Abstract

Reading failure of children is a systemic problem across the United States (U.S.). Over 60% of U.S. children never achieve reading proficiency during their K-12 education. An even greater gap exists for children with disabilities who are at risk for persistent struggles with reading or a Reading Disability (RD). Researchers have shown when reading failure goes unaddressed negative effects persist for children into adulthood in various aspects of life. Early reading interventions show promise in remedying RD; however, traditional measures for identifying children with RD are costly, time-consuming, and unreliable. Researchers have revealed that Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, such as eye-tracking, can potentially detect RD for earlier intervention. Currently, limited research exists on eye-tracking to identify elementary children potentially at risk for RD. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential impact of using eye-tracking during a reading screening to determine if significant differences existed between the (a) average fixation time and (b) proportions of fixations to total stimuli duration while reading with 12 children with RD and 17 children without RD. A study powered at 80% showed, statistically significant differences for children with RD having longer average fixation times compared to children without RD. The researcher found a statistically significant similarity between groups with a low average of proportions of fixations to total stimuli duration while reading between children without an RD. The findings from this exploratory study indicate potential for further use and investigation of employing eye-tracking devices combined with AI to screen, identify, and progress monitor elementary children potentially at risk for or identified with RD.

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2023

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Dieker, Lisa

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

School of Teacher Education

Degree Program

Education; Exceptional Education

Identifier

CFE0009697; DP0027804

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0027804

Language

English

Release Date

August 2026

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Campus-only Access)

Download

Restricted to the UCF community until August 2026; it will then be open access.

Share

COinS