2007 — 2008 |
Cirino, Paul T |
R03Activity Code Description: To provide research support specifically limited in time and amount for studies in categorical program areas. Small grants provide flexibility for initiating studies which are generally for preliminary short-term projects and are non-renewable. |
Conceptual Precursors of Mathematical &Reading Outcomes
[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Conceptual Precursors of Mathematical and Reading Outcomes The importance of learning to read is well-known, and much is also known about the precursors of reading skills (e.g., Scarborough, 1998; Schatschneider et al., 2004); however, less is known regarding the impact of such skills on the development of math competence. Math skills are also critical for day to day functioning and future employment, particularly in an progressively more technological society (CED, 2003; NCMST, 2000; McClosky & Macaruso, 1995, Rivera-Batiz, 1992). However, many aspects of math precursors and outcomes are not well understood in themselves, or as they relate to reading abilities and disabilities and precursors. Research on the precursors of mathematics and reading has focused on one of these domains to the exclusion of the other. However, the strong relationship between these domains makes it unlikely that this coordinated development occurs through non-overlapping sets of precursors. Precursors are operationalized here as cognitive skills that predict mathematical or reading outcomes but do not directly involve arithmetic or word reading. The objective of this grant is to identify whether there are underlying precursors of both mathematical and reading outcomes, and to determine their specificity/generality within or across academic domains. This information can improve the effectiveness of prediction of mathematical and reading outcomes in the context of one another. The project will use a two-year longitudinal design with one cohort of 450 kindergarten children. Precursors will be measured in Spring of Kindergarten, and outcome measures in Spring of Grade 1. Specific Aim 1 uses a common sample to replicate and extend findings that have been reported separately for reading and mathematical precursors and outcomes. Specific Aim 2 focuses on cross-domain prediction, including hypotheses about the degree to which precursors of one domain predict outcomes in the other, in the context of known precursors for that domain. The hypothesis that relations among precursors are sufficient to explain the relation between mathematical and reading outcomes will also be evaluated. Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling (ML-SEM) will be used, with precursors as predictors and mathematical and reading outcomes as criterion variables. ML-SEM models consider the degree to which student performance varies between students within the same classroom, as well as between students in different classrooms. The results of this project on the overlap of mathematical and reading precursors and their outcomes is an essential step in directing early identification procedures for students with difficulty in one or more areas of the mathematics and/or reading domains, and these results may also inform future studies that can enhance early prevention and intervention efforts. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]
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0.958 |
2012 — 2016 |
Cirino, Paul T |
P50Activity Code Description: To support any part of the full range of research and development from very basic to clinical; may involve ancillary supportive activities such as protracted patient care necessary to the primary research or R&D effort. The spectrum of activities comprises a multidisciplinary attack on a specific disease entity or biomedical problem area. These grants differ from program project grants in that they are usually developed in response to an announcement of the programmatic needs of an Institute or Division and subsequently receive continuous attention from its staff. Centers may also serve as regional or national resources for special research purposes. |
Development of a Framework For Executive Functions in the Context of Reading Com
Executive Functions (EFs) are conceptualized in different, yet overlapping ways in the neuropsychological, cognitive, and educational literatures, and they have a robust relationship to reading comprehension (RC) and other academic skills. Commonalities include the processes necessary for approaching problems, for generating/selecting/implementing strategies relevant to the goal of solving a problem, and for monitoring those processes to alter course if needed. Reflecting these commonalities, EFs are defined here as domain general control processes important for managing goal-directed behavior. Project 2 is designed to clarify the structure of EF, determine the relevance of that structure to RC and other academic skills, and evaluate how EF might most effectively be integrated into remedial RC interventions such as those proposed by Project 3. Aim 1 assesses dimensions of EF (shifting, inhibition, attentional control, fluency, planning, regulatory control, and contextual learning) using latent variables in a large, diverse sample (N=750) of children aged 8 to 12. Interrelationships of EF dimensions, and with non-EF dimensions, are evaluated with RC as a criterion, including comparisons among subgroups of students with difficulty in different academic domains. Aim 2 manipulates key instructional components (similar to those used in Project 3) in conjunction with student EF characteristics in struggling and typical readers. Manipulated components identify what types of instruction are differentially effective (incorporating background knowledge and self-regulation to varying degrees; comparing strategies individually and collectively with self-regulation components). EF characteristics evaluates for whom manipulations might be differentially effective. It is expected that Project 2 will produce a useful framework for guiding research linking EF with RC, elucidating the value-added contribution of EF in the context of known language-based contributions. We have organized Projects 2 and 3 to accelerate the often delayed connection between cognitive processing type studies like those proposed in Project 2 and intervention studies like those proposed in Project 3 by co-designing the studies so that findings can be integrated with the intent of developing more impactful interventions.
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0.958 |
2017 — 2021 |
Cirino, Paul T |
P50Activity Code Description: To support any part of the full range of research and development from very basic to clinical; may involve ancillary supportive activities such as protracted patient care necessary to the primary research or R&D effort. The spectrum of activities comprises a multidisciplinary attack on a specific disease entity or biomedical problem area. These grants differ from program project grants in that they are usually developed in response to an announcement of the programmatic needs of an Institute or Division and subsequently receive continuous attention from its staff. Centers may also serve as regional or national resources for special research purposes. |
Attention in Reading and Reading Difficulties
Multiple cognitive processes are related to academic outcomes in learning disabilities (LDs), but how processes influence academic skill, and whether academic skill learning changes cognitive processes is unclear1-7. Studies relating academic outcomes and cognitive processes are often not informed by theories that specify the nature of their relations. The focus of Project 2 is on attention because: (1) cognitive attention is a ?hub? ability that fosters development of higher cognitive functions, making it an important target to study in children with learning difficulties8; (2) behavioral attention difficulties often co-occur with academic difficulties. Their presence increases the severity of the learning problem9; (3) attention may have both ?state-like? and ?trait-like? properties, but little research has tested these ideas in individuals with learning difficulties; (4) (visual) attention has been implicated in theories of word reading10-12, and internal control over attention has been implicated in reading comprehension; however, the nature and size of these relations in children with reading difficulties is unclear; (5) research on attention has a rich theoretical and empirical base that are rarely employed for studying the relation of attention and academic performance; (6) attention is a potential candidate skill that may be advantaged in individuals who are proficient at multiple languages, thereby making Project 2 (Attention) particularly relevant. Consistent with the RFA, we focus on a group with persistent reading difficulties that is historically underserved ? middle-school aged current or former English learners with a range of language proficiencies, and where Spanish is a home language. Project 2 builds on findings from the previous 5 years that focused on executive function and its relation with academic skill. Project 2 intersects with each of other projects in this Center, with three aims that address the relation of attention, reading, and reading difficulties. Aim 1 examines how attention interacts with academic skills over time by assessing both longitudinally, for different types of attention, different components of reading and math, and for students with and without reading difficulties (n = 424 to 1044). Aim 2 is focused on parsing the contribution of two aspects of attention to reading: visual attention and internal control over attention conceptualized as ?mind wandering? (total n = 270). We focus on these aspects of attention because of theories that specifically relate them to word reading and fluency and to reading comprehension, seeking to understand the conditions under which these aspects of attention can be manipulated to impact reading and reading difficulties. Aim 3 uses the Aim 1 sample (n = 424) in a measurement study to address the structure of attentional constructs to one another, and to closely related constructs (processing speed, working memory). Because the aspects of attention we study are chosen from known theory, and situated within a generalized taxonomy of attention13, Project 2 (Attention) will clarify the role of attention for reading in the context of several other reading predictors (e.g., language).
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0.958 |