Objective: Utilizing a multi-level meta-analytic approach, this review is the first to systematically quantify the efficacy of reading interventions for school-aged children with ADHD and identify potential factors that may increase the success of reading-related interventions for these children. Method: 18 studies (15 peer-reviewed articles, 3 dissertations) published from 1986 to 2020 ( N = 564) were meta-analyzed. Results: Findings revealed reading interventions are highly effective for improving reading skills based on both study-developed/curriculum-based measures ( g = 1.91) and standardized/norm-referenced achievement tests ( g = 1.11) in high-quality studies of children with rigorously-diagnosed ADHD. Reading interventions that include at least 30 hours of intervention targeting decoding/phonemic awareness meet all benchmarks to be considered a Level 1 (Well-Established) Evidence-Based Practice with Strong Research Support for children with ADHD based on clinical and special education criteria. Conclusions: Our findings collectively indicate that reading interventions should be the first-line treatment for reading difficulties among at-risk readers with ADHD.

Multiple models regarding the etiology of externalizing behaviors have been proposed, each suggesting differing patterns of interrelations between externalizing factors longitudinally. Because prior studies investigating the longitudinal relations between externalizing factors have relied upon correlated-factor models, it is unclear if the longitudinal relations between externalizing factors are due to variance shared across factors, variance unique to specific factors, or non-externalizing factor variance. The goals of this study were to determine if an S − 1 Bifactor model provided the best fit across this early childhood sample, determine if the longitudinal relations between externalizing factors remained consistent across the primary groups in this sample (i.e., two-, three-, and four/five-year-old children, Black children, White children, Hispanic children, non-Hispanic children), and examine these longitudinal relations within the context of prominent etiological models. In this study, teachers rated the externalizing behaviors of 2,390 children (mean age = 42.80 Months; SD = 11.56) in early childhood settings at two points within the same year. Results indicated that an S − 1 Bifactor model provided the best fit for the overall sample and each subgroup examined. Results also supported measurement and structural invariance across age, race (i.e., Black vs. White children, and ethnicity (i.e., Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic) separately. Contrary to our expectations, there were no significant cross-factor longitudinal relations between assessment periods. Implications for the understanding and development of externalizing behaviors across early childhood are discussed

Researchers have argued that writing skills have significant implications for developing reading skills. A growing body of research has provided evidence that writing skills, in particular invented spelling, provide unique predictive information regarding future reading skills. This study examined which preschool early writing skills (i.e., name writing, letter writing, and invented spelling) had unique predictive relations with kindergarten and first-grade reading outcomes beyond the predictive contributions of preschool early literacy skills. A total of 252 preschool-age children (mean age = 58.62 months, SD = 3.60) were assessed on early literacy skills and early writing skills. Children completed measures of conventional reading skills in kindergarten and the first grade. Multi-level regression analyses were used to examine the degree to which early writing skills uniquely contributed to later reading outcomes. Results indicated that preschool children's invented spelling contributed unique variance to later reading outcomes beyond the contributions of early literacy skills. The results of this study suggest that, in addition to measures of early literacy skills, measures of invented spelling may be useful in the early identification of children at risk of reading difficulties.

There is strong evidence linking children’s self-regulation with their academic and behavioral outcomes. These relations have led to the development of interventions aimed at improving academic outcomes by promoting self-regulation, based in part on the idea that self-regulation promotes the development of academic skills. Although a considerable number of studies have examined the degree to which interventions designed to improve aspects of self-regulation have a positive impact on academic outcomes, only a few studies have examined the degree to which children’s self-regulation moderates the effects of academic interventions. The goal of this study was to examine whether self-regulation, indexed by a direct assessment of executive function and teacher-rated attention, moderated the uptake of early literacy interventions for 184 children (average age = 58 months, SD = 3.38; 66% Black/African American, 28% White; 59% male) at risk for reading difficulties who participated in a randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of Tier 2 interventions in preschool. Multilevel models were used to examine the degree to which children’s self-regulation moderated the impacts of the interventions. The results of this study provided little evidence that self-regulation moderated the impacts of the interventions and call into question the likelihood of a causal relation between self-regulation and academic achievement.

Externalizing behaviors are associated with poor academic outcomes in community-based samples of children as young as preschool-age. However, there remains debate as to which specific externalizing dimensions link externalizing behaviors to early academic skills. Recently, research has supported the use of S-1 bifactor models to examine the hierarchical structure of externalizing behaviors and the unique relations between externalizing factors and academic impairment in samples of school-age children. The primary goals of this study were to extend the age range at which S-1 bifactor models are applied to externalizing behaviors and to determine if factors derived from an S-1 bifactor model had differing relations to early academic skills. In this study, the early academic skills of 1,356 preschool-age children (mean age = 49.98 months; SD = 8.08) were assessed, and preschool and childcare teachers rated children’s externalizing behaviors. Results indicated that an S-1 bifactor model with a Hyperactive-Impulsive reference factor yielded the best-fitting model for preschool-age children’s externalizing behaviors. Structural models revealed that both the Hyperactive-Impulsive reference factor and the Inattention factor uniquely predicted preschool children’s early academic skills. The degree to which the results applied across the primary groups in the sample (i.e., White versus Black/African American children, girls versus boys) was examined for measurement and structural models.