The Reading-Spelling Connection: Developing and Evaluating a Beginning Spelling Intervention for Children at Risk of Reading Disability

Santoro, Lana Edwards; Coyne, Michael D.; Simmons, Deborah C.

doi:10.1111/j.1540-5826.2006.00212.x

Cited by 32 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…poor grapheme-phoneme-mapping delaying the transition to a more automatic word recognition for commonly encountered words; Pugh et al, 2000) or an independent contributor (Richlan, 2012). Future studies could employ brain imaging to shed light on the mechanism by which spelling intervention helps to improve reading (Santoro et al, 2006), i.e. whether it occurs by virtue of both spelling and reading sharing these representations or in other ways.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shared orthographic neuronal representations for spelling and reading

Purcell¹,

Jiang

Eden³

2017

NeuroImage

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A central question in the study of the neural basis of written language is whether reading and spelling utilize shared orthographic representations. While recent studies employing fMRI to test this question report that the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOTC) are active during both spelling and reading in the same subjects (Purcell et al., 2011a; Rapp and Lipka, 2011), the spatial resolution of fMRI limits the interpretation of these findings. Specifically, it is unknown if the neurons which encode orthography for reading are also involved in spelling of the same words. Here we address this question by employing an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging-adaptation (fMRI-A) paradigm designed to examine shared orthographic representations across spelling and reading. First, we identified areas that independently showed adaptation to reading, and adaptation to spelling. Then we identified spatial convergence for these two separate maps via a conjunction analysis. Consistent with previous studies (Purcell et al., 2011a; Rapp and Lipka, 2011), this analysis revealed the left dorsal IFG, vOTC and supplementary motor area. To further validate these observations, we then interrogated these regions using an across-task adaptation technique, and found adaptation across reading and spelling in the left dorsal IFG (BA 44/9). Our final analysis focused specifically on the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) in the vOTC, whose variability in location among subjects requires the use of subject-specific identification mechanisms (Glezer and Riesenhuber, 2013). Using a functional localizer for reading, we defined the VWFA in each subject, and found adaptation effects for both within the spelling and reading conditions, respectively, as well as across spelling and reading. Because none of these effects were observed during a phonological/semantic control condition, we conclude that the left dorsal IFG and VWFA are involved in accessing the same orthography-specific representations for spelling and reading.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shared orthographic neuronal representations for spelling and reading

Purcell¹,

Jiang

Eden³

2017

NeuroImage

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“…The relations between phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and spelling are well established (e.g., NRP, 2000; Santoro, Coyne, & Simmons, 2006). Letter-name knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, and phonological awareness impact children’s ability to write letters and to spell (Ritchey, 2008).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socioeconomic and gender group differences in early literacy skills: a multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis approach

Lee

Otaiba

2015

Educational Research and Evaluation

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Socioeconomic status and gender are important demographic variables that strongly relate to academic achievement. This study examined the early literacy skills differences between 4 sociodemographic groups, namely, boys ineligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRL), girls ineligible for FRL, boys eligible for FRL, and girls eligible for FRL. Data on kindergarteners (N = 462) were analysed using multiple-group confirmatory factory analysis. Early literacy skill differences between boys and girls are more nuanced than previously reported; subsidy status and gender interact. Both boys and girls from high-poverty households performed significantly lower than the girls from low-poverty households in alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and spelling. There were gender gaps, with a female advantage, among children from high-poverty households in alphabet knowledge and spelling and among children from low-poverty households in alphabet knowledge. These results highlight the importance of employing methodologically sound techniques to ascertain group differences in componential early literacy skills.

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“…Although spelling is considered by some to be a 'constrained skill' (Paris, 2005), it was adopted here to investigate the cognitive load of different forms of assessment due to: (i) the compatibility of spelling assessments with fMRI restrictions; (ii) the consistency with which spelling is assessed through standardized assessments internationally; and (iii) the established link between spelling and reading, insofar as both are found to rely on similar knowledge and skills (Westwood, 2008) and improved spelling has been suggested to enhance subsequent reading ability (Graham et al, 2002;Santoro et al, 2006). It therefore follows that, although the current study focused on spelling assessment, the insights generated can inform principles of assessment development and (re)design more broadly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral and fMRI evidence of the differing cognitive load of domain-specific assessments

et al. 2015

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Standards-referenced educational reform has increased the prevalence of standardized testing; however, whether these tests accurately measure students' competencies has been questioned. This may be due to domain-specific assessments placing a differing domain-general cognitive load on test-takers. To investigate this possibility, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify and quantify the neural correlates of performance on current, international standardized methods of spelling assessment. Out-of-scanner testing was used to further examine differences in assessment results. Results provide converging evidence that: (a) the spelling assessments differed in the cognitive load placed on test-takers; (b) performance decreased with increasing cognitive load of the assessment; and (c) brain regions associated with working memory were more highly activated during performance of assessments that were higher in cognitive load. These findings suggest that assessment design should optimize the cognitive load placed on test-takers, to ensure students' results are an accurate reflection of their true levels of competency.

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The Reading-Spelling Connection: Developing and Evaluating a Beginning Spelling Intervention for Children at Risk of Reading Disability

Cited by 32 publications

References 38 publications

Shared orthographic neuronal representations for spelling and reading

Shared orthographic neuronal representations for spelling and reading

Socioeconomic and gender group differences in early literacy skills: a multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis approach

Behavioral and fMRI evidence of the differing cognitive load of domain-specific assessments

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