Reading Profiles May Not Be an Informative Approach to Identifying At-Risk Readers in Middle School
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abstract
Latent profile analysis is a widely used approach to identifying subgroups of students at risk for reading difficulties. However, evidence from reading research involving middle schoolers challenges the utility and meaning of these putatively categorically distinct reading profiles, which can be statistically derived even in the absence of real profiles. The current study challenges the view that reading profiles reflect distinct groups. In fact, it tests the hypothesis that reading is continuous, with severity gradations in its performance. The sample consisted of 695 seventh graders (Mage = 12.76 years, SDage = 0.43) from Slovenia reading in English as a foreign language. The main outcome measures included various assessments of reading skills in English as a foreign language. Results of the latent profile analysis showed that reading profiles were arrayed in a tiered spectrum of severity, from higher to lower reading performance. Profiles were not qualitatively different, and relations with external correlates increased consistently with each profile. Findings suggest that reading profiles in middle school may represent continuous gradations. Hence, reading interventions in middle school should be based on continuous liability assessments rather than profile subtyping.Key words: English as a foreign language; middle school; reading groups.---Analiza latentnih profila esto je koriten pristup za identifikaciju rizinih podskupina uenika s tekoama u itanju. Ipak, rezultati istraivanja itanja uenika viih razreda osnovne kole dovode u pitanje korisnost i znaenje tih navodno kategoriki razliitih italakih profila, koji mogu biti rezultat statistikih postupaka ak i u odsustnosti stvarnih profila. U ovom istraivanju propituje se stav da italaki profili odraavaju jasno diferencirane skupine. U stvari, testira se hipoteza da je itanje kontinuirano, s gradacijom teine njegove izvedbe. Uzorak je obuhvatio 695 uenika sedmoga razreda (Mage = 12,76 godina, SDage = 0,43) iz Slovenije koji su itali na engleskome kao stranome jeziku. Glavne ishodine mjere ukljuivale su raznolike ocjene italakih vjetina u engleskome kao stranome jeziku. Rezultati analize latentnih profila pokazali su da su italaki profili rasporeeni u slojevitom spektru teine, od vee do manje uspjenosti u itanju. Profili se nisu kvalitativno razlikovali, a njihovi odnosi s vanjskim korelatima jednolino su se poveavali sa svakim profilom. Naime, rezultati pokazuju da italaki profili u nioj srednjoj koli predstavljaju kontinuiranu gradaciju. Stoga bi se intervencije u itanju u nioj srednjoj koli trebale zasnivati na neprekinutoj procjeni rizika, prije nego na odreivanju podtipova profila.Kljune rijei: engleski kao strani jezik; nia srednja kola; italake skupine.
