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INTRODUCTORY: This collection contains publications by researchers and faculty affiliated with the Center for Research on Learning.
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Publication Understanding oral reading fluency among adults with low literacy: Dominance analysis of contributing component skills(Springer Verlag, 2012-07) Mellard, Daryl F.; Anthony, Jason L.; Woods, KariThis study extends the literature on the component skills involved in oral reading fluency. Dominance analysis was applied to assess the relative importance of seven reading-related component skills in the prediction of the oral reading fluency of 272 adult literacy learners. The best predictors of oral reading fluency when text difficulty was fixed at a single reading level was word reading efficiency. When text difficulty varied based on readers’ comprehension levels, word reading efficiency was also the best predictor with vocabulary and auditory working memory emerging as important predictors as well. Our findings suggest the merit of investigations into whether adults with low literacy may need vocabulary and auditory working memory strategy interventions to improve their reading fluency.Publication Dispositional factors affecting motivation during learning in adult basic and secondary education programs(Springer Verlag, 2013-04-01) Mellard, Daryl F.; Krieshok, Thomas S.; Fall, Emily C.; Woods, KariResearch indicates that about a quarter of adult students separate from formal adult basic and secondary education (ABE/ASE) programs before completing one educational level. This retrospective study explores individual dispositional factors that affect motivation during learning, particularly students’ goals, goal-directed thinking and action based on hope theory and attendance behaviors, and self-perceptions of competency based on affective domain attributions about external and internal obstacles to learning and employment, and demographic factors. Among 274 ABE/ASE students, those learners who made an education gain in 1 year significantly differed from those who did not in only a few dispositional or demographic variables; and by educational level they significantly differed in a wide variety of dispositional and demographic variables. These findings suggest researchable questions and programmatic considerations that may lead to future innovations that improve learner persistence.Publication Relation and interactions among reading fluency and competence for adult education learners(Wiley, 2013-05) Mellard, Daryl F.; Fall, Emily E.; Woods, KariStatistical analyses of data from an academically diverse sample of 276 adult basic and secondary education learners extends understanding of the relation of and interactions between oral reading fluency and reading competence indices. Significant interactions between total word rate and word error rate that differed in relation to two measures of reading competence suggest that adult literacy instructors should emphasize fluency instruction to a greater or lesser degree depending on whether the major goal of instruction is academic reading (e.g., being able to comprehend a textbook) or functional reading (e.g., being able to fill out a job application).Publication Adult Education Instructional Environments and Interaction Patterns Between Teachers and Students: An ecobehavioural assessment(UTS ePRESS, 2005) Mellard, Daryl F.; Scanlon, David; Kissam, Brenda; Woods, KariResearchers who hope to develop improvements to adult basic education have very few quantitative studies on which to base their work. By conducting an ecobehavioural assessment of two adult education programs, this study provides empirical data describing two programs that primarily use one-to-one instructional methods. A significant discernible portion of the observations identified lost instructional time - time when teachers were not focused on students, no discernible subject was being instructed, no identifiable materials were being used, and teacher behaviours as well as student behaviours did not correspond to any of the recognised categories related to learning and instruction.Publication Disability eligibility issues and university student assessment outcomes(IOS Press, 2001) Crank, Joe N.; Deshler, Donald D.Many issues pertaining to identifying and documenting university students with learning disabilities (LD) have been discussed in the professional literature or litigated. This article documents the eligibility procedures and student assessment results of a project for identifying and providing learning strategies services to students with LD at a large midwestern public university. Many legal issues are relevant in the discussion and evaluation of this project, including the use of standardized procedures for establishing disability status. This project used standardized procedures such as eligibility rules and cut-off scores for making eligibility decisions, thus reducing the nagging inconsistencies and subjectivity associated with nonstandardized assessments and clinical judgements about LD. Students found eligible for the project showed academic skill deficits as low as the fourth grade level, with the average skill level being eighth grade. All students seeking services but determined not eligible showed proficient academic skills. Data from a sample of students not seeking project services gave insight to the skills of “typical”, skill proficient college students, thus providing an index by which to judge skill deficiency.Publication The Scaled Arrival of K-12 Online Education: Emerging Realities and Implications for the Future of Education(Bioinfo Publications, 2013) Basham, James D.; Smith, Sean Joseph; Greer, Diana L.; Marino, Matthew T.Dramatic increases in K—12 online education for all students, including those in traditionally underserved populations, necessi2 tate a reconceptualization in the way educators plan and implement instruction. In this article the authors