The role of knowledge availability in forming inferences with rural middle grade English learners

Barth, Amy E.; Daniel, Johny; Roberts, Gregory J; Vaughn, Sharon; Barnes, Marcia A.; Ankrum, Ethan; Kincaid, Heather

doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2021.102006

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Individual differences in comprehension are not only the result of the size of one’s store of general knowledge. Another source is the stability of the knowledge that the reader has about word forms and meanings and their capacity to efficiently retrieve and integrate this knowledge to construct coherent representations of the text (Barth et al, 2021 ; Perfetti, 2007 ). Less stable knowledge or the lack of knowledge will impose constraints on one’s ability to generate inferences while reading, maintain both local and global textual coherence, and independently learn from the text (Barnes et al, 1996 , 2015 ; Barth et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another source is the stability of the knowledge that the reader has about word forms and meanings and their capacity to efficiently retrieve and integrate this knowledge to construct coherent representations of the text (Barth et al, 2021 ; Perfetti, 2007 ). Less stable knowledge or the lack of knowledge will impose constraints on one’s ability to generate inferences while reading, maintain both local and global textual coherence, and independently learn from the text (Barnes et al, 1996 , 2015 ; Barth et al, 2021 ). Working memory, which is utilized to efficiently integrate information within and between sentences with general knowledge, also represents a reader characteristic that can impose constraints on comprehension (van den Broek et al, 2005 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Data for this study were taken from pretests administered during a larger randomized controlled trial that included students in Grades 5 and 6 (Barth et al, 2021 ). Data were collected over two academic years from one school in a rural midwestern school district.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To accurately infer, readers monitor their understanding of the content, relate the information presented to the material presented earlier in the text or their own knowledge base, and establish semantic associations supported by the text to generate accurate inferences. In other words, inference making requires readers to not only extract and construct meaning from the content being read but also to make connections within texts or between the text and their background knowledge (Barth et al, 2021 ; Kendou et al, 2008 ; Silva & Cain, 2015 ). Similarly, non-verbal reasoning tasks that require students to tap into their own knowledge to accurately respond to pictorial-inference tasks have also been associated with reading comprehension.…”

Section: Need For Research On Reading Profiles Of Rural Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring reading profiles of rural school students

Daniel

Barth

2023

Ann. of Dyslexia

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This study investigates the reading profiles of rural Grade 5 and 6 students (N = 262), a sample with a high proportion of English language learners. We administered a battery of reading and cognitive assessments to classify students’ reading profiles and evaluate if performance on cognitive measures predicted membership in particular profiles. Data were analyzed using latent profile analysis. Latent profile analysis showed four distinct reading profiles in our sample: students with severe reading disabilities (< 2%), students at high risk of reading disability (14%), students at some-risk of reading disability (46%), and students who are typical readers (38%). Lower performance on cognitive measures was associated with group membership in the severe reading profile group compared to the group of students at some-risk of reading failure. In contrast, higher performance on cognitive measures was associated with group membership in the typical reader group compared to students at some-risk of reading failure. In keeping with the findings from past studies documenting reader profiles, we found heterogeneity in the reading profiles of rural upper-elementary grade students. We discuss the need for multicomponent interventions that target all areas of reading with some flexibility in the dosage of each reading component dependent on the reader profiles established prior to intervention.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Need For Research On Reading Profiles Of Rural Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring reading profiles of rural school students

Daniel

Barth

2023

Ann. of Dyslexia

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“…The literature in the field of reading and comprehension offers ample evidence that background knowledge is a significant contributor to generating inferences (Barth et al, 2021; Cain et al, 2001; Smith et al, 2021). Knowledge-based inferences are drawn from the researchers’ background knowledge about a particular topic, that is, the information gained from reading literature about the topic and mundane knowledge (Strohl-Goebel and Rickheit, 1985).…”

Section: Process To Generating Metainferences In Convergent Mixed Met...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Generating metainferences in mixed methods research: A worked example in convergent mixed methods designs

Younas

Fàbregues

Creswell

2023

Methodological Innovations

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Metainferences, or the insights derived from integrating quantitative and qualitative inferences at the end of a study, are crucial for achieving added value and synergy in mixed methods research. There is an ongoing need to understand how researchers generate metainferences, especially considering their pivotal role in helping researchers achieve full quantitative and qualitative integration. While some examples of metainferences generation are available in the mixed methods literature, more explicit guidance is required. Approaches to developing metainferences must also be contextual, as inferences of this type are contingent on the nature and purpose of the mixed methods study, the type of mixed methods design, and the quality of the research data. This paper describes a seven-step process for generating metainferences using a convergent mixed methods study as an exemplar. These steps consist of identifying knowledge, experience, and data-driven inferences from the quantitative and qualitative data; developing inference association maps to draw metainferences; and assessing the validity of metainferences using backward working heuristics. This paper contributes to mixed methods research by shedding light on the development of metainferences in convergent designs and by providing practical and tangible tools for making sense of the complexity of the analysis and interpretation tasks involved in the process of generating metainferences.

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Achievement gaps for English learners with disabilities

Daniel

2025

Learning and Instruction

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The role of knowledge availability in forming inferences with rural middle grade English learners

Cited by 5 publications

References 67 publications

Exploring reading profiles of rural school students

Exploring reading profiles of rural school students

Generating metainferences in mixed methods research: A worked example in convergent mixed methods designs

Achievement gaps for English learners with disabilities

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