15  Nonword Reading

15.1 Task Description

Children are asked to read nonsense words that follow regular sound-spelling rules.

15.2 Construct

The Nonword Reading task measures the construct of decoding accuracy, the ability to translate print into speech by correctly pairing graphemes (letters) with their corresponding phonemes (sounds) using pronounceable nonsense words.

15.3 Item Development

15.3.1 English

The constructed items followed the English phonotactic structure, featuring diverse syllable constructions that reflect the language’s phonological patterns. Specific orthographic patterns that matched curriculum-based learning goals were targeted in the development of the items. Below, we provide the list of targets and the considerations for nonword development for each one of those targets.

  • Predictable consonants: Nonwords with predictable consonants (i.e., m, s, t, l; p, f, c (/k/), n; b, r, j, k; v, g (/g/), w, d; h, y, z, x), and predictable short vowels.
  • Consonant digraphs: Nonwords with consonant digraphs (i.e., ch, wh, th, ng) and predictable short vowels.
  • Two-consonant blends: Nonwords with two-syllable blends (e.g., qu, st, sm, sn, -st, -ft, - lp; sr, sl, cr, cl, tr, dr) and predictable short vowels.
  • Single consonants: Nonwords with single consonants (e.g., /s/ for c, s; /z/ for s, z; /k/ for k, c, -ck after a short vowel; /g/ for j, g)
  • Hard and soft c and g: Nonwords with hard and soft c and g, with predictable short vowels, and VCe long vowel pattern in single-syllable words.
  • Final consonant blends with nasals: Nonwords with final nasal consonant blends (i.e., nt, nd, mp, nk) with predictable short vowels.
  • VCe long vowel pattern in single-syllable words: Nonwords with VCe long vowel pattern in single-syllable words, including also predictable consonants, consonant diagraphs, and/or two consonant blends.
  • Vowel teams for long vowel sounds: Nonwords with vowel teams for long vowel sounds (e.g., ee, ea; ai, ay; oa, ow, oe; igh), including also predictable consonants, consonant digraphs, and/or two consonant blends.
  • Vowel-r combinations with single syllables: Nonwords with vowel-r combinations and single syllables (i.e., er, ar, or, ir, ur) with predictable short vowels.
  • Other vowel-r combinations: Nonwords with other vowel-r combinations (e.g., are, air, our, ore, ear, eer, ure), including also predictable consonants.
  • Diphthongs and vowels: Nonwords with diphthongs and vowels (e.g., /aw/ and /oo/: oi, oy; ou, ow; au, aw; oo, u), including also predictable consonants, consonant digraphs, and/or two consonant blends.
  • Use of y: Nonwords with y as consonant /y/, as /ı/ on ends of one-syllable words like fly, as /e/ on ends of multisyllabic words like lobby, or as /ı/ in a few words like myth.
  • Use of -ild, -ost, -old, -olt, -ind pattern: Nonwords with -ild, -ost, -old, -olt, -ind, including also predictable consonants and/or consonant digraphs.
  • Digraphs: Nonwords with figraphs (e.g., ph (/f/), gh (/f/), ch (/k/ and /sh/))
  • Trigraphs: Nonwords with trigraphs (e.g., -tch (/ch/), -dge (/j/)).
  • Three-consonant blends and blends with digraphs: Nonwords with three-consonant blends and blends with digraphs (e.g., squ, str, scr, thr, shr) and predictable short vowels.

15.3.2 Spanish

The constructed items followed the Spanish phonotactic structure, featuring diverse syllable constructions that reflect the language’s phonological patterns. The length of the items ranged from succinct two-phoneme combinations to more intricate six-phoneme combinations. While two-phoneme words are relatively uncommon in the Spanish lexicon, we deliberately incorporated two-phoneme nonwords into our dataset to include easier items. Below, we provide the list of targets and the considerations for nonword development for each one of those targets.