examine the complex array of variables and implementation models that must be accounted for during the pivot from a purely brick-and-mortar educational sys2 tem to one that makes use of both virtual and blended environ2 ments. The authors call for enhanced emphasis on instructional goals and design principles, rather than the capabilities of available technology. They conclude that educational leaders and researchers must play a role in three key areas: using technology to enhance the accessibility and usability of curricular materials to meet the needs of different types of learners, advancing the understanding and practices of in-service and pre-service teachers through preparation that focuses on online learning, and fostering collaboration between educational researchers and technology innovators and developers to build a research base that will inform K—12 online education.Publication Examining Non-Linear Relationships between Human Resource Practices and Manufacturing Performance(Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 2007-07-01) Chadwick, ClintOne little-explored question concerning innovative human resources practices is how the intensity of their implementation affects their impact on establishment performance: is the relationship linear, or more complex? This analysis, using U.S. Census Bureau data for 1997 from a sample of 1,212 private sector manufacturing establishments, investigates the possibility of non-linearities in the relationship between establishment performance and six human resource practices. The author finds departures from linearity that are both statistically significant and substantively meaningful for four of the six practices. He concludes that linear estimations of these relationships could mislead theorists and result in faulty recommendations to practitioners.Publication An Epidemiological Study of Learning Disabled Adolescents in Secondary Schools: Performance on a Serial Recall Task and the Role of Executive Control(Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities, 1982-06-01) Warner, Michael M.; Schumaker, Jean B.; Alley, Gordon R.; Deshler, Donald D.Success on tasks requiring deliberate memorization depends, in part, on a student's ability to exert appropriate executive control during the learning session. Executive processes are invoked whenever an individual is required to match a specific mnemonic strategy to the requirements of a given task. Deficiencies in executive control are increasingly being implicated in mildly handicapped students' failure to transfer and generalize what they have learned. Very little data exist which describe the executive functioning of adolescents. The present study investigated the executive performance of learning disabled (LD) adolescents using a self-paced, serial recall task. LD adolescents' performance was compared to that of a group of low-achieving and a group of high-achieving adolescents. Both in terms of accuracy of recall and use of an appropriate memorization strategy, the high-achieving group outperformed a combined group of low achievers and LD students. With one exception, the performance of low-achieving and LD students did not differ when achievement was statistically controlled. For all three groups, accuracy of recall was significantly correlated with degree of use of an optimal mnemonic strategy. Finally, a large proportion of the LD adolescents were found to employ an appropriate executive strategy and, thus, could not be characterized as demonstrating deficient executive functioning.Publication An Epidemiological Study of Learning Disabled Adolescents in Secondary Schools: Classification and Discrimination of Learning Disabled and Low-Achieving Adolescents(Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities, 1980-01-01) Warner, Michael M.; Alley, Gordon R.; Deshler, Donald D.; Schumaker, Jean B.In recent years, professionals in the field of learning disabilities have begun to address the impact of learning disabilities on adolescents and young adults. Although substantial attention has been directed to the manifestations of learning disabilities in elementary school age populations, the significantly different and increasingly complex demands on adolescents both in and out of school necessitate the development of systematic research on this population. The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities has collected a broad array of data to form an epidemiological data base on LD adolescents and young adults. Data have been collected from learning disabled, low-achieving, and normal-achieving adolescents as well as from their parents and teachers. In addition, information from the environmental setting of the LD adolescents which pertains to interventions applied on behalf of the student, relationships with others, conditions under which he/she operates and support systems available for his/her use has also been collected. These data have been considered in relation to data on specific learner characterisecs to gain a more complete profile of the older LD individual. Research results presented in Research Reports 12 through 20 detail findings from this comprehensive epidemiology study conducted during 1979-80 by the Institute. It is important for the reader to study and view each of these individual reports in relation to this overall line of research. An understanding of the complex nature of the learning disability condition only begins to emerge when each specific topic or finding is seen as a partial, but important, piece of a larger whole.Publication An Epidemiological Study of Learning Disabled Adolescents in Secondary Schools: Social Status, Peer Relationships, Time Use and Activities In and Out of School(1980-01-01) Deshler, Donald D.; Schumaker, Jean B.; Warner, Michael M.; Alley, Gordon R.; Clark, Frances L.In recent years, professionals in the field of learning disabilities have begun to address the impact of learning disabilities on adolescents and young adults. Although substantial attention