Kristen D. Ritchey

Initial Evidence That Letter Fluency Tasks Are Valid Indicators of Early Reading Skill

This longitudinal investigation evaluated the validity of letter-name fluency (LNF) and nonsense word fluency (NWF) measures as indicators of early reading skill with a sample of 39 kindergarten children. In the spring of kindergarten and first grade, these children responded to a battery of language, reading-related, and reading measures. Construct and social consequential validity were evaluated through concurrent and predictive criterion-related validity coefficients, multiple regression analyses, and classification analysis. Evidence supportive of validity was found for both fluency measures, with NWF receiving the strongest support. Both fluency measures were more sensitive to poor reader status in first grade than any other measure when reading was defined by oral reading fluency. These findings extend the usefulness of NWF to the early identification of kindergarten students.

A Longitudinal Study of the Development of Oral Reading Fluency in Young Children At Risk for Reading Failure

The purpose of this study was to examine the development of oral reading fluency in a sample of first-grade children. Using growth curve analysis, models of growth were identified for a combined sample of at-risk (AR) and not-at-risk (NAR) children, and predictors of growth were identified for the longitudinal AR sample in first and second grade. Large and serious differences in reading fluency growth between the AR and NAR samples were apparent early, replicating other reports. Theories of sight-word learning and reading fluency were supported, in that letter-sound fluency was a uniquely significant predictor of first-grade reading fluency. The effects of phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming were mediated by the other variables in the model. Growth in first-grade oral reading fluency accounted for the most unique variance in second-grade growth and end-of-year performance. The results suggest that word reading fluency should be regarded as developing concomitantly with early word recognition rather than as a later-developing skill.

Orton-Gillingham and Orton-Gillingham—Based Reading Instruction A Review of the Literature

Orton-Gillingham (OG) and Orton-Gillingham—based reading instructional programs are commonly implemented reading programs in the United States. Twelve studies that employed quasi-experimental or experimental designs are reviewed. These studies included elementary students, adolescents, and college students. Of the 12 studies, 5 reported that the OG instruction was more effective than were comparison or control interventions for all measured outcomes, 4 reported that the OG instruction was more effective for at least 1 (but not all) outcomes in comparison to other intervention(s), 2 reported that the alternate instruction was more effective than the OG instruction, and 1 reported no significant differences once covariates were included. The largest effects were reported for word attack and non-word reading outcomes, with mean effect size of .82, and comprehension outcomes, with a mean effect size of .76. Following a summary of each study, limitations of the current review and implications for future research and practice are described. Given the small number of studies, the lack of methodological rigor of the existing studies, and the inconclusive findings of the effectiveness of OG programs, additional research is needed before the scientific basis can be established.

Fluency Has a Role in the Simple View of Reading

The Simple View of Reading (SVR) suggests that the components of reading comprehension are decoding and linguistic comprehension. Given research that suggests that fluency is a separate construct from decoding and linguistic comprehension in fourth grade, the aim of this study was to examine the role of fluency in the SVR model. Analyses of data from 248 fourth-grade children explored whether the influence of fluency on reading comprehension is direct or whether fluency plays an indirect role on reading comprehension as a mediator or moderator of decoding. Structural equation modeling and latent regression analyses revealed that reading fluency plays a mediating role in explaining the relation between decoding and reading comprehension. This novel finding is placed in the context of studies that reported either a direct effect or no effect of reading fluency in SVR.

Curriculum-Based Measurement of Writing in Kindergarten and First Grade: An Investigation of Production and Qualitative Scores

Despite the growing body of research on writing assessment, little attention has been devoted to developing and validating measures for beginning writers. This study examined the technical adequacy of a Sentence Writing measure with 233 students in kindergarten and first grade. The reliability, validity, and sensitivity to growth were investigated for production scores (words written, correctly spelled words, and correct word sequences) and for a novel Qualitative Score. Most of the scores have promising alternate-form reliability and criterion-related validity with norm-referenced writing assessments. In addition, all scores were sensitive to bimonthly growth and differentiated between students in kindergarten and first grade. The results indicated that the Qualitative Writing Score may be a promising assessment for beginning writers.

