Exploring reading profiles of rural school students

Abstract

This study investigates the reading profiles of rural Grade 5 and 6 students (N = 262), a sample with a high proportion of English language learners. We administered a battery of reading and cognitive assessments to classify students’ reading profiles and evaluate if performance on cognitive measures predicted membership in particular profiles. Data were analyzed using latent profile analysis. Latent profile analysis showed four distinct reading profiles in our sample: students with severe reading disabilities (< 2%), students at high risk of reading disability (14%), students at some-risk of reading disability (46%), and students who are typical readers (38%). Lower performance on cognitive measures was associated with group membership in the severe reading profile group compared to the group of students at some-risk of reading failure. In contrast, higher performance on cognitive measures was associated with group membership in the typical reader group compared to students at some-risk of reading failure. In keeping with the findings from past studies documenting reader profiles, we found heterogeneity in the reading profiles of rural upper-elementary grade students. We discuss the need for multicomponent interventions that target all areas of reading with some flexibility in the dosage of each reading component dependent on the reader profiles established prior to intervention.