The effectiveness of teaching self-monitoring of attention on academic performance and attention in students with reading difficulties

monitoring of attention on academic performance and enhancement of attention in students with reading difficulties. Four fourth grade female students with reading difficulties were selected from a normal elementary school from Educational District Six of Tehran, Iran as participants. Research design was single subject (multiple baseline) design with different subjects. The instruments of this research were Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Jordan's Attention Deficit Disorder questionnaire (teacher and parents form), and Reading and Dyslexic Tests. In order to measure academic performance of students, a researcher-made fluent reading test was used. The study was conducted in three stages including baseline, intervention and generalization. In order to analyze the data, visual analysis and influence index calculation were used. The comparison of subjects’ performance in three stages of baseline, intervention and generalization indicated that the self-monitoring training has enhanced all four subjects’ academic performance and attention and, moreover, this resulted in the extension of learning vocabulary and new texts that have not been learnt. Considering the effectiveness of self-monitoring of attention on academic performance and attention in students with reading difficulties, it is recommended for the educators of elementary schools to use the results of this study to increase attention and improve educational efficiency of students with reading difficulties.