Development of reading and arithmetic skills across Grades 1 to 4 in two groups of children receiving part-time special education.
Year of publication
2021
Authors
Virinkoski, Riitta; Eklund, Kenneth; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Holopainen, Leena; Aro, Mikko
Abstract
This study investigated why some Finnish students receive part-time special education in Grade 1, duration of that support, and its relation to student reading fluency, reading comprehension, and arithmetic fluency development. The participants included two groups from Grade 1 receiving part-time special education (1–2 years vs. 3–4 years) and a control group comprising the remaining participants from the study. Teachers identified reading and expressive language difficulties as the main reasons for part-time special education in Grade 1. By Grade 4, students who received support until Grade 1 or 2 caught up the level of the control group especially in reading fluency. Students who had received support until Grade 3 or 4 exhibited more persistent and overlapping difficulties with attention, receptive language, memory, and motivation. Additionally, by Grade 4, differences from the control group remained statistically significant for all three skills. Implications for enhancing special education interventions for students with persistent and overlapping learning difficulties are discussed.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
University of Jyväskylä
Holopainen Leena
University of Eastern Finland
Holopainen Leena
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Original article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A1 Journal article (refereed), original researchPublication channel information
Publisher
Volume
85
Pages
101956
ISSN
Publication forum
Publication forum level
2
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
No
Self-archived
Yes
Other information
Fields of science
Educational sciences
Keywords
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Publication country
Netherlands
Internationality of the publisher
International
Language
English
International co-publication
No
Co-publication with a company
No
DOI
10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101956
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes