Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In a recent meta-analysis, Kavale (1982) reported reliable significant correlations between auditory-perceptual skills and reading achievement, arguing that auditory skills should be taught to learning disabled children. This paper reviews his work, citing several erroneous interpretations made by the author. Kavale fails to report that the mean correlation between perceptual skills and reading achievement is merely .358, consistently weaker than correlations found between math computation scores and reading scores. Furthermore, the one ITPA subtest with the highest correlation is Sound Blending, the only auditory-perceptual skill taught in many reading programs. We conclude that Kavale fails to provide evidence that the teaching of auditory-perceptual skills is useful to learning disabled children … unless the skills are functional reading skills.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams, A. , Carnine, D. , & Gersten, R. (1982). Instructional strategies for studying content area texts in the intermediate grades. Reading Research Quarterly, 18, 27–55.

Arter, J. , & Jenkins, J. (1979). Prescriptive teaching: A critical appraisal. Review of Educational Research, 49, 517–555.

Bateman, B. (1979). Teaching reading to learning disabled and other hard-to-teach children. In L. Resnick & P. Weaver (Eds.), Theory and practice of early reading (Vol. 1, pp. 227–260). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bloom, B. S. (1981). All our children learning: A primer for parents, teachers, and other educators. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Brown, A. O. , Campione, J. C. , & Day, J. D. (1981). Learning to learn: On training students to learn from texts. Educational Researcher, 2, 14–21.

Gersten, R., Becker, W. C., Heiry, T. J., & White, W. A. (in press). Entry IQ and yearly academic growth of children in direct instruction programs: A longitudinal study of 1,500 low SES students. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.

Glass, G. V. (1977). Integrating findings: The meta-analysis of research. In L. Shulman (Ed.), Review of Research in Education, 5, 351–379.

Hammill, D. D. , & Larsen, S. C. (1974). The relationship of selected auditory perceptual skills and reading ability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 7, 429–435.

Hammill, D. D. , & McNutt, G. (1981). The correlates of reading. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

10.

Jenkins, J. R. , Stein, M. , & Osborn, J. (1981). What next after decoding: A look into instruction and research in reading comprehension. Exceptional Education Quarterly, 2, 27–40.

11.

Jenkins, J. , & Pany, D. (1981). Research on teaching reading comprehension: Instructional variables. In J. Guthrie (Ed.), Reading comprehension and education (pp. 163–202). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

12.

Kavale, K. (1982). The relationship between auditory perceptual skills and reading ability: A meta-analysis. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 14, 539–546.

13.

Kirk, S. , McCarthy, J. , & Kirk, W. (1968). Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

14.

Pearson, P. D. (1982). A context for instructional research on reading comprehension: Technical Report No. 230. Urbana, IL: Center for the Study of Reading.

15.

Salvia, J. , & Ysseldyke, J. (1981). Assessment in special and remedial education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Auditory-Perceptual Skills and Reading

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References