Conative determinants of reading development and reading-disabled children's response to remediation

The present study establishes the potential of several conative factors to explain reading development and response to remedial reading instruction. Conative factors are individual differences theoretically distinct from cognitive and affective constructs. A total of 211 children with confirmed difficulties in acquiring reading skills responded to a behavioural measure of volitional control and a computer-administered self-report task that measured intrinsic motivation. Parents completed a temperament questionnaire targeting effortful control as a behavioural style. Regular classroom and remedial teachers completed a questionnaire on reading motivation. A matched sample of 67 children with normally developing reading skills were enlisted to investigate development of these conative factors. The outcomes for the present study were standardized and experimental word reading tasks. Developmental differences were found between normal and reading disabled (RD) children on sense of competence for reading and attentional focusing, regardless of whether the RD children were matched with normally developing children by age or reading level. Comparisons with normative data also revealed deficits in volitional control among RD children. Individual human growth curves were formed from RD childrens' scores on reading outcomes over the course of intensive, small-group reading remediation conducted at The Hospital for Sick Children. Those measures of effortful control and intrinsic motivation found to be significantly lower in the developmental analysis were used as predictors of growth rate in word reading skill. RD children manifested one of three motivational profiles and these profiles in turn predicted rate of reading growth over the course of intervention and across multiple outcomes. In every case but one, conative factors predicted growth in reading skills, suggesting their utility in predicting remedial responsiveness. This study provides a unique window on the developmental course of intrinsic motivation and self-regulatory control strategies, across normal reading development and the course of remedial intervention for struggling readers.