Assignment 3

This assignment will be graded and count for 60% of the grade for the assignments part of the Risk &
Resilience course (with the other 40% of the assignments part determined by the grade for Assignment
2; these assignments together count for 40% of the final grade of Risk & Resilience).

Please upload your assignment to Canvas before 17:00, Friday 22nd October. The document should be
labelled: batoolnagdee_assignment3

For this graded assignment you will describe the results from the papers you found to answer your
research question. You first formulate your research question and provide a short theoretical
framework. For the results, you make a table including all relevant aspects of the papers as discussed
in the working group and add it to the assignment. Make sure you describe the results with as much
detail as is necessary to evaluate the value of the results for answering the research question. A good
results section structures the findings in a way that is helpful in understanding how the findings from
different studies should be interpreted together to provide a balanced answer to the research
question. Make sure to include a reference list (formatted according to APA7).

Research question:

To what extent is lower elementary school children’s motivation for reading and writing
associated with literacy difficulties?

To what extent does this association depend on the quality of classroom practices of
instructional quality, classroom organization, and emotional support?

Theoretical framework:

Literacy encompasses a broad range of skills of which reading and writing are two
complementary facets (Wengelin & Arfé, 2018), reading being receptive and writing productive
(Frankel et al., 2016; Turner, 1995). Children with polygenic reading disorders may present with
literacy difficulties especially in reading and/or writing and may be susceptible to negative
socio-emotional repercussions, eventually resulting in academic failure (Haft, Myers & Hoeft,
2016). Further risk factors for children experiencing literacy difficulties include lack of print
environments, lack of parental education, low socio-economic status (Neuman & Moland,
2019;Zijlstra et al., 2020), and home-school incongruity (Dulay et. al, 2019).

The ability to read what text actually says accounts for only one aspect of reading and if the
child experiences difficulty at this level, fewer meaning making opportunities may take place
(Frankel et al.,2017). Although there are distinct clinical labels for reading and writing problems,
difficulties in learning reading and writing are often associated. It is known that reading and
writing require different abilities but less is known about how these different processes
interact. However, lack of a significant relationship between the processes of learning reading
and learning writing at a certain moment shouldn’t lead to the assumption that either the
reading or writing problem of the child are isolated areas of deficits, or that the deficit of the
child in one system will not affect the development of skills in the other system, or that
intervention in the one domain cannot affect the other (Wengelin & Arfé, 2018).

Motivation entails reasons for enacting behaviours and in the classroom, these extend to
literacy learning activities, being the focus of activity for hours each day of school (Nolen,
2007;Woolfolk, 2010). Motivation may also be viewed as socially constructed thus subject to
change in terms of environmental contexts (Nolen, 2007; Pajares, 1996).

Results

Studies found consisted of integrated approaches in which instructional quality, organization

and emotional support were investigated in varying combinations. Studies included the
following: children were in the pre-school, kindergarten or elementary school stages, and child
samples included those presenting with, or having a risk profile of literacy difficulties. All the
studies except for one Finnish study, were carried out in the USA. An area for further study
may investigate the relationship between literacy difficulties and motivation, together with
classroom practices in lower elementary school, in different cultural contexts. In studies
measuring motivation, self-reports were used since motivation is a construct that cannot
necessarily be observed. However these study findings were consistent with one another
suggesting that the self-report measures were reliable. Studies relevant to children’s motivation
for reading and writing focused on reading and writing behaviours, activities and competencies
in relation to motivation and classroom practices, with findings being relatively consistent.

Older elementary children’s reports of motivations for reading were measured according to
dimensions. Correlations of the dimensions of children’s reading motivation to reading activity
were statistically significant and positive except for work avoidance, which was negative.
Generally, children highest in motivation said they read the most, and children lowest in
motivation said they read the least. Many children have a mixture of motivational
characteristics, some of which may facilitate literacy engagement and others that could lead
them to disengage, both of which may inform classroom practices (Baker & Wigfield, 1999).
Similar results were found for children subjected to Concept Oriented Reading Instruction
(CORI) wherein integrated theme-based, age-relatable topics are used. The study investigated
the extent that instruction designed to increase the motivation and cognitive processes of
reading would increase outcomes for both low-achieving and high-achieving students. The
correlations of motivation and the achievement variables were statistically significant in many
cases. Perceived difficulty and avoidance were consistently correlated with reading
achievement variables in the post-test. CORI students scored higher on reading post-test
measures, and ecological knowledge and the intervention was equally effective for lower
achievers and higher achievers (Guthrie et al., 2009).Thus children who are work avoidant may
experience difficulty with reading as it may not be practiced enough, from lack of motivation.

