Meta-analytic SEM of literacy and language development relations

Using Meta-analytic Structural Equation Modeling to Study Developmental Change in Relations Between Language and Literacy. Article link.

Jamie M. Quinn Richard K. Wagner

The purpose of this review was to introduce readers of Child Development to the meta-analytic structural equa-tion modeling (MASEM) technique. Provided are a background to the MASEM approach, a discussion of its utility in the study of child development, and an application of this technique in the study of reading compre-hension (RC) development. MASEM uses a two-stage approach: first, it provides a composite correlation matrix across included variables, and second, it fits hypothesized a priori models. The provided MASEM application used a large sample (N = 1,205,581) of students (ages 3.5–46.225) from 155 studies to investigate the factor structure and relations among components of RC. The practical implications of using this technique to study development are discussed.

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Research Byte: The Predictive Validity of Four Intelligence Tests for School Grades: A Small Sample Longitudinal Study in Germany

The Predictive Validity of Four Intelligence Tests for School Grades: A Small Sample Longitudinal Study

Jasmin T. Gygi, Priska Hagmann-von Arx^*, Florine Schweizer and Alexander Grob

• Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Intelligence is considered the strongest single predictor of scholastic achievement. However, little is known regarding the predictive validity of well-established intelligence tests for school grades. We analyzed the predictive validity of four widely used intelligence tests in German-speaking countries: The Intelligence and Development Scales (IDS), the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS), the Snijders-Oomen Nonverbal Intelligence Test (SON-R 6-40), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV), which were individually administered to 103 children (M_age = 9.17 years) enrolled in regular school. School grades were collected longitudinally after 3 years (averaged school grades, mathematics, and language) and were available for 54 children (M_age = 11.77 years). All four tests significantly predicted averaged school grades. Furthermore, the IDS and the RIAS predicted both mathematics and language, while the SON-R 6-40 predicted mathematics. The WISC-IV showed no significant association with longitudinal scholastic achievement when mathematics and language were analyzed separately. The results revealed the predictive validity of currently used intelligence tests for longitudinal scholastic achievement in German-speaking countries and support their use in psychological practice, in particular for predicting averaged school grades. However, this conclusion has to be considered as preliminary due to the small sample of children observed.

Meta-analysis does not support incremental predictive validity of cognitive measures for response to intervention (RTI)

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