Gregg, N., Hoy, C., Flaherty, D. A., Norris, P., Coleman, C., Davis, M., & Jordan, M. (2005). Decoding and spelling accommodations for postsecondary students with dyslexia—It’s more than processing speed . Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal , 3 (2), 1–17. http://www.ldw-ldcj.org/

[no doi located]

The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to examine the relationship between specific Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive and Achievement clusters (WJ III; Woodcock, McGrew, and Mather, 2001) across populations with and without dyslexia at the postsecondary level; (b) to identify the strongest WJ III cognitive predictors for decoding, spelling, and reading fluency across college students with and without dyslexia; and (c) to discuss the implications of the findings for assessment and accommodation practices for secondary and postsecondary students.

A total of 101 postsecondary students with documented dyslexia and 100 postsecondary students without disabilities at the University of Georgia (U.S.) participated.

The primary dependent variable was the Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive and Achievement clusters (WJ III), including cognitive fluency, cognitive efficiency, academic fluency, reading fluency, phonemic awareness, sound awareness, long-term retrieval, visual/auditory, verbal comprehension, fluid reasoning, and concept formation. Participants also completed the following tests: the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III or the Kaufman Adult Intelligence Scale for Adolescents and Adults (KAIS).

Various achievement scores—including both processing speed and word knowledge—were found to significantly influence performance in very different ways. Future research possibilities were suggested.