Effects of a Tier 2 Supplemental Reading Intervention for At-Risk Fourth-Grade Students

This study investigated a Tier 2 intervention in the context of a response-to-intervention (RTI) model for 123 fourth-grade students identified as having a high probability of reading failure. A randomized control trial was used to evaluate the effects of a 24-session multicomponent supplemental intervention targeting fluency and expository comprehension of science texts. Intervention students performed significantly higher on science knowledge and comprehension strategy knowledge and use, but not on word reading, fluency, or other measures of reading comprehension. Moderators of intervention effects were also examined; children at higher risk in the intervention condition appeared to benefit more in comparison to lower probability children in intervention and compared to higher probability children in the control condition.

A Comparison of Metrics for Scoring Beginning Spelling

The authors investigated four spelling scoring metrics: total words correct, correct letter sequences, correct sounds, and phonological coding scoring (developed by Tangel and Blachman) across two studies with children in kindergarten. The relationships between spelling scores and measures of reading, phonological awareness, and writing skills were studied. The scores from each metric were highly correlated. There were moderate to strong relationships between each spelling score and word reading, phonological awareness, letter name fluency, nonsense word fluency, and writing skills. Additionally, each spelling metric was sensitive to growth across 2-month intervals. The results suggest that these scoring metrics provide an equivalent index of spelling skill at a single assessment point and that phonological coding is most sensitive to growth over time.

An Investigation of the Validity and Utility of Two Curriculum-Based Measurement Writing Tasks

We investigated 2 curriculum-based measurement tasks for writing with 170 students in 2nd and 3rd grade. The 2 tasks, Story Starter and Picture Story, varied on topical support. Both tasks used production and accuracy scores, and we developed a qualitative score for Picture Story. All production and accuracy scores and the qualitative score demonstrated low to moderate validity coefficients with the Woodcock–Johnson Test of Achievement Writing Samples subtest and a teacher rating of overall writing ability. All scores were sensitive to grade-level differences in performance, with 3rd-grade students performing higher than 2nd-grade students. Two scores for Picture Story were sensitive to growth only for 3rd-grade students, and 5 scores were sensitive to bimonthly growth for both grade levels. There was moderate classification accuracy for both tasks.

Universal Screening for Writing Risk in Kindergarten

Early identification of students at risk for writing disabilities is an important step in improving writing performance. Kindergarten students (n = 84) were administered a set of researcher-developed writing tasks (letter writing, sound spelling, word spelling, and sentence writing) and school-administered reading tasks (Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills [DIBELS], Phoneme Segmentation Fluency [PSF], Nonsense Word Fluency [NWF], and Letter Name Fluency [LNF] subtests [DIBELS]) in January. The students were identified as at risk based on a norm-referenced writing assessment and teacher ratings collected in the spring. The classification accuracy of the writing and reading tasks was estimated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. For both risk criteria, individual reading and writing assessments demonstrated comparable accuracy (area under the curve [AUC] statistics range = .57–.87). However, classification accuracy was strengthened when reading and writing measures were combined (AUC range = .75–.92). The results suggest that the most accurate approach to universal screening of writing difficulties may include a battery of reading and writing measures.

Validation of a Supplemental Reading Intervention for First-Grade Children

This experimental study was designed to validate a short-term supplemental reading intervention for at-risk first-grade children. Although substantial research on long-term supplemental reading interventions exists, less is known about short-term interventions. Thirty first-grade children were randomly assigned to intervention or control conditions. Students in the intervention received 16 hours of instruction. Analyses of pre- and posttest data and growth measures suggest that short-term supplemental reading intervention had a significant effect on children’s reading skills; however, effects were not consistent across measures. Parent and teacher ratings moderated significant effects. Findings support the validity of a brief intervention for students at risk for reading failure that may inform Tier 2 interventions within a Response to Intervention framework.