The primary goal of the present systematic review was to examine the criteria and measures used for assessing students with "specific comprehension deficit" (SCD) who have adequate decoding skills but still perform poorly on reading comprehension assessments. From a systematic review of 32 studies, we found four predominant selection…

Students with dyslexia demonstrate reading difficulty in early literacy skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, word recognition, decoding), and administering screeners is a necessary step to implement effective intervention. There are several commonly used reading screeners, but the decision accuracy and predictive value between them varies. In the…

The aim of the present study was to investigate the executive function and planning features of students with different types of learning difficulties. Students with mathematics difficulty (MD; n = 17), reading difficulty (RD; n = 12), and their commonalities (MDRD; n = 22), along with typically academically developing peers (TD; n = 22), were…

English learners (ELs) with reading disabilities (RDs) have been among the lowest performers on academic achievement tests that assess vocabulary. To meet academic demands and prepare for college or careers, ELs with RDs clearly need support in terms of vocabulary acquisition; however, relevant research is scarce. This study investigated the…

This systematic review article summarizes the effects of explicit text structure instruction on expository text comprehension for adolescents with learning disabilities or at risk for reading failure. A thorough literature search with four databases and backward citation search identified nine studies published in the past 22 years for inclusion…

Poor comprehenders are a significant subgroup of poor readers who, due to their ability to read aloud accurately, are often difficult to identify. This study aimed to determine whether assessment using two oral language tasks, mapped onto the two components of the Simple View of Reading, would provide an efficient approach to identification.…

This research assessed the impact of combining small-group cognitive reading intervention with a motivational program targeting students' goals, emotions, and self-efficacy beliefs on the reading performance and motivation of third-grade students at risk for reading difficulties (n = 25, M[subscript age] = 8.99, SD = 0.38). Using a…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether group-based differences exist in word- and text-level reading in a clinical sample of students with dyslexia, and to shed light on the cognitive processes supporting these essential skills. Second- through seventh-grade students were administered a battery of standardized measures of cognitive…

Previous studies of K-12 dyslexia legislation have described broad trends in legislative content, such as the presence or absence of screening and intervention requirements. This study uses document analysis to provide a finer-grained description of the laws to highlight critical variation in policy that will directly affect (a) the number and…

Accurate and timely identification of reading disabilities (RDs) is essential for providing appropriate and effective remediation for struggling readers. However, practices for identifying RDs lack sufficient documentation within and across educational and clinical settings. The wide range of possible practices intended to identify struggling…

Universal screening is a critical component of school-based prevention systems. Screening data enable educators to target students for supplemental intervention, align resources to meet needs, and identify students who may be at risk for learning disabilities. One major requirement of the screening process is that all students are included to gain…

The purpose of this feasibility study was to inform the development of an intervention to support reading and self-regulation for students with significant reading difficulties and disabilities (RDs), including dyslexia. Participants were 21 special educators, dyslexia specialists, and reading interventionists and 48 students in Grades 2 to 4.…

Many states now mandate early screening for dyslexia, but vary in how they address these mandates. There is confusion about the nature of screening versus diagnostic assessments, risk versus diagnosis, concurrent versus predictive validity, and inattention to indices of classification accuracy as the basis for determining risk. To help define what…

This study investigated the word reading and listening comprehension difficulties of fourth-grade students with significant reading comprehension deficits and the cognitive difficulties that underlie these weaknesses. Latent profile analysis was used to classify a sample of fourth-grade students (n = 446) who scored below the 16th percentile on a…

Students most at risk for reading-related disabilities frequently struggle with word recognition and oral language, including, in the earliest grades, specific skills related to phonological awareness and vocabulary. Classroom teachers' delivery of high-quality differentiated supplemental instruction may promote reading acquisition for these…