In addition to testing the reading skills of ABE learners, the ARCS researchers administered a lengthy questionnaire, so we can give you more information about the people in Profile 4.

• Eighty-one (81) percent are Native Speakers of English (NSE).
  
  
• The average age is 33.
  
  
• The average number of grades completed is 9.8.

• Profile 4 learners read orally with accuracy (not timed) at a group average of GE 11.2
  
  Readers are usually able to decode words more accurately in reading passages, where they can use meaning and sentence structure to recognize familiar words, rather than when reading words from word lists where there are no contextual clues to aid decoding. Differences between these two forms of oral reading exist for all Profiles except for those groups composed of the weakest readers (Profiles 9, 10, and 11), who read text word by word as if reading words on a list.
  
  The better a reader can decode even unfamiliar words in isolation, the better she/he can accurately read connected text.



• Phonological Development: (as measured by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test - Word Attack subtest)
  
  
  • The major prerequisite skill of word recognition (beyond sight word acquisition) is phonological awareness. Almost all in this group scored in the average range on this measure.
    
    
  • 96% are able to read pseudowords - "words" composed of phonetic letter and syllable combinations, e.g., zoach, phat, snolaker, and of common non-phonetic letter and syllable combinations, e.g., igh.


• Word Meaning (Vocabulary):
  
  
  • Receptive (listening) vocabulary: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT-III) scores range from "low average" to "moderately low." The PPVT-III assesses word knowledge by asking the learner to select one of four pictures that best tells about a word spoken by the examiner. Because Profile 4 is composed of mostly NSE (81%), we would expect them to have absorbed many more English word meanings than their present assessment indicates.
    
    
  • They are able to express the meaning of a word they know (on the Word Meaning subtest of the DAR), but they need to know more words.


• Silent Reading Comprehension:
  
  
  • Profile 4 readers are not able to answer comprehension questions about passages written at their highest grade level mastery of word recognition.
    
    
  • Only 10% showed an average level of information (WAIS-III). They do not have enough background knowledge about subjects usually taught in middle school or high school to provide a framework for new information.
    
    
  • Half of Profile 4 learners read for pleasure from 1-3 hours per week. Twenty-two percent read for less than 1 hour per week.

Word Recognition (and Spelling) are significantly higher than Word Meaning (and Silent Reading Comprehension). This is a familiar profile for Non-native Speakers of English (NNSE) who lag in vocabulary knowledge, but it is not a familiar profile for NSE.

Most NSE who are in ABE classes have had decoding problems in K-12. The most typical profile of an ABE native speaker of English is higher word meaning than word recognition (Profile 5), or at best, a smaller difference between the two skills (Profile 6).

The average scores on vocabulary tests for Profile 4 readers are high enough to consider that the problem is mainly one of undereducation, not low verbal ability. They need more information and word knowledge, and they need to learn strategies for acquiring both.

Browse Profile: Menu
	Description of the ARCS Comparison Profile 4
	Suggestions for Instruction for Profile 4 Learners
	Additional Profile 4 Information from the Research
	Comparison of the Three Profiles in the Intermediate Group
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