In a longitudinal study, lower elementary children were investigated regarding motivations in

literacy for reading or not reading and writing or not writing. Themes emerged, such as task
orientation, in which a change from mastery goals towards interests occurred from grades one
to three respectively; interest development, wherein literacy as an activity rather than ‘work’
was valued, and importance of literacy in the classroom- whether literacy skills engagement was
performance motivated or affect motivated. Specific to the complexity of writing, the
instructional and supportive context of the classroom may be particularly important (Nolen,
2007)

In a mixed-method, short-term study, lower elementary school children and their teachers
were observed in their classrooms and children interviewed. The qualitative nature of the
study, provides a nuanced, information rich frame of reference for individual differences. The
strongest predictor of motivation was the literacy task, perhaps considering that in school, tasks
are a tangible embodiment of literacy for students and may be powerful for those beginning
formal literacy instruction. During open tasks, children used more reading strategies, persisted
longer, and controlled their attention better regardless of instructional condition. Factors in
open tasks that appeared to influence children's motivation were opportunities for challenge,
for student control, for satisfying interests, and for collaboration (Nolen, 2007; Turner, 1995). In
a writing intervention study, of lower elementary schoolchildren a similar finding was noted.
There was little difference in their final writings but the children in the fast-progress group had
more ownership over their task (Harmey & Rodgers, 2017).

In a study of young elementary school students tutored by para-educators, tutored students

outperformed non-tutored controls on a reading skills measures. No significant differences
were found between the two tutored groups, suggesting that tutoring in dyads is an alternative
to individual instruction. Also, that para-educators can play an important role in schools serving
large numbers of at-risk students if classroom teachers alone are unable to provide these
students the intensive support they need (Vadasy & Sanders, 2008).

A small group of elementary school children were tutored using instructional interventions for
writing skills. The results of the comparison of the two treatments showed that each treatment
exerted a beneficial effect-but on a different aspect of writing (Berninger et al., 1995).

A classroom that is poorly organized may be chaotic or have significant disruptions that prevent
optimal learning. A more organized classroom may be characterized by fewer disruptions
during instructional time, better teacher planning, and student engagement which allow for
more learning time. More learning time can lead to greater achievement as demonstrated by
positive effects on children’s reading outcomes (Freiberg et al., 2009; Opuni, 2006).

Emotional support and classroom organization in kindergarten were positively associated with
the development of children’s reading skills across grade one specifically for those prone to
reading difficulties. The benefits of a well-organized kindergarten were clearer for children at
risk of reading difficulty (Silinskasa et al, 2017).

In an integrated interventions programme comprising of instructional and emotional support

aspects, two versions of a highly scaffolded curriculum, both inclusive of socio-emotional
support aspects, i.e. reflection, mature thinking, self-motivation, prosocial, problem solving and
evaluation skills, were implemented for the experimental groups. One version entailed an
explicit socio-emotional support component. There were positive impacts of the two versions
of the curriculum on literacy and math outcomes, but none additional for the children receiving
explicit socioemotional instruction. These results indicated that teacher-directed, small-group
instructional activities promote the development of children's early literacy compared to
traditional instruction. Students with better self-regulation have enhanced receptivity to
academic instruction, likely because they are better able to attend to instruction and to sustain
attention. Therefore, these students may have enhanced learning outcomes relative to
students with weaker self-regulation (Lonigan et al. 2015). In classrooms with high levels of
emotional support, teachers create a positive climate for learning in which everyone involved
wants to be there, and where there is awareness of children’s needs and responses to them
(Silinskasa et al, 2017). At-risk students placed in first-grade classrooms offering strong
instructional and emotional support had achievement scores comparable with their low-risk
peers. Effect sizes are small but findings are notable since there was no focused intervention,
but rather, natural variation (Hamre & Pianta, 2005)

Reading and writing are effortful activities that children may choose to do or not to do and
require an extent of motivation (Baker et al., 1999; Berninger et al.,1995).Studies found related
to instructional quality were measured using mainly literacy -related tests and observations
(Berninger et al., 1995; Guthrie et al.,2009; Vadasy & Sanders, 2008). The studies were
consistent, in that all the experimental groups appeared to benefit to some degree from
instructional supports, compared to corresponding usual-instruction groups

Studies that were found investigating literacy difficulties in relation to the classroom
organization component, showed classroom organization as generally beneficial for both
younger and older elementary school children (Freiberg et al., 2009; Opuni, 2006; Silinskasa et
al., 2017). The quality of classroom interactions in the form of instructional and emotional
support may moderate the risk of early school failure. (Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Hoeft et al.,
2016).
In conclusion findings indicate children’s reasons for reading and writing may inform their
experiences and can be associated to some extent with literacy difficulties. Lack of motivation
may discourage reading and writing practice, and engagement becomes difficult. Classroom
practices were found to generally have a moderating effect especially for children at risk.
Instructional quality, classroom organization, emotional support can be related to appropriate
tasks which inform motivation.

References

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Dulay, K. M., Cheung, S. K., Reyes, P., & McBride, C. (2019). Effects of parent coaching on
Filipino children’s numeracy, language, and literacy skills. Journal of Educational Psychology,
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FRANKEL, K. K., BECKER, B. L. C., ROWE, M. W., & PEARSON, P. D. (2016). From “What is
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Supplement: Table 1. Overview of Results from the studies