Paul L Morgan
Biographic Data
| ID | 380797 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paul L Morgan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paul L |
| FAMILY NAME | Morgan |
| SIGNATURE | MORGAN P L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Pennsylvania State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9347-6486 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 192 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Learning Disabilities Identification in U.S. Elementary Schools
We investigated racial and ethnic disparities in learning disabilities (LD) identification in U.S. elementary schools including before and after proposal and implementation of the federal Equity in IDEA regulations. We analyzed repeated cross-sectional data from large samples of U.S. fourth graders participating in the National Assessment of Educational Progress ( N = 1,607,010; n s = 103,150 to 205,860) across 2003 to 2022. Multivariable logisti…
Are elementary school children bullied more when they attend disruptive classrooms? A child-fixed-effects analysis
Racial and ethnic differences in the risks for reading difficulties across elementary school
Assessing the impact of dyslexia laws on identification and reading achievement: An empirical analysis
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in School-Based Disability Identification
Whether racial and ethnic disparities in disability identification are currently occurring across elementary school is unclear. We analyzed the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 ( N = 15,140) using discrete-time event history models with time-invariant and time-varying covariates. Black (adjusted odds ratio [a OR ] = 0.45) and Hispanic (aOR = 0.43) students were less likely than similarly…
Between‐ and within‐child level associations between externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in a nationally representative sample of US elementary school children
Background Both transactional and common etiological models have been proposed as explanations of why externalizing behavior problems (EBP) and internalizing behavior problems (IBP) co‐occur in children. Yet little research has empirically evaluated these competing theoretical explanations. We examined whether EBP and IBP are transactionally related at the within‐child level while also identifying antecedents commonly associated with between‐chil…
Sociodemographic Disparities in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Overdiagnosis and Overtreatment During Elementary School
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) overdiagnosis and overtreatment unnecessarily exposes children to potential harm and contributes to provider and community skepticism toward those with moderate or severe symptoms and significant impairments, resulting in less supportive care. Yet, which sociodemographic groups of children are overdiagnosed and overtreated for ADHD is poorly understood. We conducted descriptive and logistic regressi…
Longitudinal Trajectories of Reading and Mathematics Achievement for Students With Learning Disabilities
We examined to what extent subgroups of students identified with learning disabilities (LDs; N = 630) in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998 to 1999 (ECLS-K): 1998 national longitudinal study displayed heterogeneity in longitudinal profiles of reading and mathematics achievement from first to eighth grades. Multivariate growth mixture modeling yielded four classes of combined reading and mathematics trajectories for…
Which Students With Disabilities are Placed Primarily Outside of U.S. Elementary School General Education Classrooms
Students with disabilities (SWD) who are Black or Hispanic have been reported to be more likely to be placed primarily outside of general education classrooms while attending U.S. schools. Federal law and regulation require monitoring of special education placement based on race or ethnicity. Yet, whether and to what extent racial or ethnic disparities in placement are explained by bias or by other explanatory factors is currently unclear. We eva…
Fixed effect estimates of student-teacher racial or ethnic matching in U.S. elementary schools
Risk and Protective Factors for Frequent Electronic Device Use of Online Technologies
A sample of 10,460 U.S. elementary schoolchildren was analyzed to identify early predictors of frequent use of online technologies (i.e., messaging, online gaming, and social networking). Children (Mage = 67.44 months) at greater risk displayed more externalizing problem behaviors in kindergarten (messaging OR = 1.11; online gaming OR = 1.21; social networking OR = 1.12) or were Black (messaging OR = 1.65; online gaming OR = 1.64; social networki…
Reciprocal effects of reading and mathematics? Beyond the cross-lagged panel model
Prior nonexperimental studies have been used to conclude that children's reading and mathematics achievement bidirectionally influence each other over time, with strong paths from (a) early reading to later mathematics and (b) early mathematics to later reading. In the most influential study on the topic, the early math-to-later-reading path was reported to be stronger than the early reading-to-later-math path (Duncan et al., 2007). Yet prior est…
Executive function deficits in kindergarten predict repeated academic difficulties across elementary school
Replicated Evidence of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Disability Identification in U.S. Schools
Federal legislation and policy increasingly seek to address minority overrepresentation in special education due to concerns that U.S. schools are misidentifying children as disabled based on their race or ethnicity. Yet whether and to what extent this is occurring is currently in dispute. We estimated racial disparities in disability identification using very large (e.g., Ns = 183,570, 165,540, and 48,560) student-level, nationally representativ…
Are We Helping All the Children That We Are Supposed to Be Helping
We reply to three critiques regarding our reporting that White, English-speaking children are much more likely than otherwise similar racial, ethnic, and language minority children to receive special education services in the United States. We show how each critique is unsound. We present further evidence of the robustness of our findings
Month-Old Children With Larger Oral Vocabularies Display Greater Academic and Behavioral Functioning at Kindergarten Entry
Data were analyzed from a population-based, longitudinal sample of 8,650 U.S. children to (a) identify factors associated with or predictive of oral vocabulary size at 24 months of age and (b) evaluate whether oral vocabulary size is uniquely predictive of academic and behavioral functioning at kindergarten entry. Children from higher socioeconomic status households, females, and those experiencing higher quality parenting had larger oral vocabul…
Minorities Are Disproportionately Underrepresented in Special Education: Longitudinal Evidence Across Five Disability Conditions
We investigated whether minority children attending U.S. elementary and middle schools are disproportionately represented in special education. We did so using hazard modeling of multiyear longitudinal data and extensive covariate adjustment for potential child-, family-, and state-level confounds. Minority children were consistently less likely than otherwise similar White, English-speaking children to be identified as disabled and so to receive…
