Researcher at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) Ms. Maryam Mohammed Ibrahim Al Ghaith recently presented the results of an analysis she prepared on the best factors for identifying gifted students with dyslexia, using the dimensional analysis method. The analysis came as part of the requirements to obtain a PhD in Philosophy in Gifted Education from the AGU’s College of Graduate Studies (CGS).
Ms. Al Ghaith assessed all published and unpublished studies including articles, master’s and PhD theses, and books during the period from 1956 to 2019 in the field of the gifted and dyslexic.
Titled “Dimensional Analysis of the Factors for Identifying Gifted and Dyslexic Students”, the study calculated the average effect size, using multiple regression analysis for intermediate variables such as intelligence, working memory, phonology, word recognition skills, reading comprehension skills and spelling, with the aim of explaining the heterogeneity in the average size of the effect. Ms. Al Ghaith relied in the process of collecting and analysing data for previous studies and research on a list of inclusion/exclusion criteria and a data coding model, using “hedges’ g” index and a comprehensive meta-analysis programme to calculate the size of the effect.
As per the results of the analysis, the researcher asserted the necessity of early identification of gifted students with dyslexia by using the most effective factors to identify them, organising treatment and guidance programmes for working memory, rapidly naming gifted dyslexic students of all ages and to follow-up on them, as well as evaluating and assessing them by specialists.
The study was conducted under the supervision of Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics Professor Dr Alaaeldin Ayoub and Gifted Education Assistant Professor Dr Ahmed Mohammed Al Abbasi.