  • Predictable consonants: Nonwords with predictable consonants (i.e., m, s, t, l; p, f, n; b, r, j, v, d, y, z).
  • Consonant digraphs: Nonwords with consonant digraphs (i.e., ch, ll, rr).
  • Two-consonant blends: Nonwords with two-syllable blends (e.g., br, bl, cr, cl, tr, dr).
  • Single consonants: Nonwords with single consonants (e.g., /s/ for c, z; /g/ for j, g)
  • Hard and soft c and g: Nonwords with hard and soft c and g.
  • Diphthongs and vowels: Nonwords with diphthongs and vowels (e.g., /ai/, /ei/), including also predictable consonants, consonant digraphs, and/or two consonant blends.
  • Hiatus: sequence of vowels belonging to different syllables (e.g., /ia/, /ua/).
  • Stress types: words that with antepenultimate stress, penultimate stress, and ultimate stress.

15.4 Scoring

Dichotomous fixed response format of 0 points for incorrect responses or non-responses and 1 point for correct ones.

15.5 Calibration Samples

Table 15.1: Demographic Characteristics of Calibration Samples for the English and Spanish Nonword Reading Tasks
Characteristic
English
Spanish
G1
N = 1,019		 G2
N = 1,062		 G1
N = 779		 G2
N = 670
Timepoint



    Winter 2024 607 (88%) 648 (89%) 0 (NA%) 436 (100%)
    Fall 2024 81 (12%) 78 (11%) 0 (NA%) 0 (0%)
    Unknown 331 336 779 234
Administration Format



    CAT 412 (40%) 414 (39%) 202 (26%) 234 (35%)
    Forms 607 (60%) 648 (61%) 577 (74%) 436 (65%)
Race



    American/Alaskan Native 20 (2.0%) 11 (1.1%) 4 (2.0%) 8 (1.2%)
    Asian 124 (12%) 114 (11%) 6 (3.0%) 7 (1.1%)
    Black/African American 110 (11%) 143 (14%) 4 (2.0%) 7 (1.1%)
    Not reported 195 (19%) 223 (21%) 79 (40%) 381 (57%)
    Other 134 (13%) 95 (9.2%) 10 (5.0%) 31 (4.7%)
    White 429 (42%) 452 (44%) 97 (49%) 232 (35%)
    Unknown 7 24 579 4
Ethnicity



    Hispanic/Latin(o/a) 527 (52%) 575 (55%) 183 (91%) 597 (91%)
    Intentional nonreport 7 (0.7%) 4 (0.4%) 0 (0%) 4 (0.6%)
    Not Hispanic/Latin(o/a) 480 (47%) 469 (45%) 19 (9.4%) 56 (8.5%)
    Unknown 5 14 577 13
Gender



    Female 487 (48%) 522 (50%) 109 (54%) 374 (56%)
    Male 531 (52%) 527 (50%) 93 (46%) 295 (44%)
    Non-binary 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (0.1%)
    Unknown 1 13 577 0
Home Language



    English 738 (75%) 715 (72%) 44 (22%) 103 (16%)
    Spanish 154 (16%) 164 (17%) 154 (77%) 547 (83%)
    Other 97 (9.8%) 112 (11%) 2 (1.0%) 7 (1.1%)
    Unknown 30 71 579 13
English Proficiency Label



    (Re-)Classified Proficient 80 (8.4%) 82 (8.3%) 33 (17%) 99 (16%)
    English Learner 183 (19%) 188 (19%) 131 (66%) 441 (70%)
    English-only 689 (72%) 719 (73%) 36 (18%) 94 (15%)
    Unknown 67 73 579 36
Ever IEP/504 81 (9.7%) 83 (12%) 18 (11%) 49 (10%)
    Unknown 182 353 613 194

15.6 Psychometric Analysis

15.6.1 Basic Item Statistics

We excluded 16 items from the English task and 0 items from the Spanish task based on low response counts (n < 90). 0 items were excluded because they had no variance in the Spanish task, and 1 items in the English task. Additionally, we excluded 0 items from the English task and 0 items from the Spanish task based on low point-biserial correlations (r < 0.2). Table 15.2 summarizes the basic item characteristics, Figure 15.1 shows the relationship between point-biserial correlations and the proportion of correct responses for each item.

