# Progression of reading and writing disabilities from late elementary to middle grades

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON · 2020 · $382,500

## Abstract

The purpose of the current project is to improve our understanding how and to what extent higher-order
component skills of reading (vocabulary, background knowledge, inferencing and strategies) and writing
(complexity, organization, productivity, revision and editing) interact, and how they relate to changes in reading
comprehension and writing across late elementary and middle grades. We focus on children with learning
disabilities (LDs) as identified by dimensional and non-dimensional approaches and compare with typically
developing students. This project has three specific aims. Aim 1 (reading comprehension) builds on
experimental literature and evaluates the direct and mediated directional relations among components of
reading (e.g., inferencing and background knowledge) and reading comprehension across grades 3-8.
Historically, research on reading has mismatched the approach (reading comprehension as an outcome) and
framework (reading comprehension as a system), employing methods that essentially treat reading
comprehension as a unidimensional outcome rather than a complex system as described by cognitive models
of reading. Aim 1 draws on data collected from a state agency to fit structural equation models (SEM) using
item-level data to derive reliable sub-scales of higher-order component skills. This approach is particularly
useful as it allows the focus to shift from reading as an outcome to a complex set of processes that influence
change in outcome. The data for this phase of the project come from students (N = 42,095) in grades 3-8 in
Connecticut (collected in 2008-2013). Aim 2 (writing) evaluates the development of components of writing and
how they relate to written expression in typically developing, and children with LD. While research on writing
has historically treated written expression as a multi-dimensional system, studies relating component skills and
writing are often not informed by theories that specify the nature of their direct and mediated relations. In this
phase of the project, we will analyze essays (N = 6,000) to obtain indices of writing quality/productivity using
automated scoring to determine how writing develops as a function of higher-order processes of writing (e.g.,
revision, editing, organization). Aim 3 (co-development) examines how reading interacts with writing over
time by assessing both longitudinally, for different components of reading and writing, different types of writing
outcomes, and for students with and without LD. There is insufficient research on the development of higher-
order components of reading and writing in typically developing and children with LD. Results will expand
knowledge about direct and mediated relations among components in novel ways (e.g., across reading and
writing domains), their effect on academic achievement at the same time-point and longitudinal development
across elementary and middle school. The results will help to better characterize the reading and writing
diffic...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9982113
- **Project number:** 5R01HD096262-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Yusra Ahmed
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $382,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-24 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9982113

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9982113, Progression of reading and writing disabilities from late elementary to middle grades (5R01HD096262-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9982113. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*