Retrospective Analyses of the Reading Development of Grade 4 Students with Reading Disabilities

Abstract

This study presents a longitudinal examination of the development of reading and reading-related skills of 22 Grade 4 children identified as having reading disabilities (RD) who had been followed since kindergarten. The analyses were conducted to investigate the patterns of emergence of RD as well as reading ability and risk status across the 5 years. The findings of the study are presented with an examination of the trajectories of the children with RD as compared to Grade 4 typical readers (matched for grade, gender, language status, and school) with a similar profile on literacy skills in kindergarten. The results demonstrate the heterogeneous nature of the trajectory of RD in school-age children; although many of the children with RD were at risk in kindergarten, there was a subsample who did not demonstrate reading and phonological difficulties until the third and fourth grades.

Late-Emerging and Resolving Dyslexia: A Follow-Up Study from Age 3 to 14

“…Most of the studies, however, have focused on the early phases of reading development or used relatively short follow-ups. The few studies that have followed reading development for several years have suggested that, although there is high stability in RD across grades at the group level (e.g., Compton, Fuchs, Fuchs, Elleman, & Gilbert, 2008;Landerl & Wimmer, 2008), there are-at least in English-also a considerable number of cases that move across the clinical threshold over time: children who are no longer affected (resolving RD; e.g., Catts, Compton, Tomblin, & Bridges, 2012) and children who do not develop RD until Grade 4 (late-emerging RD; e.g., Catts et al, 2012;Etmanskie, Partanen, & Siegel, in press;Leach, Scarborough, & Rescorla, 2003;Lipka, Lesaux, & Siegel, 2006).…”

“…Little research has been conducted on the characteristics of resolving and late-emerging RD, although the proportion of late-emerging cases has been reported to be approximately 40% of all RD cases in English (Catts et al, 2012;Leach et al, 2003;Lipka et al, 2006). The scarcity of information on these resolving and late-emerging RD groups presents challenges to early identification and prevention efforts of RD.…”

“…Four previous studies have directly addressed the stability of RD classification (Catts et al, 2012;Etmanskie et al, in press;Leach et al, 2003;Lipka et al, 2006). The studies have varied in their identification of RD.…”

“…The studies have varied in their identification of RD. Lipka et al (2006) identified three types of RD on the basis of reading accuracy and letter knowledge in a sample of 44 children followed from Kindergarten to Grade 4. They found that 36% of all RD cases were late-emerging.…”

Response to intervention with older students with reading difficulties

“…However, older students may have difficulty with reading for several reasons: (a) not all students are provided with substantive early intervention, (b) some students are provided with inadequate early intervention, (c) some students who are provided with effective intervention early struggle later when text and knowledge demands increase, and (d) some students manifest reading difficulties later in their schooling who did not have reading difficulties early (Leach, Scarborough, & Rescorla, 2003;Lipka, Lesaux, & Siegel, 2006). For these reasons, improved knowledge about effective interventions for older students is needed.…”