We aimed to investigate the effects of phonological awareness -- PA, rapid automatised naming -- RAN, visuospatial and verbal working memory -- WM and executive functions -- EF on the reading and arithmetic skills of children with low- to medium-performance levels. Participants were 472 Brazilian children from 3rd to 5th grades. Quantile…

We report the validity of a test instrument that assesses the arithmetic ability of primary students by (a) describing the theoretical model of arithmetic ability assessment using Wilson's (2004) four building blocks of constructing measures and (b) providing empirical evidence for the validation study. The instrument consists of 21…

Universal screening in reading is a common, and often required, practice in early elementary school. Computer-adaptive screening tools, such as "Istation's Indicators of Progress-Early Reading" (ISIP-ER), are often chosen for this purpose in schools. In our present study, we examine the validity evidence between the ISIP-ER in…

This quantitative study aimed to research factors that influence third-graders' reading performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, a standardized test used to measure the proficiency of students in various subjects. The independent variables of this study were student attendance, teacher's professional background, and…

Self-regulation forms the rudiments for children's academic achievement and socialization. Although one's executive control and verbal skills are needed in both of the core aspects for academic performance: processing to regulate one's own learning and behavior, young students' cognitive capacity for that is still immature influencing the…

Many studies in the past decades have focused on low and typical mathematics achievers, yet little is known about children with high mathematics achievement, particularly at a young age. The current study aimed to fill this gap and started from the early work of Krutetskii (1976) as a theoretical lens to study the characteristics of high…

Performance on a range of spatial and mathematics tasks was measured in a sample of 1592 students in kindergarten, third grade, and sixth grade. In a previously published analysis of these data, performance was analyzed by grade only. In the present analyses, we examined whether the relations between spatial skill and mathematics skill differed…

Insights on students' own authentic design practices--nascent design practices without much adult guidance--are crucial to informing responsive facilitation of engineering design tasks. This study unpacks how elementary students interpret teacher given information about a design task, and interact with each other and given resources, to traverse a…

Multiple regression data from a teacher-completed one-minute rating scale (i.e., the Brief Behavior, Academic, and Social Screener; B-BASS) predicted academic risk of 198 third- through fifth-grade rural elementary students; teacher ratings across 16 B-BASS items within cognitive, social/emotional, socioeconomic/family, and executive functions…

This study investigates the role of diglossic and orthographic features in reading comprehension in Arabic. Specifically, it probes the independent contribution of language, metalinguistic, and decoding skills in the spoken language and in Standard Arabic to reading comprehension in the "abjad" writing system of Arabic. A sample of 112…

The purpose of this longitudinal study is to investigate the association between poor language skills in toddlers and later reading skills. In contrast to earlier research, the present study used an authentic assessment of language skills conducted by staff in early childhood education and care as a tool for early identification. The participants…

The relationship between latent trait and test-taking speed is an important area of study in assessment research. In addition to contributions of such studies to psychometrics, the factors that affect both ability and speed have implications for test development and have policy consequences especially if the tests are high stakes. This study…

Cognitive, numeracy, and motivational factors have been implicated in math achievement. However, few studies have investigated these factors simultaneously and in middle childhood, limiting our understanding of the relative contributions of these factors during an important developmental period. The current study investigated how one numeracy,…

Abstract Lego construction ability is associated with a variety of spatial skills and mathematical outcomes. However, it is unknown whether these relations are causal. We aimed to establish the causal impact of Lego construction training on: Lego construction ability; a broad range of spatial skills; and on mathematical outcomes in 7-9-year-olds.…

Students' ability to operate with increasingly more complex units has been shown to be a key factor in their conceptual development. These abilities have been characterized as "stages of units coordination." This article focuses on the domain of composing and decomposing composite units. Using data from a teaching experiment with a…