Sherry Mee Bell

Closing the Digital Divide: Update From the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

The authors examined the progress made toward equitable technology access and use over childrens first 4 years of school. The sample consisted of 8,283 public school children who attended kindergarten, 1st, and 3rd grades. In 3rd grade, high-poverty schools had significantly more computers for instruction and a smaller ratio of children to computers than did low-poverty schools. Over the first 4 years of school, however, children attending low-poverty schools had significantly more access to home computers than did those attending high-poverty schools. Childrens use of computers during 3rd grade differed by school-poverty status. Results indicate that access to, and use of, a home computer, the presence of a computer area in classrooms, frequent use of the Internet, proficiency in computer use, and low-poverty school status were correlated positively with academic achievement. In contrast, frequent use of software for reading was correlated negatively with reading achievement.

Toward a Research-Based Assessment of Dyslexia Using Cognitive Measures to Identify Reading Disabilities

One hundred five participants from a random sample of elementary and middle school children completed measures of reading achievement and cognitive abilities presumed, based on a synthesis of current dyslexia research, to underlie reading. Factor analyses of these cognitive variables (including auditory processing, phonological awareness, short-term auditory memory, visual memory, rapid automatized naming, and visual processing speed) produced three empirically and theoretically derived factors (auditory processing, visual processing/speed, and memory), each of which contributed to the prediction of reading and spelling skills. Factor scores from the three factors combined predicted 85% of the variance associated with letter/sight word naming, 70% of the variance associated with reading comprehension, 73% for spelling, and 61% for phonetic decoding. The auditory processing factor was the strongest predictor, accounting for 27% to 43% of the variance across the different achievement areas. The results provide practitioner and researcher with theoretical and empirical support for the inclusion of measures of the three factors, in addition to specific measures of reading achievement, in a standardized assessment of dyslexia. Guidelines for a thorough, research-based assessment are provided.

Social Self-Concept, Social-Attributions, and Peer Relationships in Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Graders Who Are Gifted Compared to High Achievers.

Socially related self-concept, attributions for social success and failure, and peer relationships were investigated for fourth through sixth graders identified as intellectually gifted and a comparison group of high achievers not identified as gifted. The group identified as gifted scored significantly higher on 3 of 4 socially related self-concept subscales (p < .01) and on the general self-concept scale (p < .05) of the Self-Description Questionnaire-I (Marsh, 1988). On the Student Social Attribution Scale (Bell & McCallum, 1995), an interaction effect was noted, with the group identified as gifted scoring higher than the comparison group on attributions for social success due to ability and effort and lower on attributions for social failure due to ability, effort, and task difficulty. Though teachers‘ ratings of peer relationships yielded no differences between the 2 groups, boys across groups were rated significantly higher than girls (p < .05).

Reading Rate and Comprehension as a Function of Computerized Versus Traditional Presentation Mode: A Preliminary Study

Using a counterbalanced, randomized treatment design, 12 elementary school-aged children read under two conditions: (a) independent, silent reading; and (b) computer-assisted reading, via Kurzweil 3000. A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed no significant difference in the composite mean for comprehension and reading rate scores based on presentation strategy. Computerized text presentation (via auditory and visual means) proved no more effective than traditional reading instruction for teacher-nominated weak readers in improving reading rate and comprehension. However, a trend was noted for slower readers to show increased reading rate as a function of computer-assisted reading, with the opposite result for faster readers. Overall, results indicate that for students reading material at their instructional level, computer-assisted reading did not improve comprehension. Future research should continue to focus on the role of technology as an aid to reading instruction.

What Is the Role of Working Memory in Reading Relative to the Big Three Processing Variables (Orthography, Phonology, and Rapid Naming)?

Zero-order correlation coefficients show significant relationships between orthography, phonology, rapid naming, visual and auditory memory, and reading and spelling for 143 second through sixth graders. Although coefficients ranged from .05 to .71, most were statistically significant (65 out of 78). In addition, multiple regression analyses show the power of shortterm memory to contribute to the prediction of reading decoding and reading fluency (p < .05) beyond the power of the “big three” cognitive processing variables (phonology, rapid naming, and orthography).

A Model for Screening Twice-Exceptional Students (Gifted With Learning Disabilities) Within a Response to Intervention Paradigm

The purpose of this article is to present a model for screening for twice-exceptional status (i.e., gifted students who have a learning disability). Curriculum-based measures (Monitoring Instructional Responsiveness: Reading and Monitoring Instructional Responsiveness: Math) were administered to 1,242 third-grade students within a Response to Intervention paradigm. When gifted status is tentatively defined as high performance (i.e., 84th percentile and higher) on a Monitoring Instructional Responsiveness reading probe, 5.48% of students exhibited deficits in (math) performance consistent with a significant discrepancy between reading and math (i.e., reading score – math score); 4.83% exhibited a discrepancy in reading (i.e., math score – reading). These values are based on observed scores using the following formula to define a discrepancy: 1.5(SD) × SEe. Only 2.1% exhibited a math discrepancy and 1.13% a reading discrepancy based on predicted scores, which takes regression to the mean into account. Using various cut score criteria, practitioners can select from less than 1% to about 10% for screening purposes. When using predicted (rather than observed) scores and more stringent cut score criteria, percentages decline, as expected. Recommendations for using this process for screening are provided, as are implications for best practice, particularly the impact of using more or less conservative criteria for screening twice exceptional students.

