Poster #5 - Learning Disabilities and Social Competence on Academic Achievement

• In Event: 3-001 - Poster Session 2 during Breakfast

Abstract

Students with learning disabilities (LD) have some of the highest dropout rates among all students with disabilities at 19% (National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2015). LD are difficulties in learning and using academic skills, despite interventions that target those difficulties (American Psychological Association, 2013). Students with LD are confronted with social difficulties that may contribute to their academic performance. Past research has found that students with LD are perceived by peers as lacking in social competence (SC; Nowicki, 2003). SC is defined as two interacting components: social skills as perceived by others and self-perceptions of social ability (Nowicki, 2003). Because there is sparse literature on the relationship between academic performance and SC among students with LD, the current study examines whether the diagnosis of LD will moderate the relationship between SC and academic achievement scores.
The sample of the study was comprised of N=10,413 fifth-grade students with and without LD from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), which is nationally representative of students from kindergarten to eighth grade. Two moderation regression analyses were conducted to examine whether the LD diagnosis moderates the relationship between academic achievement scores and SC. The overall model was significant for both reading scores, F(3,10409)=209.40, p<0.05, and math scores, F(3,10409)=157.00, p<0.05. Specifically, for reading scores, simple effects analyses were found to be significant for typical students, F(1,10409)=32.43, p<0.05, but not for students with LD, p>0.05. Additionally, for math scores, simple effects analyses were significant for typical students, F(1,10409)=4.83, p<0.05, and LD students, F(1,10409)=6.56, p<0.05 (See Table 1).
These findings suggest the relationship between SC and academic achievement scores partly depend on diagnosis of LD. There was a relationship between reading scores and SC for typical students, but not for students with LD. Specifically, reading scores for typical students increased as SC increased. Additionally, a relationship was found between math scores and SC for typical students and students with LD. Specifically, math scores for typical students increased as SC increased, however, reading scores decreased as SC increased for students with LD. This is contrary to the literature (Norwicki, 2003), as results suggest with higher SC students with LD are performing worse than with lower SC. Findings indicate emphasis on increasing social skills should be redirected to directly influencing academic achievement scores. Future research should focus on access to educational resources for students with LD.

Authors

• Dina Naji, California State University, Fullerton
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Kuang, California State University, Fullerton

• Susan Sy, California State University, Fullerton