Goals

The Laboratory for the Assessment and Training of Academic Skills (LATAS) has three goals: 1) to develop assessment procedures that can be used to identify the nature of learning difficulties experienced by individuals with learning difficulties, 2) to develop educational procedures that will help students improve their academic performance, and 3) develop a fundamental understanding of the nature of learning difficulties.

Approach 

We base our approach to academic assessment and skill improvement on cognitive theories of academic performance. These theories suggest that a complex cognitive skill such as reading or math problem solving can be broken into "subskills" that must be performed accurately and rapidly in order to accomplish the complex skill. So for example, skilled reading is dependent on being able to identify letters, words, and the meaning of words rapidly and accurately. Word meanings are then used to construct interpretations of larger text segments such as clauses, sentences, and paragraphs. In the skilled reader, activities below the comprehension level are performed "automatically" and without conscious thought. This means that skilled readers are not aware that letters and words are being identified and that the meaning of words are being brought to conscious awareness. They only become aware of these activities when they encounter difficulties such as coming accross a word that they do not know.

 Many students having academic difficulties are unable to effortlessly identify letters, numbers, and words. They also often have difficulty in determining what words mean and in performing relatively simple math tasks such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Our efforts are directed toward first identifying the the poorly developed skills that may be blocking further educational progress, and to then strengthen those weak skills, thereby removing one barrier to academic achievement.

Diagnostic Assessment 

Our approach to academic assessment uses a number of diagnostic tools that we have been developing over a 15-year research program. At the highest level, we measure listening and reading comprehension and a variety of mathematical problem solving activities. We measure lower-level academic skills using a computer-based assessment system (called CAAS for Computer-based Academic Assessment system). The CAAS system measures the speed and accuracy of simple perception, letter identification, word identification, nonword (pronounceable letter strings such as PLOK) identification, concept identification, sentence processing, number identification, and performance on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems. The CAAS system provides information about how fast and accurately students perform these activities. The CAAS system is commercially available and you can download trial versions of the program. If you are a parent or an educator who is interested in further information about the system, go to: www.educationalhelp.com. If you are a researcher who is interested in using the system for research purposes, go to: www.educationalhelp.com/researcher.htm.

 Educational Interventions

 Our instructional efforts are guided by the results of our assessments. We identify the lowest level skill that appears to be blocking higher level academic performance and then engage the student in activities designed to strengthen that skill. The activities we prescribe are designed to improve both the speed and accuracy of performance.

When a student has improved a targeted skill to a sufficient degree, we switch our focus to a higher level skill and involve the student in activities that improve the efficiency (speed and accuracy) of that skill. When that skill is improved, we move to the next skill. For example, if a student was slow in letter processing, we might work on letters for a while, then move to word processing, and then to activation of word meanings, and finally to sentence processing.

 After competency is attained in lower level skills, we begin to work on strategic learning skills. As instances, we teach students to use techniques that enable them to produce visual representations of the material they are studying and that help them to identify the important content in the textbooks they are studying.

Several of the intervention techniques we use are available in the CAAS software mentioned in the section above. A trial version of the CAAS assessment and intervention system can be found at: www.educationalhelp.com.

 Theory Development

The third goal of LATAS is to develop a better understanding of learning disabilities. This involves working on theoretical descriptions of the origin of learning difficulties and the nature of the cognitive changes that occur when performance improves as a function of our interventions. For instance, the data we have collected shows that students who participate in our intervention program become better readers or better at math activities. We want to understand the cognitive changes that mediate this improvement. Understanding these changes requires the development and evaluation of a theory that ties together a description of the problem the student was initially experiencing with a description of the cognitive changes that result from effective intervention.

 Do Our Efforts Work?

Our research is still in an early stage and we are constantly tinkering with things to make them more effective. We do, however, have data on over 100 students that show improved performance. We also have report cards and standardized test scores for a number of students that show substantial academic gains while students were receiving LATAS services. We will continue collecting this type of information because our ultimate goal is to improve the grades, standardized test scores, and academic self-esteem of the students we work with.

Published descriptions of the effectiveness of our procedures can be found in a number of articles that are listed in my VITA that appears as a link on my home web page (http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~mroyer/).

 Costs

At the present time we do not have external funding to support our research. Our goal is to generate evidence regarding the effectiveness of our efforts and to then seek grant support to continue our research program. Our activities do cost money. The graduate and undergraduate students who work with the children and adults referred to LATAS need to be paid so they can continue their education. The laboratory we work in must pay telephone expenses, purchase computer supplies, and pay for a variety of things that enable us to continue with the project.

To meet these needs, we ask participants to pay a modest fee to support our activities. Specifically, we ask participants pay $250 for a three-visit assessment process. This process involves administering our computer-based and non-computer-based diagnostic instruments, producing a report that describes the results of our assessments, and a consultation that explains the results of the assessment efforts and the academic interventions that are designed to improve academic skills. We also provide the materials that are to be used in the intervention efforts.

Following the assessment process, we ask participants to return for once-a- week visits. In that visit we examine the student's record of progress as recorded in the home or school study activities and we re-assess the student on our computer-based assessment system. These assessments enable us to keep a close check on progress and to change techniques that are not working or to move to a higher level task if sufficient progress has been made on a lower-level task. We ask participants to pay $30 for each of these visits.

  Data We Collect

The data we collect includes:

# Progress charts based on intervention activities

# Computer-based performance based on the initial diagnostic assessment and weekly visits to LATAS

# Copies of report cards and reports of performance on standardized achievement tests

# Reports of other assessments

# An entry interview that collects information regarding the history and nature of the academic difficulties the student is experiencing

Confidentiality of Data

All of the data is treated as confidential information. The only people having access to information about a particular student are those who are working directly with that student. Summary reports of the impact of our efforts may be prepared as scientific publications or data to be included in grant proposals. These reports will contain no information about the identity of the individual participants.

For Additional Information Contact:

James M. Royer, Ph.D.

Department of Psychology

University of Massachusetts

Amherst, MA 01003

Phone: (413) 545-2154

Fax: (413) 545-0996

email: royer@psych.umass.edu

Web Page: http://www.umass.edu/latas/

To Schedule a LATAS Appointment Call:

LATAS: (413) 545-0693