Modeling child-based theoretical reading constructs with struggling adult readers

This study examined whether measurement constructs behind reading-related tests for struggling adult readers are similar to what is known about measurement constructs for children. The sample included 371 adults reading between the third-and fifth-grade levels, including 127 men and 153 English speakers of other languages. Using measures of skills and subskills, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test child-based theoretical measurement models of reading: an achievement model of reading skills, a core deficit model of reading subskills, and an integrated model containing achievement and deficit variables. Although the findings present the best measurement models, the contribution of this article is the description of the difficulties encountered when applying child-based assumptions to developing measurement models for struggling adult readers.