THE CONTRIBUTION OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION TO READING COMPREHENSION FOR LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE LEARNERS

Title of dissertation: THE CONTRIBUTION OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION TO READING COMPREHENSION FOR LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE LEARNERS Anna Genevieve Meyer, Doctor of Philosophy, 2018 Dissertation directed by: Professor Rebecca Silverman Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education Research suggests that EF can aid in the prediction of RC. However, much of the existing research into the relationship between these two variables has relied on statistical correlations and simple linear regression, neither of which fully capture the complexity of their theoretical relationship and other known contributors to RC, such as decoding and linguistic comprehension. Accordingly, this dissertation study investigated the relationship between EF and RC through a synthesis of the literature and two separate empirical studies. The first empirical study investigate whether (1) a latent construct of EF, measured by separate assessments of working memory, shifting, and inhibition, makes unique direct contribution to the prediction of RC and (2) whether EF’s latent construct mediates the prediction of RC through decoding and a latent construct of linguistic comprehension. The second empirical study investigated whether (1) a latent construct of EF, measured by separate assessments of working memory, shifting, and inhibition, makes unique direct contribution to the prediction of RC and (2) whether EF’s latent construct mediates the prediction of RC through decoding and a latent construct of linguistic comprehension. Both empirical studies examined this relationship in linguistically diverse learners (LDLs) as an understudied population to extend the current research base. Specifically, the sample included three groups of LDL students: (a) English Learners (ELs), or students who speak a language other than or in addition to English in the home and who are receiving school-based English language services because they have not passed an English language proficiency exam, (b) R-ELs, or students who speak a language other than or in addition to English in the home but have passed an English language proficiency exam and have thus been recently exited from EL services, and (c) EL students from the above cohorts who the school identified as having a disability. Language and disability status, respectively, were entered as moderators in the above models to test for significant differences by group. Limitations of the dissertation study and directions for future research are discussed. THE CONTRIBUTION OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION TO READING COMPREHENSION FOR LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE LEARNERS by Anna Genevieve Meyer Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 Advisory Committee: Professor Rebecca Silverman, Chair Professor Kelli Cummings Professor Jeffery Harring Professor Joan Leiber Professor Ana Taboda-Barber © Copyright by Anna Meyer 2018 Acknowledgements This work would not have been possible without the support of my advisory committee, family, colleagues, and friends. I am especially grateful to Dr. Rebecca Silverman, Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, who served as the chair of this dissertation, and as my advisor and mentor at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Silverman’s leadership and scholarship in the field of literacy research has served as a model for embarking on my own academic path. I would also like to thank Dr. Harring and Dr. Proctor, for their guidance on the formation of my dissertation study and the opportunity to learn from their expertise in my work on the CLAVES Research Project. In addition, I would like to thank each of the members of my Dissertation Committee for their advice and recommendations in shaping this dissertation study. This process has taught me how important collaboration and critique are to the scientific process of reading research. I would also like to thank my family for their boundless love and encouragement as I pursued my graduate studies. Finally, I would like to thank my husband for his partnership and support of all of my academic goals.