Latent Profiles and Response to Intervention for Students with Co‐Occurring Reading and Attention Difficulties

ABSTRACT We examined whether Grades 3–5 students with co‐occurring reading and behavioral attention difficulties constituted homogeneous or heterogeneous groups based on pretest reading and behavioral attention skills and if so, did these latent profiles predict reading comprehension response to intervention? To do this, we first conducted a latent profile analysis with 130 Grades 3–5 students with reading and behavioral attention difficulties who were randomized to one of three groups: reading with supports for student behavioral attention, reading‐only, or business‐as‐usual. Two profiles emerged: Profile 1 students had lower word reading, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and vocabulary scores and were more inattentive than Profile 2 students. Next, we examined whether latent profiles predicted response to instruction on reading comprehension for either of the three conditions. Results did not suggest a statistically significant interaction between conditions and profiles on reading comprehension, meaning that profiles did not predict response. Limitations, future research, and implications are discussed.