Quality Disparities in Child Care for At-Risk Children: Comparing Head Start and Non-Head Start Settings
Are Minority Children Disproportionately Represented in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education
We investigated whether and to what extent children who are racial-ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in early intervention and/or early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). We did so by analyzing a large sample of 48-month-olds ( N = 7,950) participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a nationally representative data set of children born in the United States in 2001. Multivariate logistic reg…
A Propensity Score Matching Analysis of the Effects of Special Education Services
We sought to quantify the effectiveness of special education services as naturally delivered in U.S. schools. Specifically, we examined whether children receiving special education services displayed (a) greater reading or mathematics skills, (b) more frequent learning-related behaviors, or (c) less frequent externalizing or internalizing problem behaviors than closely matched peers not receiving such services. To do so, we used propensity score …
Perinatal and Socioeconomic Risk Factors for Variable and Persistent Cognitive Delay at 24 and 48 Months of Age in a National Sample
The objective of this paper is to examine patterns of cognitive delay at 24 and 48 months and quantify the effects of perinatal and sociodemographic risk factors on persistent and variable cognitive delay. Using data from 7,200 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), multiple logistic regression models identified significant predictors of low cognitive functioning at 24 and 48 months. Additional multiple logisti…
Who Is Placed into Special Education
The authors use nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) to identify variables measured in the fall of 1998 (when the sample's students were in kindergarten) that predict special education placement by the spring of 2004 (when most students were finishing fifth grade). Placement's strongest kindergarten predictor is a student's level of academic achievement. Also importan…
Developing Short Forms of the Earli Numeracy Measures: Comparison of Item Selection Methods
Currently, few measures are available to monitor young children’s progress in acquiring key early academic skills. In response to this need, the authors have begun developing measures (i.e., the Early Arithmetic, Reading and Learning Indicators, or EARLI) of preschoolers’ numeracy skills. To accurately and efficiently monitor acquisition of early skills, users require multiple short forms that are appropriate in difficulty level for young childre…
Towards a developmental theory of place attachment
Is There a Bidirectional Relationship between Children's Reading Skills and Reading Motivation?
Young children who enjoy reading do it more often and they tend to become skilled at it. Poor readers, by contrast, often display low motivation to read. One possible explanation of this is that reading skill and reading motivation influence each other. 15 studies were reviewed addressing the relationship between young children's reading and competency beliefs or goal orientations. Results indicate that reading skills and motivation correlate (al…
Minorities Are Disproportionately Underrepresented in Special Education: Longitudinal Evidence Across Five Disability Conditions
We investigated whether minority children attending U.S. elementary and middle schools are disproportionately represented in special education. We did so using hazard modeling of multiyear longitudinal data and extensive covariate adjustment for potential child-, family-, and state-level confounds. Minority children were consistently less likely than otherwise similar White, English-speaking children to be identified as disabled and so to receive…
Who Is Placed into Special Education
The authors use nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) to identify variables measured in the fall of 1998 (when the sample's students were in kindergarten) that predict special education placement by the spring of 2004 (when most students were finishing fifth grade). Placement's strongest kindergarten predictor is a student's level of academic achievement. Also importan…
Replicated Evidence of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Disability Identification in U.S. Schools
Federal legislation and policy increasingly seek to address minority overrepresentation in special education due to concerns that U.S. schools are misidentifying children as disabled based on their race or ethnicity. Yet whether and to what extent this is occurring is currently in dispute. We estimated racial disparities in disability identification using very large (e.g., Ns = 183,570, 165,540, and 48,560) student-level, nationally representativ…
Are Minority Children Disproportionately Represented in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education
We investigated whether and to what extent children who are racial-ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in early intervention and/or early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). We did so by analyzing a large sample of 48-month-olds ( N = 7,950) participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a nationally representative data set of children born in the United States in 2001. Multivariate logistic reg…
Executive function deficits in kindergarten predict repeated academic difficulties across elementary school
Reciprocal effects of reading and mathematics? Beyond the cross-lagged panel model
Prior nonexperimental studies have been used to conclude that children's reading and mathematics achievement bidirectionally influence each other over time, with strong paths from (a) early reading to later mathematics and (b) early mathematics to later reading. In the most influential study on the topic, the early math-to-later-reading path was reported to be stronger than the early reading-to-later-math path (Duncan et al., 2007). Yet prior est…
Are We Helping All the Children That We Are Supposed to Be Helping
We reply to three critiques regarding our reporting that White, English-speaking children are much more likely than otherwise similar racial, ethnic, and language minority children to receive special education services in the United States. We show how each critique is unsound. We present further evidence of the robustness of our findings
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in School-Based Disability Identification
Whether racial and ethnic disparities in disability identification are currently occurring across elementary school is unclear. We analyzed the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 ( N = 15,140) using discrete-time event history models with time-invariant and time-varying covariates. Black (adjusted odds ratio [a OR ] = 0.45) and Hispanic (aOR = 0.43) students were less likely than similarly…
Fixed effect estimates of student-teacher racial or ethnic matching in U.S. elementary schools
Is There a Bidirectional Relationship between Children's Reading Skills and Reading Motivation?