has been directed to the manifestations of learning disabilities in elementary school age populations, the significantly different and increasingly complex demands on adolescents both in and out of school necessitate the development of systematic research on this population. The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities has collected a broad array of data to form an epidemiological data base on LD adolescents and young adults. Data have been collected from learning disabled, low-achieving, and normal-achieving adolescents as well as from their parents and teachers. In addition, information from the environmental setting of the LD adolescents which pertains to interventions applied on behalf of the student, relationships with others, conditions under which he/she operates and support systems available for his/her use has also been collected. These data have been considered in relation to data on specific learner characteristics to gain a more complete profile of the older LD individual. Research results presented in Research Reports 12 through 20 detail findings from this comprehensive epidemiology study conducted during 1979-80 by the Institute. It is important for the reader to study and view each of these individual reports in relation to this overall line of research. An understanding of the complex nature of the learning disability condition only begins to emerge when each specific topic or finding is seen as a partial, but important, piece of a larger whole.Publication An Epidemiological Study of Learning Disabled Adolescents in Secondary Schools: The Relationship of Family Factors to the Condition of Learning Disabilities(Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities, Lawrence, KS, 1980-01-01) Schumaker, Jean B.; Deshler, Donald D.; Alley, Gordon R.; Warner, Michael M.In recent years, professionals in the field of learning disabilities have begun to address the impact of learning disabilities on adolescents and young adults. Although substantial attention has been directed to the manifestations of learning disabilities in elementary school age populations, the significantly different and increasingly complex demands on adolescents both in and out of school necessitate the development of systematic research on this population. The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities has collected a broad array of data to form an epidemiological data base on LD adolescents and young adults. Data have been collected from learning disabled, low-achieving, and normal-achieving adolescents as well as from their parents and teachers. In addition, information from the environmental setting of the LD adolescents which pertains to interventions applied on behalf of the student, relationships with others, conditions under which he/she operates and support systems available for his/her use has also been collected. These data have been considered in relation to data on specific learner characteristics to gain a more complete profile of the older LD individual. Research results presented in Research Reports 12 through 20 detail findings from this comprehensive epidemiology study conducted during 1979-80 by the Institute. It is important for the reader to study and view each of these individual reports in relation to this overall line of research. An understanding of the complex nature of the learning disability condition only begins to emerge when each specific topic or finding is seen as a partial, but important, piece of a larger whole.Publication An Epidemiological Study of Learning Disabled Adolescents in Secondary Schools: Behavioral and Emotional Status From the Perspective of Parents and Teachers(Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities, 1980-01-01) Alley, Gordon R.; Warner, Michael M.; Schumaker, Jean B.; Deshler, Donald D.; Clark, Frances L.In recent years, professionals in the field of learning disabilities have begun to address the impact of learning disabilities on adolescents and young adults. Although substantial attention has been directed to the manifestations of learning disabilities in elementary school age populations, the significantly different and increasingly complex demands on adolescents both in and out of school necessitate the development of systematic research on this population. The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities has collected a broad array of data to form an epidemiological data base on LD adolescents and young adults. Data have been collected from learning disabled, low-achieving, and normal-achieving adolescents as well as from their parents and teachers. In addition, information from the environmental setting of the LD adolescents which pertains to interventions applied on behalf of the student, relationships with others, conditions under which he/she operates and support systems available for his/her use has also been collected. These data have been considered in relation to data on specific learner characteristics to gain a more complete profile of the older LD individual. Research results presented in Research Reports 12 through 20 detail findings from this comprehensive epidemiology study conducted during 1979-80 by the Institute. It is important for the reader to study and view each of these individual reports in relation to this overall line of research. An understanding of the complex nature of the learning disability condition only begins to emerge when each specific topic or finding is seen as a partial, but important, piece of a larger whole.Publication An Epidemiological Study of Learning Disabled Adolescents in Secondary Schools: Achievement and Ability, Socioeconomic Status, and School Experiences(Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities, 1980-01-01) Warner, Michael M.; Alley, Gordon R.; Schumaker, Jean B.; Deshler, Donald D.; Clark, Frances L.In recent years, professionals in the field of learning disabilities have begun to address the impact of learning disabilities on adolescents and young adults. Although