Assessment of Neurocognitive Factors in Reading: Grades 4-8

The focus of the current research is to examine the extent to and manner in which difficulties in component reading skills (both top down and bottom up), such as decoding accuracy, fluency, and reading comprehension, occur among older children. In doing so, we will also examine the construct of fluency itself more carefully by teasing apart the relationships between word reading efficiency and text reading fluency; examining the potential overlap or separateness between these two, which are typically collectively subsumed under the term fluency, will allow for a greater understanding of diagnostic, classification, and treatment implications for children with these types of deficits. To accomplish this, we will use behavioral (dynamic assessment/short-term learning and static psychometric approaches) methods to better determine the degree to which “bottom up” and “top down” deficits are present in older readers. Determining causes of impaired reading in older readers in a fine-grained manner will allow for better classification, identification, and treatment.