Journal of Learning Disabilities最新文献

High school mathematics can have a direct impact on the academic, health, and financial outcomes of students. To understand how to better support students experiencing mathematics difficulty (MD) in Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 (i.e., high school), we conducted a synthesis of 21 studies in which author teams investigated the efficacy of a mathematics intervention across a total sample of 197 students. Overall, 15 studies demonstrated positive outcomes, with four studies demonstrating no effects and two studies demonstrating mixed results. We identified several instructional strategies used across multiple studies: explicit instruction, use of technology, focus on vocabulary, use of representations, and word-problem instruction. In most studies, researchers used single case designs, and most of the mathematics content focused on early algebraic standards. As such, there is a need for more mathematics intervention research at the high school level.

Research on Family Quality of Life (FQoL) has increasingly focused on the impact of learning disabilities on families. However, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of how Specific Learning Disabilities (SpLD) or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity/Disorder (ADHD) affect executive function (EF) deficits in children and FQoL across different household income levels. The current study compared the FQoL ratings from caregivers of three groups of Hong Kong Chinese children with learning disabilities (SpLD n = 107; ADHD n = 43; SpLD & ADHD n = 67, no typically developing control group was included). Results revealed that group classification of learning disabilities was related to two domains of FQoL (family interaction and parenting) through the child's EF. Children with co-occurring SpLD and ADHD exhibit relatively stable EF deficits across income levels, maintaining higher EF deficits than those with SpLD alone and showing less variation than those with ADHD, who demonstrate a significant decrease in EF deficits at higher household income. Executive function deficits were associated with lower family interaction and parenting ratings across group and income levels. The findings enhance our understanding of FQoL among children with SpLD, ADHD, and their co-occurrence, highlighting the need for additional support for these families.

Students in grades 2 through 4 with significant word reading difficulties were randomly assigned to one of two 10-week interventions. In the Dual Treatment condition, decoding instruction emphasized regularity in spelling-sound correspondence, sound-by-sound decoding, and separately taught high-frequency words on a whole-word basis. In the Integrated condition, decoding instruction interleaved regularity and variability in spelling-sound correspondence, targeted larger letter units, and aligned high-frequency word instruction with decoding. At posttest, statistically significant differences favored the Integrated condition on standardized word reading efficiency (g = 0.37), silent word identification fluency (g = 0.41), and an intervention-aligned list of words not targeted in either condition (g = 0.26). Although not statistically significant, effect sizes also favored the Integrated condition on standardized sentence reading efficiency (g = 0.25), intervention-aligned letter-sound correspondence (g = 0.24), and other word lists taught or not taught in both conditions (gs = 0.12 to 0.21). A nonstatistically significant effect favored the Dual Treatment condition on intervention-aligned correct letter sequences spelling (g = -0.19), and null effects were observed on a standardized oral reading fluency (g = 0.04) and intervention-aligned whole word spelling (g = 0.02). Supported exposure to greater variability in spelling-sound correspondence may improve generalized word reading skills.

Executive function is critical for writing, yet its role in children with writing difficulties (WD) remains underexplored. This study examines differences in three executive-function subcomponents (working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility) between children with and without WD, and their effects on spelling and sentence-writing abilities, mediated by visual-motor integration. The focus on Chinese children addresses a critical gap in the predominantly Western-alphabetic writing difficulties literature. A total of 244 Chinese primary school students (122 with WD, 122 without WD) were assessed. Children with WD demonstrated significantly lower accuracy and longer reaction times in executive function tasks as well as lower visual-motor integration scores, compared with their peers without WD. Structural equation modeling revealed that working memory and inhibitory control indirectly predicted writing performance through visual-motor integration, while cognitive flexibility had no significant effect. These findings suggest that executive function impairments, particularly in working memory and inhibitory control, may contribute to WD through their influence on visual-motor integration. The study highlights the importance of addressing both executive function and visual-motor integration in interventions targeting children with WD.

Both vocabulary skill and morphological complexity, or whether words can be broken down into root words and affixes, have a significant impact on word processing for adults with low literacy. We investigated the influence of word-level variables of morphological complexity and root word frequency, and the sentence-level variable of context strength, on word processing in adults with low literacy, who differed on levels of vocabulary depth skills, which was a participant-level variable. Our findings demonstrate that morphological complexity, root word frequency, and context strength are all related to how adult learners process words while reading, but their effects are dependent on participants' vocabulary depth. Participants with higher levels of vocabulary depth were able to more quickly process morphologically complex words and make better use of supportive sentence context as compared to individuals with lower levels of vocabulary depth. These findings suggest that both morphological complexity and vocabulary depth are important for word processing and reading comprehension in adults with low literacy.