substantial attention has been directed to the manifestations of learning disabilities in elementary school age populations, the significantly different and increasingly complex demands on adolescents both in and out of school necessitate the development of systematic research on this population. The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities has collected a broad array of data to form an epidemiological data base on LD adolescents and young adults. Data have been collected from learning disabled, low-achieving, and normal-achieving adolescents as well as from their parents and teachers. In addition, information from the environmental setting of the LD adolescents which pertains to interventions applied on behalf of the student, relationships with others, conditions under which he/she operates and support systems available for his/her use has also been collected. These data have been considered in relation to data on specific learner characteristics to gain a more complete profile of the older LD individual. Research results presented in Research Reports 12 through 20 detail findings from this comprehensive epidemiology study conducted during 1979-80 by the Institute. It is important for the reader to study and view each of these individual reports in relation to this overall line of research. An understanding of the complex nature of the learning disability condition only begins to emerge when each specific topic or finding is seen as a partial, but important, piece of a larger whole.Publication Poor oral health as an obstacle to employment for Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities(American Association of Public Health Dentistry, 2012) Hall, Jean P.; Kurth, Noelle K.; Chapman, Shawna L. C.Objectives: To inform policy with better information about the oral health-care needs of aMedicaid population that engages in employment, that is, people ages 16 to 64 with Social Security-determined disabilities enrolled in a Medicaid Buy-In program. Methods: Statistically test for significant differences among responses to aMedicaid Buy-In program satisfaction survey that included oral health questions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) to results for the state’s general population and the US general population. Results: All measures of dental care access and oral health were significantly worse for the study population as comparedwith a state general population or aUS general population. Differences were particularly pronounced for the OHIP measure for difficulty doing one’s job due to dental problems, which was almost five times higher for the study population. Conclusions: More comprehensive dental benefits for the study population could result in increased oral and overall health, and eventual cost savings to Medicaid as more people work, have improved health, and pay premiums for coverage.Publication The Validity of Claims-Based Risk Estimation in Underinsured Populations(Methods, 2012-12) Hall, Jean P.; Moore, Janice M.Objectives: To demonstrate a threat to validity in using claims-based risk tools with chronically ill, underinsured populations. Study Design: We tracked disease burden of highrisk pool beneficiaries with potentially disabling health conditions receiving enhanced health insurance benefits through a federally funded research demonstration. At baseline, beneficiaries paid high premiums and cost sharing for risk pool coverage, and most met common criteria for underinsurance. Study benefits provided intervention group members premium and cost-sharing subsidies and additional coverage; control group members paid usual premiums and coinsurance and received usual benefits. We hypothesized that enhanced benefits for the intervention group would increase or stabilize health status measures and decrease case-mix weights, reflecting stabilized or reduced disease burden. Methods: The SF-12v2 health survey was used to measure health status and the Johns Hopkins Adjusted Clinical Groups (ACGs), Version 8.2 with DX-PM model and prior cost for a non-elderly population, was used to measure disease burden. Findings: Over a 3-year period, SF-12v2 scores showed stable health status for the intervention group and significant decline for the control group, while ACG case-mix weights, major illnesses, and chronic condition counts rose significantly for the intervention group but remained stable for the control group. Increased resource utilization for the intervention group appears to have driven increases in ACG measures. Conclusions: When high cost-sharing constrains access to care, risk tools that rely on medical claims may not provide an accurate measure of disease burden. - See more at: http://www.ajmc.com/articles/The-Validity-of-Claims-Based-Risk-Estimation-in-Underinsured-Populations/#sthash.Px74PGmZ.dpufPublication Medicaid managed care: Issues for beneficiaries with disabilities(Elsevier, 2015) Hall, Jean P.; Kurth, Noelle K.; Chapman, Shawna L. C.; Shireman, Theresa I.Background: States are increasingly turning to managed care arrangements to control costs in their Medicaid programs. Historically, such arrangements have excluded people with disabilities who use long-term services and supports (LTSS) due to their complex needs. Now, however, some states are also moving this population to managed care. Little is known about the experiences of people with disabilities during and after this transition. Objective: To document experiences of Medicaid enrollees with disabilities using long-term services and supports during transition to Medicaid managed care in Kansas. Methods: During the spring of 2013, 105 Kansans with disabilities using Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) were surveyed via telephone or in-person as they transitioned to managed care. Qualitative data analysis of survey responses was conducted to learn more about the issues encountered by people with disabilities under Medicaid managed care. Results: Respondents encountered numerous disability-related