Scientific reasoning refers to the thinking skills involved in conceiving and conducting an investigation. This study examined how proficiency in performing these skills develops during the upper-elementary school years. A sample of 157 children (age 7-10) took a performance-based scientific reasoning test in three consecutive years. Four distinct…

Detecting a pattern within a sequence of ordered units, defined as patterning, is a cognitive ability that is important in learning mathematics and influential in learning to read. The present study was designed to examine relations between first-grade children's executive functions, patterning, and reading abilities, and to examine whether these…

This study examines differences in English language comprehension, reading fluency, and executive functions among Spanish-English bilinguals with reading difficulties. Reading difficulties examined included general reading difficulties, defined by low word reading and reading comprehension, and specific-reading comprehension difficulties, defined…

This study examines differences in English language comprehension, reading fluency, and executive functions among Spanish-English bilinguals with reading difficulties. Reading difficulties examined included general reading difficulties, defined by low word reading and reading comprehension, and specific-reading comprehension difficulties, defined…

Scientific reasoning abilities are already developing in elementary-school-aged children and enable them to understand the world around them. The goal of the current study was to develop a new instrument for 8- to 10-year-old children in Grades 3 and 4 to measure their understanding of the steps of the "scientific inquiry cycle" (SIC).…

This study used a quasi-experimental design to investigate the impact of Rapid Reading Skills Training (RRST) on some reading outcomes for primary school students in central China and also examined the influence of cognitive flexibility on intervention outcomes. A sample of 108 students (mean age = 11.75 years) were recruited. Students' cognitive…

This study was designed to deepen insights on whether word-problem (WP) solving is a form of text comprehension (TC) and on the role of language in WPs. A sample of 325 second graders, representing high, average, and low reading and math performance, was assessed on (a) start-of-year TC, WP skill, language, nonlinguistic reasoning, working memory,…

The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between executive functions and mathematical abilities to determine the contribution of these functions to math performance. In this study, 30 students were selected from among 4th graders of elementary school, in two groups with low achievement in mathematics (poor) and high achievement…

The purpose of the study was to determine whether individual differences in at-risk 4th graders' language comprehension, nonverbal reasoning, concept formation, working memory, and use of decimal labels (i.e., place value, point, incorrect place value, incorrect fraction, or whole number) are related to their decimal magnitude understanding.…

This study investigated the roles of different executive function (EF) components (inhibition, shifting, and working memory) in 2-step arithmetic word problem solving. A sample of 139 children aged 8 years old and regularly attending the 3rd grade of primary school were tested on 6 EF tasks measuring different EF components, a reading task and a…

This study's hypotheses were that (a) word-problem (WP) solving is a form of text comprehension that involves language comprehension processes, working memory, and reasoning, but (b) WP solving differs from other forms of text comprehension by requiring WP-specific language comprehension as well as general language comprehension. At the start of…

The purpose of this study was to enumerate, categorize, and compare the types of reading comprehension questions and activities included in the manuals of selected basal reading series. The Barrett Taxonomy--Cognitive and Affective Dimensions of Reading Comprehension was selected as the categorization taxonomy. Basal series were classified as…

To assess children's ability to draw inferences from selections of children's literature and to measure the significance of various selected factors to this ability was the problem of this study. Children (432) were evenly divided among grades 4, 5, and 6 and randomly divided at each grade level into two equal groups, one of which read the…

This volume includes reports of two research projects of the Kansas Center for Research in Early Childhood Education. The first project, entitled Individual Analysis of Reading Prerequisites and Curriculum Content, is represented by two studies: (1) A Study of a Pretraining Program and Its Effect on a Subsequent Program for a Left-Right…