Investigating Adolescents' Literacy Skill Trajectories Using Latent Transition Modeling

• In Event: Critical Issues in Literacy Research 2

Abstract

This paper tracks the literacy skill profiles of adolescent students from diverse backgrounds in different instructional programs. While differential effects of instructional approaches have been shown for adolescent readers (e.g., Cantrell et al., 2010), their influence on overall literacy development remains uncertain. In addition, adolescent literacy research often fails to recognize adolescents’ developmental complexities (Ivey, 1999), or their linguistic and cultural heterogeneity. The present study took a person-oriented approach to modeling literacy development by examining students’ literacy skill profile transitions from Grade 6 to Grade 10 and the relative effects of gender, immigration status, home language background, ESL support, and academic tracking. The results suggest effective literacy interventions can be tailored for diverse student populations. Implications for policy-making are discussed.

Authors

• Jeanne Sinclair, Memorial University of Newfoundland

• Eunice Eunhee Jang, University of Toronto

• Megan Vincett, OISE/University of Toronto