Table 15.2: Basic Item Statistics Before and After Application of Exclusion Criteria, for the English and Spanish Nonword Reading Tasks
English
Spanish
Characteristic
Before Excl.
After Excl.
Before Excl.
After Excl.
N = 143 N = 127 N = 170 N = 170
No. of Responses 211 (141) 234 (132) 231 (148) 231 (148)
Proportion Correct 0.44 (0.18) 0.44 (0.16) 0.51 (0.14) 0.51 (0.14)
Point-biserial Correlation 0.63 (0.08) 0.63 (0.08) 0.64 (0.08) 0.64 (0.08)
Excluded (n < 90) 16 (11%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Excluded (pbis < .2) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Excluded (no variation) 1 (0.7%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Figure 15.1: Scatterplot Showing Point-biserial (Item-total) Correlations and Proportion of Correct Responses for the English (Panel A) and Spanish (Panel B) Nonword Reading Tasks

15.6.2 Rasch Analysis

15.6.2.1 Item Location Estimates

Figure 15.2: Scatterplot Showing Item Location and Proportion of Correct Response for the English (Panel A) and Spanish (Panel B) Nonword Reading Tasks

15.6.2.2 Item Fit Statistics

Table 15.3: Frequencies of Item Misfit Categories Based on Infit/Outfit MSE Values for the English and Spanish Nonword Reading Tasks
English
Spanish
Infit MSE
A B C D Total A B C D Total
Outfit MSE
A 112 0 0 0 112 153 0 0 0 153
B 5 0 0 0 5 4 0 0 0 4
C 7 0 0 0 7 9 0 0 0 9
D 3 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 0 4
Total 127 0 0 0 127 170 0 0 0 170

15.6.2.3 Person Location Estimates

Figure 15.3: Scatterplot Showing Person Location Estimates (Obtained using the MLE method) and the Proportion of Correct Responses for English and Spanish Nonword Reading Tasks

15.6.2.4 Person Fit Statistics

Table 15.4: Frequencies of Person Misfit Categories Based on Infit/Outfit MSE Values for the English and Spanish Nonword Reading Tasks
English
Spanish
Infit MSE
A B C D Total A B C D Total
Outfit MSE
A 1,204 0 4 0 1,208 1,028 0 1 0 1,029
B 279 421 0 0 700 143 172 0 0 315
C 77 0 11 0 88 43 0 5 0 48
D 43 0 18 2 63 33 0 9 0 42
Total 1,603 421 33 2 2,059 1,247 172 15 0 1,434

15.6.2.5 Distribution of Theta Estimates

Figure 15.4: Distribution of Theta Estimates for the English and Spanish Nonword Reading Tasks

15.6.2.6 Wright Maps

Figure 15.5: Wright Maps Showing the Relationship Between Item and Person Location Estimates for the English Nonword Reading Task
Figure 15.6: Wright Maps Showing the Relationship Between Item and Person Location Estimates for the Spanish Nonword Reading Task

15.6.2.7 Model Summary

Table 15.5: Summary of Rasch Model Statistics for the English and Spanish Nonword Reading Tasks
English
Spanish
Item
Person
Item
Person
Characteristic N = 127 N = 2,059 N = 170 N = 1,434
Logit Scale Location 0.55 (1.42) 0.05 (-1.69, 1.83) 0.16 (1.46) 0.34 (-1.53, 1.76)
Outfit 0.99 (0.40) 0.66 (0.35, 0.93) 0.96 (0.35) 0.80 (0.55, 0.96)
Infit 0.99 (0.12) 0.82 (0.58, 1.00) 0.98 (0.12) 0.88 (0.75, 0.99)
Reliability of Separation 0.8891 0.8279 0.9269 0.8892
15.6.2.7.1 Final Number of Items

Following the exclusion of items with point-biserial correlations < .20 and items with poor fit statistics, the final versions of the task contain 127 and 170 for the English and Spanish task, respectively.

