Children at Risk of Poor Educational Outcomes: In Search of a Transdisciplinary Theoretical Framework

Children and youth who sustain traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at risk for being unidentified or misidentified and, even if appropriately identified, are at risk of encountering professionals who are ill-equipped to address their unique needs. A comparison of the number of people in Tennessee ages 3–21 years incurring brain injury compared to the number of students ages 3–21 years being categorized and served as TBI by the Department of Education (DOE) motivated us to create this program. Identified needs addressed by the program include the following: (a) accurate identification of students with TBI; (b) training of school personnel; (c) development of linkages and training of hospital personnel; and (d) hospital-school transition intervention. Funded by Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) grants with support from the Tennessee DOE, Project BRAIN focuses on improving educational outcomes for students with TBI through the provision of specialized group training and ongoing education for educators, families, and health professionals who support students with TBI. The program seeks to link families, hospitals, and community health providers with school professionals such as speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to identify and address the needs of students with brain injury.

Download Full-text

Discriminant Validation of the Test of Reading Performance (TORP) for Identifying Children at Risk of Reading Difficulties

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027//1015-5759.16.2.139 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 139-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Padeliadu Susana ◽

Georgios D. Sideridis

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Elementary School Students ◽

Reading Difficulties ◽

Reading Performance ◽

Low Achievers ◽

Children At Risk ◽

School Students ◽

Students At Risk ◽

Group A ◽

The Mean

Abstract This study investigated the discriminant validation of the Test of Reading Performance (TORP), a new scale designed to evaluate the reading performance of elementary-school students. The sample consisted of 181 elementary-school students drawn from public elementary schools in northern Greece using stratified random procedures. The TORP was hypothesized to measure six constructs, namely: “letter knowledge,” “phoneme blending,” “word identification,” “syntax,” “morphology,” and “passage comprehension.” Using standard deviations (SD) from the mean, three groups of students were formed as follows: A group of low achievers in reading (N = 9) including students who scored between -1 and -1.5 SD from the mean of the group. A group of students at risk of reading difficulties (N = 6) including students who scored between -1.5 and -2 SDs below the mean of the group. A group of students at risk of serious reading difficulties (N = 6) including students who scored -2 or more SDs below the mean of the group. The rest of the students (no risk, N = 122) comprised the fourth group. Using discriminant analyses it was evaluated how well the linear combination of the 15 variables that comprised the TORP could discriminate students of different reading ability. Results indicated that correct classification rates for low achievers, those at risk for reading problems, those at risk of serious reading problems, and the no-risk group were 89%, 100%, 83%, and 97%, respectively. Evidence for partial validation of the TORP was provided through the use of confirmatory factor analysis and indices of sensitivity and specificity. It is concluded that the TORP can be ut ilized for the identification of children at risk for low achievement in reading. Analysis of the misclassified cases indicated that increased variability might have been responsible for the existing misclassification. More research is needed to determine the discriminant validation of TORP with samples of children with specific reading disabilities.

Download Full-text