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Submit your questions to increase your chances! # Common Types of Reading Difficulties ### Coffee Chats with Brookes ### May 1, 2020 Louise Spear-Swerling, Ph.D. Professor Emerita Department of Special Education Southern Connecticut State University New Haven CT --- # Research strongly supports the idea that three types – # three profiles – of reading difficulties are common. # Poor reader profiles are based in the “simple view” of # reading (Hoover & Gough, 1990) which says … # Good reading comprehension depends on - Good word recognition - Good oral **language comprehension** (including, e.g., letter-sound knowledge, vocabulary, phonological awareness, decoding skills, background knowledge, structural analysis, automatic word comprehension) --- Three profiles of reading difficulty are common (e.g., Catts et al., 2006, 2012; Leach et al., 2003; Lesaux & Kieffer, 2010; Spear-Swerling, 2015): - Specific word recognition difficulties (SWRD; reading problem is specific to word recognition/decoding) - Specific comprehension difficulties (SCD; reading problem is specific to language comprehension) - Mixed reading difficulties (MRD; problems involve both word recognition and oral comprehension) | PROFILE | Word Recognition/ Decoding | Oral Language Comprehension | | --- | --- | --- | | Specific Word Recognition Difficulties | Below average | Average or better | | Specific Comprehension Difficulties | Average or better | Below average | | Mixed Reading Difficulties | Below average | Below average | - Has different intervention needs (e.g., Aaron et al., 2008) Each profile of reading difficulties: - May manifest in somewhat different ways in math and written expression - May be associated with a variety of underlying causes (e.g., intrinsic learning disabilities, limited exposure to English language/literacy) --- ## Examples: Mollie, Calvin, and Jose - Three fourth graders - All with below-average performance in **reading comprehension** - All with below-average performance in **silent reading fluency** # Mollie - Reading difficulties noted in Grade 1 - Early difficulties centered on phoneme blending and decoding - Current difficulties involve decoding of multisyllabic words and automaticity of decoding; spelling also weak - Has always done well in teacher read-alouds, class discussions - Good ideas for writing but poor spelling drains motivation to write # Mollie (continued) - Math problem-solving abilities are a strength but she often ends up with the wrong answer due to fact errors - Reading comprehension is good if she can decode the text - Teacher assessments show accuracy and automaticity of decoding are below average - Vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension are solidly average --- Mollie has a profile of specific word **recognition difficulties (SWRD)** --Weaknesses in word recognition, decoding, and spelling --Strengths in oral vocabulary and oral language comprehension What are Mollie’s intervention needs in reading? - Explicit, systematic phonics intervention focused on multisyllabic words - Application of decoding skills in reading text, including oral text reading with a teacher who provides appropriate scaffolding and cues (e.g., Spear-Swerling, 2011; Vadasy et al., 2005) - Do not ignore “contextually appropriate” errors such as "a" for "the", "the" for "this", etc. - Activities to build fluency such as wide/repeated reading of text - Despite low reading comprehension score, she does not need intervention in vocabulary or comprehension # Calvin - No history of reading difficulties in K-3 - Development of phonemic awareness and decoding skills was typical - Reading difficulties first identified early in Grade 4 - Biggest difficulties involve vocabulary weaknesses, background knowledge, and inferencing - Similar difficulties manifest in listening/class discussions as well as in reading --- # Calvin (continued) - Spelling is grade-appropriate but composition aspects of writing (e.g., word choice, clarity and elaboration of writing) are weak - Math problem-solving is a significant weakness (e.g., deciding correct operation, finding relevant information) - Teacher assessments show word recognition and decoding are excellent, above average - Listening comprehension and especially oral vocabulary are below average Calvin has a profile of specific **comprehension difficulties (SCD)** --Strengths in word recognition, decoding, and spelling, with no history of problems in these areas --Weaknesses in vocabulary knowledge and overall language comprehension What are Calvin’s intervention needs in reading? - Interventions focused on vocabulary development (e.g., explicit teaching of important words, instruction in morphology) - Explicit teaching of background knowledge especially in relation to texts he is reading - Oral discussion of text to probe basis of inferencing problems and promote deeper level of engagement with text - Vocabulary and language intervention could also help him in math and writing --- Although Calvin had a low score on a silent reading fluency measure, he probably will not benefit from the types of activities that should benefit Mollie, such as repeated reading of text. - Calvin’s reading difficulties are based in vocabulary/language comprehension, not decoding - Reads slowly because he is struggling to comprehend - Fluency techniques such as repeated readings emphasize building accuracy/automaticity of word reading, not a need for Calvin - Improvements in Calvin’s vocabulary and language comprehension should ultimately benefit his reading fluency # Jose - English learner, native Spanish speaker - Reading difficulties evident when he entered the school system, Grade 3 - Current difficulties involve decoding of multisyllabic words and automaticity of decoding (like Mollie); spelling also weak - Also has weaknesses in vocabulary knowledge and background knowledge (similar to Calvin) - These difficulties evident in read-alouds/oral discussions as well as reading - Teacher assessments show decoding is mildly below average - (English) vocabulary knowledge is well below average - Reading comprehension lower than oral language comprehension, due to influence of decoding --- Jose has a profile of mixed reading **difficulties (MRD)** --Mild weaknesses in word recognition, decoding, and spelling --More significant weaknesses in vocabulary/oral language comprehension What are Jose’s intervention needs in reading? - Explicit, systematic phonics intervention focused on multisyllabic words (like Mollie) - Activities to build fluency such as wide/repeated reading of text (like Mollie) - Activities to build vocabulary/language comprehension (like Calvin) - Teaching of morphology (e.g., roots, prefixes, suffixes) could be especially beneficial to Jose because it can address his needs in decoding, spelling, and vocabulary - Also requires intervention targeted to his characteristics and needs as an EL (e.g., exploit cognate knowledge; 'delicioso' = 'delicious') ## Poor reader profiles may also be associated with certain patterns ## of difficulties in math and written expression --- - Children with Specific Word Recognition Difficulties **(SWRD) are almost always poor spellers (Ehri, 2005)** and may also have difficulty with automatic recall of math facts (Peng et al., 2016) - Children with Specific Comprehension Difficulties **(SCD) may have difficulty with language demands of** math, such as math problem solving (Fuchs et al., 2018), and with composition aspects of writing (e.g., word choice/vocabulary, elaboration) - Children with Mixed Reading Difficulties (MRD) may have broad weaknesses in multiple components of math and written expression - For all profiles, difficulties may vary from mild to severe # Summing up - Three common poor reader profiles are well documented in research: SWRD, SCD, MRD - Identification of a child’s profile provides an excellent starting point for planning intervention - Can also have implications for understanding a poor reader’s performance in math and written expression - Poor reader profiles are useful across a wide grade range and for students with/without disabilities # Thank you!