Predicting Risk for Comorbid Reading and Mathematics Disability Using Fluency-Based Screening Assessments

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Learning Disabilities

Background:

• Comorbid reading and mathematics disabilities (RMD) present significant challenges for academic success.
• Early identification of RMD is crucial for timely intervention and support.
• First-grade fluency measures offer a potential tool for early risk detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of first-grade risk for comorbid reading and mathematics disabilities (RMD).
• To evaluate the predictive utility of first-grade fluency measures for identifying RMD by second grade.

Main Methods:

• A representative sample of 3,062 first-grade students was assessed using word reading and computation fluency measures.
• A subsample of 577 students was followed to assess RMD status at the end of second grade based on reading and math accuracy.
• Logistic regression analysis was employed to examine predictive accuracy.

Main Results:

• Risk for RMD was significantly more common than chance at first grade, particularly when scores fell at or below the 16th (2x) and 7th (5x) percentiles.
• First-grade fluency measures demonstrated accuracy in distinguishing students with and without RMD by second grade.
• Setting cut scores to identify 85% of students with RMD resulted in a high rate of false positives.

Conclusions:

• First-grade fluency measures can serve as an effective initial gating procedure for identifying students at risk for RMD.
• Additional screening steps are necessary within the identification process to mitigate the issue of high false positives.
• Optimizing screening protocols can improve the accuracy of early RMD identification.