In Search of Matthew Effects in Reading

The concept of Matthew effects in reading development refers to a longitudinally widening gap between high achievers and low achievers. Various statistical approaches have been proposed to examine this idea. However, little attention has been paid to psychometric issues of scaling. Specifically, int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of learning disabilities 2016-09, Vol.49 (5), p.499-514
Main Authors: Protopapas, Athanassios, Parrila, Rauno, Simos, Panagiotis G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement Gap
Child
Child Development
Comparative Analysis
Correlation
Differences
Educational Measurement - statistics & numerical data
Elementary School Students
Female
Foreign Countries
Greece (Crete)
High achievers
Humans
Individual differences
Intelligence Tests
Learning Disabilities
Literacy
Longitudinal Studies
Low achievers
Male
Models, Psychological
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test
Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data
Reading
Reading Ability
Reading Achievement
Reading Comprehension
Reading Difficulties
Reading Fluency
Reading Instruction
Reading Skills
Regression (Statistics)
Research Methodology
Special education
Spelling
Statistical Analysis
Verbal Ability
Vocabulary
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Summary:The concept of Matthew effects in reading development refers to a longitudinally widening gap between high achievers and low achievers. Various statistical approaches have been proposed to examine this idea. However, little attention has been paid to psychometric issues of scaling. Specifically, interval-level data are required to compare performance differences across performance ranges, but only ordinal-level data are available with current literacy measures. To demonstrate the interpretability problems of contrasting growth slopes, we use data from a longitudinal study of literacy development. We explore the possibility of comparing across ages, matched for performance, and we examine the consequences of nonlinear growth, temporal lag estimates, and individual differences in developmental progression. We conclude that, although conceptually appealing, the widening gap prediction is not empirically testable.
ISSN:0022-2194
1538-4780
DOI:10.1177/0022219414559974