Early Reading Failure and Later Socioemotional Maladjustment

• In Event: Roundtable Session 60
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Literacy Issues and Practices in Special Education

Abstract

We used a longitudinal sub-sample of children (N=14,820) participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) to evaluate the hypothesis that poor reading negatively impacts children’s socio-emotional adjustment. Results indicated that poor readers in 3rd grade were more likely (OR=1.6) to express negative general self-concepts in 8th grade. This relation was observed despite statistical control for prior histories of negative self-concept, learning difficulties in mathematics, behavioral problems, and many additional factors.

Authors

• Paul L. Morgan, The Pennsylvania State University

• Yu Zhao, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park

• George Farkas, University of California - Irvine