Academic language use in middle school informational writing.

Background: Learning to write the complex academic language (AL) associated with a discipline (like science) is a critical task in education, with middle school being a key developmental period. However, we need more research to guide how we assess students' learning to write AL, especially if we want to create assessment that guides more effective instruction.

Aims: We evaluated middle school students' informational writing for six different measures of AL to determine which ones were most strongly related to writing quality and were most indicative of the unique features of informational writing.

Universal screening in kindergarten: Validity and classification accuracy of Istation's Indicators of Progress-Early Reading.

Universal screening in reading is a common, and often required, practice in early elementary school. Computer-adaptive screening tools, such as (ISIP-ER), are often chosen for this purpose in schools. In our present study, we examine the validity evidence between the ISIP-ER in kindergarten and third grade (STAAR) reading scores, the classification accuracy of ISIP-ER to predict which students will meet STAAR reading expectations, and a cut score to maximize classification accuracy for the local context.

Expanding assessment to instructionally relevant writing components in middle school.

Although educators frequently use assessment to identify who needs supplemental instruction and if that instruction is working, there is a lack of research investigating assessment that informs what instruction students need. The purpose of the current study was to determine if a brief (approximately 20 min) task that reflects a common middle school expectation (writing in response to text) provides educators with information about students' strengths and weaknesses in four research-based components of writing. Results indicated that, at the end of elementary school (Grade 5), students' word- and sentence-level errors, text-level plan, and typing fluency predicted 43% of their performance in written composition quality and all these factors play a role in writing achievement.

Performance feedback during writing instruction: A cost-effectiveness analysis.

Students in K-12 settings experience poor writing outcomes, with less than 30% of students writing at the proficient level. Coupled with the pressure to improve academic outcomes with limited resources, schools are in dire need of efficient, universally provided instructional activities that promote writing skills. Performance feedback on writing fluency was designed to be a brief, low-resource universally provided instructional activity to facilitate writing development and has demonstrated moderate to large effects on formative writing measures.

Latent Profiles of Reading and Language and Their Association With Standardized Reading Outcomes in Kindergarten Through Tenth Grade.

The objective of this study was to determine the latent profiles of reading and language skills that characterized 7,752 students in kindergarten through tenth grade and to relate the profiles to norm-referenced reading outcomes. Reading and language skills were assessed with a computer-adaptive assessment administered in the middle of the year and reading outcome measures were administered at the end of the year. Three measures of reading comprehension were administered in third through tenth grades to create a latent variable.

CBM Reading, Mathematics, and Written Expression at the Secondary Level: Examining Latent Composite Relations Among Indices and Unique Predictions With a State Achievement Test.

A paucity of research has examined the utility of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for data-based decision making at the secondary level. As schools move to multitiered systems of service delivery, it is conceivable that multiple screening measures will be used that address various academic subject areas. The value of including different CBM indices measures is not well understood.

Examining General and Specific Factors in the Dimensionality of Oral Language and Reading in 4th-10th Grades.

The objective of this study was to explore dimensions of oral language and reading and their influence on reading comprehension in a relatively understudied population-adolescent readers in 4th through 10th grades. The current study employed latent variable modeling of decoding fluency, vocabulary, syntax, and reading comprehension so as to represent these constructs with minimal error and to examine whether residual variance unaccounted for by oral language can be captured by specific factors of syntax and vocabulary. A 1-, 3-, 4-, and bifactor model were tested with 1,792 students in 18 schools in 2 large urban districts in the Southeast.

The Structure of Oral Language and Reading and Their Relation to Comprehension in Kindergarten through Grade 2.

This study examined the structure of oral language and reading and their relation to comprehension from a latent variable modeling perspective in Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2. Participants were students in Kindergarten ( = 218), Grade 1 ( = 372), and Grade 2 ( = 273), attending Title 1 schools. Students were administered phonological awareness, syntax, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and decoding fluency measures in mid-year.

Evaluating the impact of feedback on elementary aged students' fluency growth in written expression: a randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate elementary-aged students' writing fluency growth in response to (a) instructional practices, (b) sex differences, and (c) student's initial level of writing fluency. Third-grade students (n=133) in three urban elementary schools were randomly assigned to either an individualized performance feedback condition (n=46), a practice-only condition (i.e.

A prospective study of symptoms and neurocognitive outcomes in youth with concussion vs orthopaedic injuries.

Background: This study examined symptom reports and neurocognitive outcomes in children (8-17 years) with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or orthopaedic injury (OI).

Method: Children and parents were initially assessed upon presentation in the Emergency Department of a local hospital and again at 3 months. Children completed the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing battery (ImPACT) and parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF).