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Children with specific reading-comprehension difficulties can read accurately, but they have poor comprehension. In a randomized controlled trial, we examined the efficacy of three interventions designed to improve such children's reading comprehension: text-comprehension (TC) training, oral-language (OL) training, and TC and OL training combined (COM). Children were assessed preintervention, midintervention, postintervention, and at an 11-month follow-up. All intervention groups made significant improvements in reading comprehension relative to an untreated control group. Although these gains were maintained at follow-up in the TC and COM groups, the OL group made greater gains than the other groups did between the end of the intervention and follow-up. The OL and COM groups also demonstrated significant improvements in expressive vocabulary compared with the control group, and this was a mediator of the improved reading comprehension of the OL and COM groups. We conclude that specific reading-comprehension difficulties reflect (at least partly) underlying oral-language weaknesses that can be effectively ameliorated by suitable teaching.

This article explores the learning barriers related to reading difficulties observed by Grade 7 teachers in their English First Additional Language (EFAL) classrooms. Utilising a qualitative research approach and case study design, the research gathered insights from twenty Grade 7 teachers at four mainstream primary schools in the Gauteng East District through purposive non-probability sampling. Data was collected through individual and focus group interviews, which were voice-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic data analysis was applied to identify recurring patterns, with direct quotes from participants grouped into key themes. The study reveals that Grade 7 learners face significant challenges such as language difficulties, oral reading difficulties, comprehension difficulties, poor concentration, and lack of interest and motivation. The study recommends that teachers develop Individual Support Plans (ISPs) to address the specific needs of learners with reading difficulties. Additionally, Continuous Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) is essential to equip teachers with the tools to adapt their instructional strategies and foster more inclusive, supportive classroom environments. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a deeper understanding of reading difficulties’ causes, prevalence, and impact. It offers practical insights for refining teaching practices, improving assessment methods, and informing educational policies to enhance literacy outcomes.

IntroductionAs the robotic approach in hepatectomy gains prominence, the need to establish a robotic-specific difficulty scoring system (DSS) is evident. The Tampa Difficulty Score was conceived to bridge this gap, offering a novel and dedicated robotic DSS aimed at improving preoperative surgical planning and predicting potential clinical challenges in robotic hepatectomies. In this study, we internally validated the recently published Tampa DSS by applying the scoring system to our most recent cohort of patients.MethodsThe Tampa Difficulty Score was applied to 170 recent patients who underwent robotic hepatectomy in our center. Patients were classified into: Group 1 (score 1–8, n = 23), Group 2 (score 9–24, n = 120), Group 3 (score 25–32, n = 20), and Group 4 (score 33–49, n = 7). Key variables for each of the groups were analyzed and compared. Statistical significance was accepted at p ≤ 0.05.ResultsNotable correlations were found between the Tampa Difficulty Score and key clinical parameters such as operative duration (p < 0.0001), estimated blood loss (p < 0.0001), and percentage of major resection (p = 0.00007), affirming the score’s predictive capacity for operative technical complexity. The Tampa Difficulty Score also correlated with major complications (Clavien–Dindo ≥ III) (p < 0.0001), length of stay (p = 0.011), and 30-day readmission (p = 0.046) after robotic hepatectomy.ConclusionsThe Tampa Difficulty Score, through the internal validation process, has confirmed its effectiveness in predicting intra- and postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing robotic hepatectomy. The predictive capacity of this system is useful in preoperative surgical planning and risk categorization. External validation is necessary to further explore the accuracy of this robotic DSS.

