The aims of the current project were to: (1) describe average change in the use of academic words across the school year in writing and (2) examine potential predictors of growth in academic word use in response to morphology-focused supplemental instruction. Investigators utilized written expository responses of 824 students in 5th grade before…

Purpose: The primary aims of this study were to: (1) to describe average change in the writing quality of fifth grade students from the fall and spring of the school year; (2) examine relations between linguistic features and writing quality rating; and (3) test for differential growth between groups of students who differ in linguistic and…

The aims of the current project were to: (a) describe lexical diversity, morphologically complex word use (MCW), and writing quality ratings of 5th-grade students with diverse language backgrounds and (b) to examine the relationship between analytical components and writing quality ratings with performance on measures of language and literacy…

This study aimed to examine language at the teacher/classroom level among second-grade classrooms that differ in socioeconomic backgrounds. Measures of teachers' vocabulary input across the school day throughout the school year were examined. There was a significant difference in the proportion of academic word use between classes that differed in…

This study aimed to examine verbal behaviors within communicative interactions at the teacher/classroom level among second-grade classrooms that differ in socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Investigators recorded and examined language use across instructional periods for 38 second-grade classrooms. Teachers' communication behaviors were…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to advance the analysis of written language transcripts by validating an automated scoring procedure using an automated open-access tool for calculating morphological complexity (MC) from written transcripts. Method: The MC of words in 146 written responses of students in fifth grade was assessed using two…

Complex data structures are ubiquitous in psychological research, especially in educational settings. In the context of randomized controlled trials, students are nested in classrooms but may be cross-classified by other units, such as small groups. Furthermore, in many cases only some students may be nested within a unit while other students may…

Purpose: This study examines the response patterns of 278 Spanish-English dual language learners (DLLs) on a standardized test of receptive English vocabulary. Method: Investigators analyzed responses to 131 items on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Fourth Edition (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) focusing on differential accuracy on items influenced by…

Complex data structures are ubiquitous in psychological research, especially in educational settings. In the context of randomized controlled trials, students are nested in classrooms but may be cross-classified by other units, such as small groups. Further, in many cases only some students may be nested within a unit while other students may not.…

Previous research has revealed conflicting results with regard to the role of the magnocellular visual system in reading and dyslexia. In order to investigate this further, the present study examined the relationship between performance on two magnocellular tasks (temporal gap detection and coherent motion), reading rate (oral and silent), and…

This study aimed to describe 2nd-grade teachers' use of different forms of praise during English Language Arts (ELA) instruction and examine if teacher characteristics were associated with differences in the use of different types of praise. Investigators recorded 2nd-grade teachers' language use during randomly selected, 15-min excerpts (n = 912)…

This study aimed to describe 2nd-grade teachers' use of different forms of praise during English Language Arts (ELA) instruction and examine if teacher characteristics were associated with differences in the use of different types of praise. Investigators recorded 2nd-grade teachers' language use during randomly selected, 15-min excerpts (n = 912)…

Purpose: The aims of the current project were twofold: (a) to describe the use of academic words in written language samples by fifth-grade students and (b) to examine the predictive relation between academic word use in academic writing and reading comprehension. Method: Investigators utilized written expository responses of 1,128 students in…

The primary aims of this study were twofold: (a) to describe average change in the written narrative performance of second grade students from the fall and spring of the school year and (b) examine patterns of individual growth to test for Matthew effects. Participants included 299 children in second grade. Microstructural measures were derived…

The primary aims of this study were two-fold: (1) to describe average change in the written narrative performance of second grade students from the fall and spring of the school year; and (2) examine patterns of individual growth to test for Matthew effects. Participants included 299 children in second grade. Microstructural measures were derived…