15.7 Criterion Validity Evidence

15.7.1 Sample

Table 15.6: Demographic Characteristics of the Concurrent Criterion Validity Evidence Samples for the English and Spanish Nonword Reading Tasks
Characteristic
English
Spanish
K
N = 79		 G1
N = 223		 G2
N = 258		 G1
N = 194		 G2
N = 229
Timepoint




    Spring 2024 0 (0%) 223 (100%) 258 (100%) 194 (100%) 229 (100%)
    Spring 2025 79 (100%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Race




    American/Alaskan Native 4 (5.5%) 5 (2.2%) 1 (0.4%) 4 (2.1%) 4 (1.8%)
    Asian 5 (6.8%) 25 (11%) 33 (13%) 6 (3.1%) 3 (1.3%)
    Black/African American 4 (5.5%) 27 (12%) 32 (12%) 4 (2.1%) 4 (1.8%)
    Not reported 13 (18%) 55 (25%) 68 (26%) 75 (39%) 97 (43%)
    Other 22 (30%) 35 (16%) 26 (10%) 10 (5.2%) 15 (6.6%)
    White 25 (34%) 76 (34%) 98 (38%) 93 (48%) 104 (46%)
    Unknown 6 0 0 2 2
Ethnicity




    Hispanic/Latin(o/a) 49 (84%) 102 (46%) 140 (54%) 175 (90%) 201 (88%)
    Intentional nonreport 0 (0%) 2 (0.9%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (0.9%)
    Not Hispanic/Latin(o/a) 9 (16%) 119 (53%) 118 (46%) 19 (9.8%) 26 (11%)
    Unknown 21 0 0

Gender




    Female 36 (46%) 98 (44%) 126 (49%) 103 (53%) 129 (56%)
    Male 43 (54%) 125 (56%) 132 (51%) 91 (47%) 100 (44%)
Home Language




    English 27 (53%) 161 (73%) 177 (69%) 44 (23%) 57 (25%)
    Spanish 23 (45%) 37 (17%) 41 (16%) 146 (76%) 166 (74%)
    Other 1 (2.0%) 23 (10%) 39 (15%) 2 (1.0%) 1 (0.4%)
    Unknown 28 2 1 2 5
English Proficiency Label




    (Re-)Classified Proficient 1 (3.3%) 22 (10%) 23 (9.0%) 33 (17%) 37 (17%)
    English Learner 21 (70%) 47 (22%) 59 (23%) 123 (64%) 131 (59%)
    English-only 8 (27%) 148 (68%) 173 (68%) 36 (19%) 54 (24%)
    Unknown 49 6 3 2 7
Ever IEP/504 7 (23%) 22 (11%) 29 (14%) 16 (10%) 17 (9.2%)
    Unknown 49 24 47 36 45

English Nonword Reading was correlated with the Word Attack subtest from the Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ IV ACH) test (Schrank, McGrew, and Mather 2014). Spanish Nonword Reading was correlated with the Análisis de palabras subtest from the Batería IV Woodcock-Muñoz (Batería IV APROV) test (Woodcock et al. 2019).

Table 15.7: Concurrent Criterion Validity Correlations for the English and Spanish Nonword Reading Tasks
English
Spanish
All
EL
All
Grade n r [CI] n r [CI] n r [CI]
G1 222 0.75 [0.69, 0.80] 47 0.77 [0.62, 0.86] 194 0.82 [0.77, 0.87]
G2 258 0.71 [0.65, 0.77] 59 0.77 [0.64, 0.86] 229 0.75 [0.69, 0.81]