What predicts word reading in Arabic?

Efficient and accurate word reading ability is critical for later reading success. As such, it is important to understand the component skills that underlie strong word reading ability. Although a growing research base points to the importance of phonological processing, morphological processing and orthographic processing for accurate and fluent word reading in Arabic, there are few studies that examine all three areas at one time to better understand their role in word reading. Additionally, it remains unclear whether the contribution of the various processes might differ across the early years when children are learning to read. 1,098 pupils in grades 1-3 participated in this study and took tests for phonological processing, morphological processing, orthographic processing, and word reading accuracy and fluency. According to the findings of regression analyses, the relative contribution of these underlying processes differed according to the method used to test word reading and the student's grade level. Regarding accuracy, several subscales of phonological processing and two measures of orthographic processing accounted for significant differences in word reading accuracy for first graders. For second grade students, nonword repetition, elision, and all three measures of orthographic processing accounted for variance. In third grade, elision and memory for digits, word creation and morpheme identification, and letter/sound identification and orthographic fluency were significant predictors of word reading accuracy. In terms of fluency, two subscales of phonological processing, two measures of orthographic processing, and two measures of morphological processing explained significant differences in word reading fluency for first graders. For second grade students, nonword repetition, elision, RAN-digits, isolation, segmenting and all the measures of orthographic processing and word creation explained unique variance in word reading fluency. In third grade, elision, RAN-letters, RAN-digits and phoneme isolation, all measures of orthographic processing and morphological processing, explained variance in word reading fluency. Implications and future directions in research are discussed.

Social support, resilience, and quality of life for families with children with intellectual disabilities.

A family's quality of life (FQOL) has been shown to impact the quality of life for the child with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to FQOL to inform the types of interventions and supports that are provided to families. The goal of this study was to determine whether social support and resilience account for variance in Family Quality of Life as reported by mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. Eight-eight Qatari mothers responded to three surveys, the Brief Resilience Scale, the 2-Way Social Support Scale, and the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale. Regression results indicate that giving and receiving social support accounted for significant variance in FQOL, explaining 62 % of the variance. Resilience was not a significant predictor. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The Relationship of Special Education Teacher Performance on Observation Instruments With Student Outcomes.

In this study, we examined the relationship of special education teachers' performance on the Recognizing Effective Special Education Teachers (RESET) Explicit Instruction observation protocol with student growth on academic measures. Special education teachers provided video-recorded observations of three instructional lessons along with data from standardized, curriculum-based academic measures at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year for the students in the instructional group. Teachers' lessons were evaluated by external, trained raters. Data were analyzed using many-faceted Rasch measurement (MFRM), correlation, and multiple regression. Teacher performance on the overall protocol did not account for statistically significant variance in student growth beyond that of students' beginning of the year academic performance. Teacher performance on an abbreviated protocol comprised of items that had average or higher item difficulties on the MFRM analysis accounted for an additional 4.5% of variance beyond that of beginning of the year student performance. Implications for further research are discussed.

Developing a Multi-Dimensional Early Elementary Mathematics Screener and Diagnostic Tool: The Primary Mathematics Assessment.

There is a critical need to identify primary level students experiencing difficulties in mathematics to provide immediate and targeted instruction that remediates their deficits. However, most early math screening instruments focus only on the concept of number, resulting in inadequate and incomplete information for teachers to design intervention efforts. We propose a mathematics assessment that screens and provides diagnostic information in six domains that are important to building a strong foundation in mathematics. This article describes the conceptual framework and psychometric qualities of a web-based assessment tool, the Primary Math Assessment (PMA). The PMA includes a screener to identify students at risk for poor math outcomes and a diagnostic tool to provide a more in-depth profile of children's specific strengths and weaknesses in mathematics. The PMA allows teachers and school personnel to make better instructional decisions by providing more targeted analyses.