Attributions for Academic Success and Failure: An Individual Difference Investigation of Academic Achievement and Gender

Ability, effort, and external attributions for academic success/failure as a function of achievement and gender were investigated for 237 elementary school children. Six attributions were the dependent measures for two 2 (achievement) × 2 (gender) MANOVAs. Groups were formed by Total Reading and Total Math scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills/4; for both MANOVAs results yielded significant main effects for achievement, but not for the gender and interaction effects. Follow-up ANOVAs revealed that high achievers attributed success to ability to a significantly greater extent than did low achievers. Low achievers attributed math failure to ability to a significantly greater extent than did high achievers; for reading, the difference in reading failure to ability attributions approached significance. Finally, low achievers attributed reading success to external factors to a greater extent than did high achievers. No differences in effort attributions were noted for high and low achievers.

Augmented Reality for Teaching Science Vocabulary to Postsecondary Education Students with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the use of an emerging technology called augmented reality to teach science vocabulary words to college students with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. One student with autism and three students with an intellectual disability participated in a multiple probe across behaviors (i.e., acquisition of science vocabulary words) design. Data were collected on each students ability to define and label three sets of science vocabulary words (i.e., bones, organs, and plant cells). The results indicate that all students acquired definition and labeling knowledge for the new science vocabulary terms. Results are discussed in the context of applying universal design principles with emerging technologies to create authentic opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders to learn science vocabulary. (Keywords: augmented reality, autism, intellectual disability, science vocabulary, universal design for learning)

Reading Achievement Trajectories for Students With Learning Disabilities During the Elementary School Years

Using hierarchical linear modeling and longitudinal data from the first 6 waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten cohort, the authors examined reading achievement and growth rates by learning disability (LD) subgroup. The 2-level (time–student) growth curve model indicated that lower levels of reading achievement were already evident at kindergarten entry for all subgroups of students identified during the elementary school years as having LD. Results indicated that students with LD made smaller gains in reading achievement than students without disabilities. This finding underscores the need for frequent, multifaceted assessment of progress and responsive, targeted instruction in addition to early identification.

Measures of Emotional Intelligence and Social Acceptability in Children: A Concurrent Validity Study

The concurrent validity of two measures of Emotional Intelligence (EI), one considered a trait measure, the other an ability measure, was examined by administering the Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (EQi:YV; Bar-On & Parker, 2000), the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test: Youth Version (MSCEIT:YV; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, in press), and a sociometric measure to 102 upper elementary students in the U.S. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients across various scores of the EI instruments ranged from −.02 (p > .05) to .39 (p < .01), suggesting the instruments are measuring somewhat different constructs. Scores on two sets of theoretically similar scales across instruments yielded significant correlation but others did not. Results from dependent t tests showed no significant difference between overall mean scores of the EQi:YV and MSCEIT:YV (p < .05). Only the Interpersonal and General Mood scales of the EQi:YV correlate significantly with the sociometric (p < .05). Implications for further research in EI are discussed. La validité concourante de deux mesures d’intelligence émotive (E-I), un a considéré une mesure de trait, l’autre par mesure de capacité, a été examinée en administrant l’inventaire de quotient émotif: Version de la jeunesse (EQi:YV; Bar-On & Parker, 2000), le test d’intelligence émotif de Mayer-Salovey-Caruso: Version de la jeunesse (MSCEIT:YV; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, en cours d’impression) et une mesure sociométrique à 102 étudiants élémentaires supérieurs aux États-Unis. Les coefficients de corrélation de produit-moment de Pearson à travers de divers points des instruments d’E-I se sont étendus de −.02 (p > .05) à .39 (p < .01), suggérant les instruments mesurent les constructions quelque peu différentes. Les points sur deux ensembles d’échelles théoriquement semblables à travers des instruments ont rapporté la corrélation significative mais d’autres n’ont pas fait. Les résultats des essais dépendants de t n’ont montré aucune différence significative entre les points de moyen global de l’EQi:YV et MSCEIT:YV (p < .05). Seulement les échelles interpersonnelles et générales d’humeur de l’EQi:YV ont montré des corrélations significatives avec les mesures sociométriques (p < . 05). Des implications pour davantage de recherche dans l’E-I sont discutées.