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 5.

• Ninety-one (91) percent are Native Speakers of English (NSE).
  
  
• The average age is 34.
  
  
• The average number of grades completed is 8.9.

• Of all the 11 Profile types presented on the website, this group has the highest percentage (60%) of learners who had been in remedial programs in K-12.
  
  
• Profile 5 learners read orally (not timed) with accuracy at a group average of GE 6.6. 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 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 read connected text.
  
  
• Receptive (listening) vocabulary:
  
  PPVT-III scores range from "moderately low" to "low average." This level of verbal ability has allowed them to comprehend text to their level, GE 7.1, even with limited word recognition ability. Their average GE on the DAR word meaning test, "Tell me what X means," also has supported their silent reading comprehension.

  However, there is little possibility that they will be able to read more difficult text unless they bring their decoding abilities to a higher level of mastery, preferably to automaticity. This group needs further instruction and practice in recognition of individual words in isolation as well as in connected text. Profile 5 learners show a lack of the development of the foundations for reading acquisition and fluency: phonemic and phonological awareness. Their deficiencies highlight their need for mastery of basic decoding skills. The most common mistake teachers make is assuming that prerequisite skills are intact when they are in fact shaky or missing.

• Phonemic Awareness (PA) - (sound deletion - as measured by the Test of Auditory Analysis Skills [TAAS]):
  
  
  • When spelling is as low as this group's, there is usually limited phonemic awareness. Not only is the average spelling GE low, it is significantly lower than other alphabetics skills (word recognition and oral reading). Profile 5 learners have trouble isolating sounds.
    
    
  • The group average on the TAAS indicates only first level competence with phoneme deletion tasks. Only 5% are successful with all the 13 consonant deletion tasks. They can delete the first and last consonant in a word, e.g., responding with gay when asked to, "Say game. Now say it again, but don't say /m/ ", but most (57%) cannot delete a consonant that is part of a blend, e.g., responding with lay when asked to, "Say play. Now say it again but don't say /p/." (A letter within bars, e.g., /m/, denotes the sound of the letter "mmm," not the name "em.")


• Phonological Awareness (pseudowords): (as measured by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test - Word Attack Subtest):
  
  
  • With alphabetics skills (word recognition and spelling) so far below meaning skills (word meaning and comprehension), we would expect to find phonological awareness skills below mastery level.
    
    
  • 60% are unable to read nonsense syllables and words composed of regular phonetic combinations, e.g., zoach, phat, snolaker, and common non-phonetic combinations, e.g., igh, beyond the 'moderately low' range of difficulty.

The average age of learners with this profile is 34. They have managed with their present approach to written material for many years. Their print (alphabetic) skills (word recognition and spelling) seem too low to support their average of GE 7.1 reading comprehension level. They probably have relied on context, oral vocabulary, and background knowledge to read with understanding as well as they do, but in the absence of sufficient print (alphabetics) skills, this approach will not permit them to read more difficult text that is about unfamiliar subjects and has unfamiliar words that may not be surrounded by clues to their meaning.

Browse Profile: Menu
	Description of the ARCS Comparison Profile 5
	Suggestions for Instruction for Profile 5 Learners
	Additional Profile 5 Information from the Research
	Comparison of the Three Profiles in the Intermediate Group
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