This study aimed to investigate the meta-linguistic and executive function profile for different subtypes of reading difficulties (RD) among upper-elementary students. Based on 1,112 third- to fifth-grade Chinese-speaking children, we identified 72 with decoding difficulties (DD), 74 with comprehension difficulties (CD), and 29 reading-level-matched typically developing (R-TD) peers. All children were assessed on four meta-linguistic measures (phonological awareness, morphological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and orthographic awareness) and three sets of four executive function measures (working memory, inhibition, switching, and updating) in numerical, verbal, and visuospatial domains, respectively. Results showed that compared with R-TD peers, DD showed comprehensive meta-linguistic deficits, whereas CD was related to deficits in morphological awareness. Both DD and CD groups had extensive executive function deficits across numerical, verbal, and visuospatial domains. Notably, CD showed more severe deficits on visuospatial executive function than DD. Structural equation modelling showed the executive function differences between DD and R-TD peers were partially explained by meta-linguistic skills; however, executive function deficits and meta-linguistic deficits were relatively independent in CD. These findings suggested DD and CD are distinctive RD subtypes among Chinese students. Morphological awareness deficit is the core and consistent meta-linguistic deficit among Chinese RD, while visuospatial executive function deficit is the important marker of Chinese CD. Implications for the identification and instructions of different subtypes RD for Chinese students were discussed.

Mind-mindedness (MM) is a caregiver’s tendency to appreciate their infant’s internal mental states. This longitudinal study investigated whether maternal MM (10 months) was linked with children’s later behavioral problems (51 months) and the moderating role of maternal parenting distress (PD; 36 months) in a sample of 91 mother–infant dyads. Appropriate MM comments were coded from video-recorded, semi-structured play interactions between mothers and their infants; PD was obtained from maternal completion of the PD subscale of the Parenting Stress Index – Short Form (PSI-SF); and child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were gathered from maternal report on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Moderated regression analyses revealed higher early appropriate MM was associated with significantly fewer internalizing emotional problems at 51 months among mothers with lower PD at 36 months, and higher early appropriate MM was associated with lower conduct problems at 51 months in mothers with higher PD at 36 months. Findings demonstrated the importance of considering nuanced contexts such as at-risk mothers and differential presentations of child difficulties in the analysis of the relationship between MM and child behavioral difficulties and the development of MM interventions.

Common depictions of the simple view of reading (SVR), in both research and practice, describe reading comprehension difficulties by using the dichotomous variables of “poor” and “good” for each of its three constructs. But these fail to accurately capture the role the product of the two subcomponents of word recognition and language comprehension plays in defining such difficulties. When the skills in both subcomponents are “good,” most depictions show reading comprehension as “good” – but this is not what the SVR holds. This can lead users of the SVR to both overlook the great variation in reading comprehension skills that are possible within each of the SVR’s defined reading difficulty types as well as misunderstand that reading comprehension may still suffer even when both word recognition and language comprehension do not. This article first reviews the SVR and its main predictions, followed by an overview of the evidence bearing on these. The article then describes how reading comprehension difficulties are defined under the SVR, presenting graphics that employ continuous variables that accurately reflect these definitions. The article concludes with a discussion of classification studies that have investigated SVR-defined reading difficulties and their findings of cases of good skills in word recognition and language comprehension coupled with poor reading comprehension. The article argues that these can be interpreted as consistent with the SVR rather than counter to it.

Desirable difficulties are learning conditions that are often experienced as effortful, but have a positive effect on learning results and transfer of knowledge and skills (Bjork & Bjork, 2011; Bjork, 1994). Learners often do not appreciate the beneficial effects of desirable difficulties, and the negative experiences of high effort and perceived low learning make them resistant to engage in desirable difficulties (Biwer et al., 2020a). This ultimately limits learning outcomes and academic achievement. With the increasing emphasis on self-regulation in education, characterized by higher learner agency and abundant choices in what, when, and how to study, the field of educational psychology is in need of theoretical and empirically testable assumptions that improve self-regulation in desirably difficult learning conditions with the aim to foster self-regulation abilities, learning outcomes, and academic achievement. Here, we present a framework that describes how to support self-regulation of effort when engaging in desirable difficulties: the “Start and Stick to Desirable Difficulties (S2D2)” framework. The framework builds on the Effort Monitoring and Regulation model (de Bruin et al., 2020). The aim of this framework is (1) to describe evidence for the central role of perceived effort and perceived learning in (dis)engagement in desirable difficulties, and (2) to review evidence on, and provide an agenda for research to improve learners’ self-regulated use of desirable difficulties to help them start and persist when learning feels tough, but is actually effective.