Breaking the Cycle: Home and School Factors That Support Struggling Students' Reading Acquisition

• In Event: 31.084 - Dimensions of Educational Stratification

Abstract

In reading acquisition, the “Matthew Effect” describes the cumulative advantage model in which early differences in reading ability widen as time goes on. However, some students are able to recover and have higher than predicted reading achievement. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), this study investigates home and school factors that support accelerated reading growth for struggling readers. Results of growth models and cross-sectional models suggest that there are students who achieve greater than expected reading achievement, and that this accelerated growth is associated with particular home and instructional practices. Consistent with the stages of reading developmental model, instructional practices vary in their effectiveness based on current reading ability of the student.

Author

• Laura Northrop, University of Pittsburgh