Developmental profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension from grades 1 to 9 and their early identification.

Abstract

This study examined developmental profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension in Grades 1 to 9 (ages 7 to 15) in a large Finnish sample (N = 2,518). In addition, early predictors of the profiles were analyzed with respect to kindergarten cognitive skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automized naming [RAN], number counting, word reading, vocabulary, and listening comprehension), parental factors (level of education, reading difficulties), and gender. Four different profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension development were identified using latent profile analysis. These comprised one profile with persistent reading difficulties across the grades, one with early poor reading skills but with a resolving tendency, one with average reading skills, and one with good readers who started with very high reading fluency but scored average over time. Of the kindergarten measures, parental reading difficulties, being male, low paternal level of education, slow RAN, difficulty in reading easy words, and low scores in phonological skills, letter knowledge, number counting, and vocabulary predicted reading difficulties. The children belonging to the profile with the resolving tendency showed an increased rate of family risk and multiple cognitive deficits but managed to resolve their reading difficulties. Being female, and good number counting and vocabulary skills predicted a tendency to resolve early reading difficulties. The results confirm the previous findings on the early predictors of reading difficulties and add to the literature by identifying skills that predict resolving patterns.

Development of silent reading fluency and reading comprehension across grades 1 to 9: unidirectional or bidirectional effects between the two skills?

“…Regarding the between-person association, that is, the question of whether children with good silent reading fluency skills have better reading comprehension skills than children with poor silent reading fluency skills, the model strongly indicated that silent reading fluency and reading comprehension are positively associated with one another. This finding supports many previous studies (e.g., Florit & Cain, 2011;Kershaw & Schatschneider, 2012;Lonigan et al, 2018;Psyridou et al, 2021;Santos et al, 2020;Torppa et al, 2016). Our results add to the previous literature by showing that the associations between the two skills exist but seem to diminish across Grades 1-9.…”

“…Based on previous research, we expect that silent reading fluency and reading comprehension will be associated at the between level since previous studies both in English and in Finnish have shown that children with good performance in one skill tend to have good performance also at the other (e.g., Nation, 2019;Psyridou et al, 2021). Regarding the association at the within level, we expect to find bidirectional effects between the two skills (e.g., Carretti et al, 2020;Kershaw & Schatschneider, 2012;Little et al, 2017;Santos et al, 2020;Torppa et al, 2016).…”

Reading Development from Kindergarten to Age 18: The Role of Gender and Parental Education

“…In the present study, the kindergarten prereading measures do not seem to fully explain the gender differences in reading fluency either. Interestingly, rapid naming, which is known to be a strong predictor of reading fluency development (e.g., Georgiou et al, 2008;Psyridou et al, 2021;Savage & Frederickson, 2005), showed a very small gender difference with only a negligible effect size.…”

Heterogeneity in children’s reading comprehension difficulties: a latent class approach

“…These results contrast those of Torppa et al (2007), who observed a poor comprehender group in a different sample of Finnish readers earlier in schooling (Grades 1-2). Although the evidence is mixed (Psyridou et al, 2021), we tentatively consider that development may also be important to understanding these conflicting findings. Foorman et al (2017) found evidence of qualitatively distinct literacy profiles in early school grades, yet only ordered profiles emerged beyond 5 th grade.…”

“…Thus, it remains plausible that the hypothesised profiles would have emerged if entirely separate assessments of decoding and comprehension were used. However, these component skills are highly correlated in developing readers of this age (see García & Cain, 2014, for a meta-analysis), and a recent study of Finnish readers also failed to identify discrepant profiles despite using measures from different tasks (Psyridou et al, 2021). These results contrast those of Torppa et al (2007), who observed a poor comprehender group in a different sample of Finnish readers earlier in schooling (Grades 1-2).…”