Young children who enjoy reading do it more often and they tend to become skilled at it. Poor readers, by contrast, often display low motivation to read. One possible explanation of this is that reading skill and reading motivation influence each other. 15 studies were reviewed addressing the relationship between young children's reading and competency beliefs or goal orientations. Results indicate that reading skills and motivation correlate (al…
Developing Short Forms of the Earli Numeracy Measures: Comparison of Item Selection Methods
Currently, few measures are available to monitor young children’s progress in acquiring key early academic skills. In response to this need, the authors have begun developing measures (i.e., the Early Arithmetic, Reading and Learning Indicators, or EARLI) of preschoolers’ numeracy skills. To accurately and efficiently monitor acquisition of early skills, users require multiple short forms that are appropriate in difficulty level for young childre…
Towards a developmental theory of place attachment
A Propensity Score Matching Analysis of the Effects of Special Education Services
We sought to quantify the effectiveness of special education services as naturally delivered in U.S. schools. Specifically, we examined whether children receiving special education services displayed (a) greater reading or mathematics skills, (b) more frequent learning-related behaviors, or (c) less frequent externalizing or internalizing problem behaviors than closely matched peers not receiving such services. To do so, we used propensity score …
Perinatal and Socioeconomic Risk Factors for Variable and Persistent Cognitive Delay at 24 and 48 Months of Age in a National Sample
The objective of this paper is to examine patterns of cognitive delay at 24 and 48 months and quantify the effects of perinatal and sociodemographic risk factors on persistent and variable cognitive delay. Using data from 7,200 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), multiple logistic regression models identified significant predictors of low cognitive functioning at 24 and 48 months. Additional multiple logisti…
Who Is Placed into Special Education
The authors use nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) to identify variables measured in the fall of 1998 (when the sample's students were in kindergarten) that predict special education placement by the spring of 2004 (when most students were finishing fifth grade). Placement's strongest kindergarten predictor is a student's level of academic achievement. Also importan…
Quality Disparities in Child Care for At-Risk Children: Comparing Head Start and Non-Head Start Settings
Are Minority Children Disproportionately Represented in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education
We investigated whether and to what extent children who are racial-ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in early intervention and/or early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). We did so by analyzing a large sample of 48-month-olds ( N = 7,950) participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a nationally representative data set of children born in the United States in 2001. Multivariate logistic reg…
Month-Old Children With Larger Oral Vocabularies Display Greater Academic and Behavioral Functioning at Kindergarten Entry
Data were analyzed from a population-based, longitudinal sample of 8,650 U.S. children to (a) identify factors associated with or predictive of oral vocabulary size at 24 months of age and (b) evaluate whether oral vocabulary size is uniquely predictive of academic and behavioral functioning at kindergarten entry. Children from higher socioeconomic status households, females, and those experiencing higher quality parenting had larger oral vocabul…
Minorities Are Disproportionately Underrepresented in Special Education: Longitudinal Evidence Across Five Disability Conditions
We investigated whether minority children attending U.S. elementary and middle schools are disproportionately represented in special education. We did so using hazard modeling of multiyear longitudinal data and extensive covariate adjustment for potential child-, family-, and state-level confounds. Minority children were consistently less likely than otherwise similar White, English-speaking children to be identified as disabled and so to receive…
Are We Helping All the Children That We Are Supposed to Be Helping
We reply to three critiques regarding our reporting that White, English-speaking children are much more likely than otherwise similar racial, ethnic, and language minority children to receive special education services in the United States. We show how each critique is unsound. We present further evidence of the robustness of our findings
Replicated Evidence of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Disability Identification in U.S. Schools
Federal legislation and policy increasingly seek to address minority overrepresentation in special education due to concerns that U.S. schools are misidentifying children as disabled based on their race or ethnicity. Yet whether and to what extent this is occurring is currently in dispute. We estimated racial disparities in disability identification using very large (e.g., Ns = 183,570, 165,540, and 48,560) student-level, nationally representativ…
