Assess reading fluency difficulties in accurate decoders by evaluating working memory and response-selection speed, not just decoding accuracy¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Because children with ADHD who decode accurately can still show inefficient reading fluency, the article recommends that evaluation of fluency problems among accurate decoders include measures of working memory and non-graphomotor processing speed. The authors state that "it will be important to investigate the association between the slowed 'processing' typical of children with ADHD and reading comprehension skills", and call for "Development of additional measures permitting the dissociation of response components".

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Assessment batteries including working memory measures (e.g., verbal and spatial span tasks) alongside timed fluency measures

Constraints¶

• The relation of working memory to processing speed and reading fluency may differ for children with lower verbal ability; the sample was not large enough to test this

Target Learners¶

• children with adequate word reading skills showing fluency difficulties
• children with ADHD

Target Learning Goals¶

• reading fluency
• reading comprehension readiness

Affordances¶

• Processing Speed Component Deconstruction Model

Claims¶

• Children with ADHD show lower oral contextual and non-contextual reading fluency than controls despite intact word reading [+W]
• Non-graphomotor processing speed (residualized Coding) predicts oral reading fluency similarly in children with and without ADHD [+W]
• Verbal working memory predicts oral reading fluency in children with and without ADHD [+W]
• Verbal and spatial working memory, and verbal attention span, explain unique variance in Coding beyond motor speed, symptom severity, and IQ [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Jacobson, L. A., Ryan, M., Martin, R. B., Ewen, J., Mostofsky, S. H., Denckla, M. B., & Mahone, E. M. (2011). Working Memory Influences Processing Speed and Reading Fluency in ADHD. Child Neuropsychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/09297049.2010.532204