In this large-scale study of students from Title 1 schools (N = 14,773), we used multiple-group latent change score (LCS) modeling to investigate the developmental relations between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension in students with a school-identified learning disability (LD; n = 627) and typically developing students (n = 14,146).…

The concept of Matthew effects in reading development refers to a longitudinally widening gap between high achievers and low achievers. Various statistical approaches have been proposed to examine this idea. However, little attention has been paid to psychometric issues of scaling. Specifically, interval-level data are required to compare…

This study investigated whether students with reading disabilities (RD) showed greater regression in reading skills than did non-RD students over the summer vacation. The RD group consisted of 30 students in grades 4 to 6 from a private school for students with learning disabilities and a comparison group of 30 average readers in grades 4 to 6…

It is well established that children and adolescents with learning disabilities are more likely to experience depressed mood than are their peers. Many scholars explain this relationship as resulting from low self-esteem, stress, or social isolation. However, little work has explored whether this relationship continues to exist into young…

This study investigated whether children with language learning disability (LLD) differed from typically-developing peers in their ability to learn meanings of novel words presented during reading. Fifteen 9-11-year-old children with LLD and 15 typically-developing peers read four passages containing 20 nonsense words. Word learning was assessed…

This study suggests that the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Slosson Intelligence Test measure different and limited aspects of a child's ability and are only rough estimates of his/her capability of what is generally termed intelligence. Scores from either should be interpreted with care and in light of other information about a child.…

Results show that Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) IQs are not interchangeable with Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) IQs in a sample of reading disabled children. The PPVT yielded higher IQs on the average than did the WISC-R, supporting results obtained with learning disabled students. (Author/BEF)

Normal and learning disabled (LD) first graders were given a battery of language and perceptual-motor-memory (PMM) tests. Results indicated that: LD children generally are less proficient in vocabulary and language tasks; and language tests are better indicators of learning disabilities than PMM tests. (SJL)

PPVT and WISC-R scores were compared for students ranging in age from 6 to 16. In descending order, Pearson product correlations ranked best for the total sample, emotionally disabled, regular class, mentally retarded, and learning disabled. The PPCT overestimated ability. (Author)