Certain aspects of spatial orientation among adolescent boys assigned to court schools in Los Angeles County

Includes bibliographical references (pages 77-88)Research studies have contended that reading ability is\ud dependent upon accurate visual perception. Secondary\ud students whose reading skills are poor also demonstrate poor\ud understanding of spatial orientational concepts at the\ud abstract levels of language--which is a prerequisite for\ud reading to occur. Disabled readers may have spatial-conceptual\ud deficits rather than perceptual reading problems.\ud This study examines the relationship of knowledge of\ud spatial concepts, lateral preference and reading achievement\ud among adolescent boys in Juvenile Court Schools in Los\ud Angeles County.\ud The sample was limited to 130 boys ranging in age from \ud 12 to 18 years drawn from two Community Day Center schools\ud located in two children's licensed institutions and three\ud Juvenile Court Schools in Probation Camp settings.\ud Reading achievement was measured by the Comprehensive\ud Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) and the Peabody Individual\ud Achievement Test (PIAT). The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts\ud (BTBC) was used to measure mastery of spatial relationship\ud concepts. The Ravitz Test of Lateral Preference (RTLP)\ud was devised as a simple screening instrument to determine\ud motor-visual preference in directional functioning.\ud Results yielded a statistically significant relationship\ud between knowledge of spatial concepts and reading\ud comprehension at the .005 level. The test of lateral\ud preference did not significantly correlate with reading\ud ability. A more sensitive instrument needs to be\ud developed that will more accurately measure directional\ud functioning.\ud The results suggest that spatial skills operate\ud causally on subsequent verbal acquisitions, and may be\ud central to the remediation of reading deficits among\ud language-disabled children