Profile 7: "HIGH PRINT SKILLS (ALPHABETICS)"

Low Intermediate Group - Silent Reading GE 4-5.9

Additional Profile 7 information from the research

In addition to testing the reading skills of ABE learners, the ARCS researchers administered a lengthy questionnaire, so we can give you more information about the people in Profile 7.

• Forty-six (46) percent are Native Speakers of English (NSE).
• The average age is 34.
• The average number of grades completed is 10.1.

Summary of Self-Reported Reading Problems

Trouble With Reading, K-12	Trouble Learning to Read, K-3	Received Academic Help, K-12
36%	27%	41% of Profile 7 Members:   22% = Tutoring or Chapter 1   13% = Special Classes   6% = Tutoring or Chapter 1 AND Special Classes   41% = TOTAL

We know that if a Native Speaker of English, born in the U.S., is in the ABE system and reading between GE 3-5, he/she is probably reading or learning disabled. Forty-one (41) percent of Profile 7 NSE members received academic assistance in K-12.

Oral reading accuracy

Profile 7 learners read orally with accuracy (not timed) at a group average of GE 9.3. Readers are usually able to decode words more accurately when reading passages where they can use meaning and sentence structure to recognize familiar words, rather than when reading words from word lists where there are no contextual clues to aid decoding. Differences between these two forms of oral reading exist for all Profiles except for those groups composed of the weakest readers who read text word-by-word as if reading words on a list.

Phonological Awareness (pseudo-words as measured by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test - Word Attack [WRMT])

The major prerequisite skill of Word Recognition (beyond sight word acquisition) is Phonological Awareness. A high percentage of learners in this group scored in the average range on reading pseudo-words - "words" composed of phonetic letter and syllable combinations, e.g., zoach, phat, snolaker, and of common non-phonetic letter and syllable combinations, e.g., igh. Profile 7 learners are able to decode most of the letter and syllable combinations that make up real English words.

Reading Comprehension and Word Meaning (Vocabulary)

Profile 7 readers are probably able to decode material they do not understand. Their relatively low level of performance on the vocabulary measures, (PPVT-III) and DAR Word Meaning subtest, support this observation.

Receptive (listening) vocabulary: scores range from a few Non-native Speakers of English (NNSE) in the "extremely low" range, most in the "moderately low" range, to a few NSE in the "low average" range. The PPVT-III assesses word knowledge by asking the learner to select one of four pictures that best tells about a word spoken by the examiner. It is an assessment of verbal ability.

Their average GE on the DAR Word Meaning test, "Tell me what X means," is equal to their average GE on passage comprehension and in line with their listening vocabulary.

Three quarters of the group, both the Native speakers and Non-native Speakers of English, have less school-based information about the world than people their age in the general population. They do not have enough background information about social studies or science to provide frameworks for new information.

Profile 7 learners will benefit by a program centered on vocabulary acquisition and comprehension strategies. Such a focus will encourage their outside reading as they bring their Meaning Skills more in line with their Print Skills (Alphabetics). If they can raise their reading comprehension, they will be ready for a High Intermediate curriculum. In addition, continued development of the Print Skills (Alphabetics), especially Spelling, will provide them with solid tools for writing as well as reading.

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Last updated: Thursday, 23-Jul-2009 11:49:17 EDT