Executive function deficits in kindergarten predict repeated academic difficulties across elementary school
Reciprocal effects of reading and mathematics? Beyond the cross-lagged panel model
Prior nonexperimental studies have been used to conclude that children's reading and mathematics achievement bidirectionally influence each other over time, with strong paths from (a) early reading to later mathematics and (b) early mathematics to later reading. In the most influential study on the topic, the early math-to-later-reading path was reported to be stronger than the early reading-to-later-math path (Duncan et al., 2007). Yet prior est…
Risk and Protective Factors for Frequent Electronic Device Use of Online Technologies
A sample of 10,460 U.S. elementary schoolchildren was analyzed to identify early predictors of frequent use of online technologies (i.e., messaging, online gaming, and social networking). Children (Mage = 67.44 months) at greater risk displayed more externalizing problem behaviors in kindergarten (messaging OR = 1.11; online gaming OR = 1.21; social networking OR = 1.12) or were Black (messaging OR = 1.65; online gaming OR = 1.64; social networki…
Fixed effect estimates of student-teacher racial or ethnic matching in U.S. elementary schools
Sociodemographic Disparities in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Overdiagnosis and Overtreatment During Elementary School
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) overdiagnosis and overtreatment unnecessarily exposes children to potential harm and contributes to provider and community skepticism toward those with moderate or severe symptoms and significant impairments, resulting in less supportive care. Yet, which sociodemographic groups of children are overdiagnosed and overtreated for ADHD is poorly understood. We conducted descriptive and logistic regressi…
Longitudinal Trajectories of Reading and Mathematics Achievement for Students With Learning Disabilities
We examined to what extent subgroups of students identified with learning disabilities (LDs; N = 630) in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998 to 1999 (ECLS-K): 1998 national longitudinal study displayed heterogeneity in longitudinal profiles of reading and mathematics achievement from first to eighth grades. Multivariate growth mixture modeling yielded four classes of combined reading and mathematics trajectories for…
Which Students With Disabilities are Placed Primarily Outside of U.S. Elementary School General Education Classrooms
Students with disabilities (SWD) who are Black or Hispanic have been reported to be more likely to be placed primarily outside of general education classrooms while attending U.S. schools. Federal law and regulation require monitoring of special education placement based on race or ethnicity. Yet, whether and to what extent racial or ethnic disparities in placement are explained by bias or by other explanatory factors is currently unclear. We eva…
Between‐ and within‐child level associations between externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in a nationally representative sample of US elementary school children
Background Both transactional and common etiological models have been proposed as explanations of why externalizing behavior problems (EBP) and internalizing behavior problems (IBP) co‐occur in children. Yet little research has empirically evaluated these competing theoretical explanations. We examined whether EBP and IBP are transactionally related at the within‐child level while also identifying antecedents commonly associated with between‐chil…
Racial and ethnic differences in the risks for reading difficulties across elementary school
Assessing the impact of dyslexia laws on identification and reading achievement: An empirical analysis
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in School-Based Disability Identification
Whether racial and ethnic disparities in disability identification are currently occurring across elementary school is unclear. We analyzed the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 ( N = 15,140) using discrete-time event history models with time-invariant and time-varying covariates. Black (adjusted odds ratio [a OR ] = 0.45) and Hispanic (aOR = 0.43) students were less likely than similarly…
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Learning Disabilities Identification in U.S. Elementary Schools
We investigated racial and ethnic disparities in learning disabilities (LD) identification in U.S. elementary schools including before and after proposal and implementation of the federal Equity in IDEA regulations. We analyzed repeated cross-sectional data from large samples of U.S. fourth graders participating in the National Assessment of Educational Progress ( N = 1,607,010; n s = 103,150 to 205,860) across 2003 to 2022. Multivariable logisti…
Are elementary school children bullied more when they attend disruptive classrooms? A child-fixed-effects analysis
Psychology (20 works) · Developmental psychology (16 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (11 works) · Ethnic group (11 works) · Medicine (11 works) · Demography (8 works) · Family and Disability Support Research (8 works) · Academic achievement (7 works) · Education Discipline and Inequality (7 works) · Mathematics education (7 works)