The phonological loop of the working memory system plays a key role in language learning. This study examined the trajectories between two dual-language learner groups (English Learners [ELs] and Spanish Learners [SLs]) on phonological loop measures in L1 and L2. At Grade 1, children completed a battery of vocabulary and cognitive measures and…

In an effort to improve oral reading, beginning and remedial reading programs in English focus on phonological awareness skills and recoding with grapheme--phoneme correspondences. The meanings of the words children practice reading aloud are given little emphasis. Some studies now suggest semantic knowledge may have a direct effect on children's…

Models are central to the practice and teaching of science. Yet people often fail to grasp how scientific models explain their observations of the world. Realizing the explanatory power of a model may require aligning its relational structure to that of the observable phenomena. The present research tested whether "relational…

Identifying change at the individual level is an important goal for researchers, educators, and clinicians. We present a set of statistical procedures for identifying individuals who depart from a normative change. Using Latent Change Scores models (LCS), we illustrate how the Individual Likelihood computed from a statistical model for change…

A collection of cognitive, linguistic, and spelling measures were administered to third-grade English L1 and L2 learners. To capture formative assessments of children's developing mental graphemic representations (MGRs), spelling errors in isolation were subjected to analysis across three metrics: (1) Phonological constrained; (2)…

We assessed the simple view of reading as a framework for Grade 3 reading comprehension in two ways. We first confirmed that a structural equation model in which word recognition, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension were assessed by multiple measures to inform each latent construct provided an adequate fit to this model in Grade 3.…

Purpose: This study investigated cumulative effects of language learning, specifically whether prior vocabulary knowledge or special education status moderated the effects of academic vocabulary instruction in high-poverty schools. Method: Effects of a supplemental intervention targeting academic vocabulary in first through third grades were…

This article presents two studies investigating the role of executive functioning in written text comprehension in children and adolescents. In a first study, the involvement of executive functions in reading comprehension performance was examined in normally developing children in fifth grade. Two aspects of text comprehension were…

This longitudinal study was conducted to determine (a) the rate of co-occurrence of reading disabilities (RDs) in a writing disability (WD) population of students followed from first grade to fourth grade and (b) the cognitive burden that is assumed by having a WD and a RD (WD + RD). The sample included 137 first-grade students from a single…

New findings are presented for children in Grades 1 to 9 who qualified their families for a multigenerational family genetics study of dyslexia (impaired word decoding/spelling) who had either superior verbal reasoning ("n" = 33 at or above 1 2/3 standard deviation, superior or better range; 19% of these children) or average verbal…

The purpose of the present study was to reveal the developmental pathway from third grade cognitive competencies to sixth grade conceptual and procedural fraction knowledge through the intervening whole numerical skills at fifth grade. The study used empirical data that come from 536 students in nine schools across two Delaware public school…

Recent studies have emphasized that developmental dyslexia is a multiple-deficit disorder, in contrast to the traditional single-deficit view. In this context, cognitive profiling of children with dyslexia may be a relevant contribution to this unresolved discussion. The aim of this study was to profile 36 Portuguese children with dyslexia from…

Two groups of 8- to 10-year-olds differing in rapid automatized naming speed but matched for age, verbal and nonverbal ability, phonological awareness, phonological memory, and visual acuity participated in four experiments investigating early visual processing. As low RAN children had significantly slower simple reaction times (SRT) this was…