Pseudoword Reading in Monolingual and Dual Language Beginning Readers
Dr. Anne Cunningham, UC Berkeley
An investigation of word reading accuracy in beginning readers in monolingual (i.e., English or Spanish) and dual language programs (i.e., students learning to read and write in both languages). The sample includes up 375 students in grades 1–3 who are receiving reading instruction entirely in English, entirely in Spanish, or in 50/50 dual language contexts.
Measures include grapheme–phoneme knowledge, phonemic awareness, and pseudoword reading. Explanatory item response models will be used to analyze person- and item-level attributes that contribute to word reading. Among others, a doubly explanatory parameterization will assess whether some item characteristics have a disproportionate influence based on instructional context.
Measuring Teachers’ Understanding and Values of Disciplinary and Pedagogical Knowledge About Dyslexia
Dr. Tyler Ogata, UC Berkeley
Exploring attitudes of K–2 teachers about dyslexia to inform efforts to prepare teachers to support students at risk. As most existing scales fail to distinguish between personal beliefs and beliefs about the scientific knowledge base, we propose a scale to measure what teachers know about dyslexia (disciplinary knowledge) and their knowledge of how to support students at risk (pedagogical knowledge). We will also develop a scale to measure attitudes toward evidence-based practices, including the use of universal dyslexia screeners. The study examines relationships between these scales and demographic variables to guide implementation strategies and teacher preparation.
Imaging Individual Differences at the Intersection of ADHD and Dyslexia: Gray Matter and White Matter Microstructure
Dr. Andreas Rauschecker, UCSF
Dyslexia and ADHD have high co-morbidity, but the neural mechanisms underlying their co-occurrence are unclear. By leveraging standardized neuroimaging data and cognitive assessments from the UCSF Schwab Dyslexia Center via a normative modeling approach, we aim to identify white matter and gray matter microstructural associations with dyslexia, ADHD, and their co-occurrence.
Understanding their neurobiological basis is crucial to developing novel interventions, tailoring treatments, and informing educational best practices. Neuroimaging studies have highlighted the possible role of various brain regions and their anatomical connections in dyslexia or ADHD. We hypothesize a combination of shared and distinctive brain alterations supporting the multiple deficit model for different but overlapping clinical presentations.
Exploring the Intersection of Disability Among Students Impacted by the School–Prison Nexus
Dr. Valencia-Ayala, UCSF
Minoritized youth with disabilities are overrepresented in school discipline and the carceral system. Despite extensive research on the school–prison nexus, the intersection of disability is often overlooked. The proposed project seeks to understand why youth with learning disabilities who have been impacted by disproportionate discipline and/or the carceral system continue to be underserved and overly disciplined.
This work aims to highlight potential systemic barriers and/or biases that hinder the educational experience of diverse learners. Student experiences and collaboration will be utilized to promote system-level changes and more culturally responsive learning and diagnostic practices to combat carceral school experiences.
Early Developmental Predictors for Later Academic Performance in Reading: A Longitudinal Study with the Navajo Birth Cohort
Dr. Shuting Zheng, UCSF
Native Americans exhibit low literacy and graduation rates. Data from the Navajo Birth Cohort Study (NBCS) indicate high rates of language delays in early childhood. However, little published work is available on (1) the rate of reading problems and (2) the extent to which early developmental testing can identify those at highest risk for later reading difficulties.
The work follows 35 school-age children in the NBCS who received comprehensive early developmental assessments. We will collect reading performance data along with cognitive and language measures during middle childhood (ages six to eight) to describe reading profiles and identify early predictors of school-age reading performance in children on Navajo Nation. This information will support the timely identification of at-risk children to improve academic outcomes.
Characterizing Heterogeneity to Develop Personalized Interventions for Language Disorders
Dr. Theodore Zanto, UCSF
Although prominent theories of dyslexia attribute a variety of language-based difficulties to a deficient core mechanism, growing evidence indicates dyslexia cannot be characterized by a unifying deficit. Moreover, dyslexia is often accompanied by co-morbidities which compound the problem of diagnosis and treatment. Thus, interventions for dyslexia must address the numerous possible sources of language difficulties to facilitate performance across the heterogeneous population diagnosed with language disorders such as dyslexia.
Here we will assess efficacy of a musical rhythm training intervention that targets several processes that may be related to reading deficiencies: timing, sensorimotor function, and executive control. It is hypothesized that by enhancing these fundamental components of reading, rhythm training will improve reading ability, and that baseline characteristics of timing, sensorimotor function, and executive control will be predictive of treatment response on measures of reading, thereby paving the way for future personalized interventions.