Students With Reading and Spelling Disabilities

Abstract

The present study investigated whether the members of adolescents' peer groups are similar in reading and spelling disabilities and whether this similarity contributes to subsequent school achievement and educational attainment. The sample consisted of 375 Finnish adolescents whose reading and spelling disabilities were assessed at age 16 with the Finnish dyslexia screening test. The students also completed a sociometric nomination measure that was used to identify their peer groups. Register information on participants' school grades also was available, and educational attainment in secondary education was recorded 5 years after completion of the 9 years of basic education. The results revealed that the members of adolescent peer groups resembled each other in reading disabilities but not in those of spelling. Reading disabilities and academic achievement shared within the peer group also contributed to educational attainment in secondary education. Finally, reading disabilities played a larger role in educational attainment among males than among females.

How University Students With Reading Difficulties Are Supported in Achieving Their Goals

“…We also found a significant, albeit small, correlation between social capital-student ranking and academic achievement, consistent with previous research in which adolescents (e.g., Kiuru et al, 2011;Nichols & White, 2001) and graduate students (i.e., Lomi et al, 2011) from the same peer group shared a similar level of academic achievement, suggesting social selection. However, unlike in Lomi et al's (2011) study that found students to assimilate to the academic performance of their ties-having ties with performance higher than oneself provided an upward pull-we failed to find support that having higher achieving student social ties explained academic achievement for university students with RD.…”

The impact of social capital on self-efficacy and study success among first-year university students

“…Apparently in small-group teaching settings, for low and average achieving students, friendship does not contribute to their study success. Building friendships or belonging to a peer group often is based on similar characteristics (McPherson, Smith-Lovin, & Cook, 2001) and achievement levels (Flashman, 2012;Kiuru et al, 2011;Nichols & White, 2001). According to Lomi et al (2011), it is more likely that students become friends when they are similar in their achievement level, but students also become more similar in their achievement levels over time.…”

Reducing Stress and Enhancing Academic Buoyancy among Adolescents Using a Brief Web-based Program Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Reading fluency was measured with three tests. Two word reading tests – the Word Identification and Spelling Errors tests (Holopainen et al 2004; Kiuru et al 2011)—and one sentence reading test – the Salzburg Reading Fluency Test (Landerl et al 1997; translated into Finnish by Sini Huemer)—were used.…”