheses about the relationship between internalizing problems and LD in adults are posited and tested: the abeyance hypothesis (internalizing problems…

Much is known about short-term--but very little about the long-term--effects of reading interventions. To rectify this, a detailed analysis of follow-up effects as a function of intervention, sample, and methodological variables was conducted. A total of 71 intervention-control groups were selected (N = 8,161 at posttest) from studies reporting…

This meta-analysis synthesizes the literature on interventions for struggling readers in Grades 4 through 12 published between 1980 and 2011. It updates Scammacca et al.'s analysis of studies published between 1980 and 2004. The combined corpus of 82 study-wise effect sizes was meta-analyzed to determine (a) the overall effectiveness of reading…

In a recently published meta-analysis, Tran, Sanchez, Arellano, and Swanson (2011) synthesized 13 studies that permitted assessment of characteristics of children who were adequate and inadequate responders to instruction. The authors indicated that "[t]he central question addressed in this review is whether individual differences in…

The primary goal of this review is to highlight current research and theories describing the neurobiological basis of math (MD), reading (RD), and comorbid math and reading disability (MD+RD). We first describe the unique brain and cognitive processes involved in acquisition of math and reading skills, emphasizing similarities and differences in…

A meta-analysis by Tran, Sanchez, Arellano, and Swanson (2011) of the published RTI literature found that the magnitude of effect size (ES) between responders and low responders at posttest was significantly moderated by the pretest ES and the type of dependent measure administered, whereas no significant moderating effects were found in the mixed…