difficulties, particularly with transportation, durable medical equipment, care coordination, communication, increased out of pocket costs, and access to care. Conclusions: As more states move people with disabilities to Medicaid managed care, it is critically important to address these identified issues for a population that often experiences substantial health disparities and a smaller margin of health. It is hoped that the early experiences reported here can inform policy-makers in other states as they contemplate and design similar programs.Publication Realizing Health Reform’s Potential: Why a National High-Risk Insurance Pool Is Not a Workable Alternative to the Marketplace(The Commonwealth Fund, 2014-12) Hall, Jean P.The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) was a national high-risk pool established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to provide coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions who had been uninsured for at least six months. It was intended to be a temporary program: PCIPs opened in 2010 and closed in April 2014. At that point, those with preexisting conditions could shop for health insurance in the marketplaces, where plans are prevented from using applicants’ health status to deny coverage or charge more. This issue brief draws on the PCIP experience to outline why national high-risk pools, which continue to be proposed as policy alternatives to ACA coverage expansions, are expensive to enrollees as well as their administrators and ultimately unsustainable. The key lesson—and the principle on which the ACA is built—is that insurance works best when risk is evenly spread across a broad population.Publication Realizing Health Reform’s Potential Early Implementation of Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans: Providing an Interim Safety Net for the Uninsurable(The Commonwealth Fund, 2011-06) Hall, Jean P.; Moore, Janice M.The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) is a temporary program implemented under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to make health insurance coverage available to uninsured individuals with preexisting conditions until 2014, when exchange-based health insurance becomes available to all. The PCIP program began enrolling applicants in July 2010. This issue brief examines enrollment trends, early changes to plan structures and premiums, and estimates of out-of-pocket costs by utilization pattern and type of plan. It also provides information about the age and medical conditions of early PCIP enrollees. Although PCIP enrollment has been lower than expected due to affordability issues, a lack of public awareness, and the requirement that applicants be uninsured for six months, the plans are nonetheless playing an important role in making coverage available to otherwise uninsurable Americans with preexisting conditions.Publication Realizing Health Reform’s Potential The Affordable Care Act’s Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan: Enrollment, Costs, and Lessons for Reform(The Commonwealth Fund, 2012-09) Hall, Jean P.; Moore, Janice M.The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) is the temporary, federal high-risk pool created under the Affordable Care Act to provide coverage to uninsured individuals with preexisting conditions until 2014, when exchange coverage becomes avail- able to them. Nearly 78,000 people have enrolled since the program was implemented two years ago. This issue brief compares the PCIP with state-based high-risk pools that existed prior to the Affordable Care Act and considers programmatic differences that may have resulted in lower-than-anticipated enrollment and higher-than-anticipated costs for the PCIP. PCIP coverage, like state high-risk pool coverage, likely remains unaffordable to most lower-income individuals with preexisting conditions, but provides much needed access to care for those able to afford it. Operational costs of these programs are also quite high, making them less than optimal as a means of broader coverage expansion.Publication The Medicaid Medically Improved Group: Losing Disability Status and Growing Earnings(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of Information Products & Data Analytics, 2014) Hall, Jean P.; Thomas, Kathleen C.Objectives: Under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (PL 106-170), states may extend Medicaid Buy-In coverage to a medically improved group. Improved group coverage allows adults with disabilities to retain Medicaid coverage even once they lose disability status due to medical improvement, as long as they retain the original medical impairment. The goal of this paper is to describe who participated, the patterns of their participation, and employment outcomes. Methods: The study population consists of all individuals (n=315) who participated in medically improved group coverage 2002–2009 in the seven states with coverage by 2009 (Arizona, Connecticut, Kansas, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia). Linked data from state Medicaid Buy-In finder files and Social Security Administration Ticket Research and Master Earnings Files were used to describe improved group participants and their patterns of enrollment. Results: Although enrollment has been limited, with 255 participants in 2009, it has doubled annually on average with little churning and drop-out. Participants’ earnings grew nearly 200 dollars per month after two years, likely reflecting increased work hours and/or higher pay rates. Conclusions: Improved group participants represent an unusually successful group of individuals with disabilities, many of whom have recently moved off Social Security cash benefit rolls or who were diverted from them. Specifics of insurance eligibility and coverage for improved group participants are uncertain under the Affordable Care Act. The challenge remains to provide a pathway for adults with disabilities to increase work and assets without loss of adequate health insurance.