We examined longitudinal relations between 1st-grade cognitive predictors (early nonverbal reasoning, processing speed, listening comprehension, working memory, calculation skill, word-problem solving, word-reading fluency, attentive behavior, and numerical cognition) and 2nd-grade academic outcomes (calculations, word-problem solving, and word…

This study investigated the role of domain-specific and domain-general factors in predicting early literacy skills in Italian children. A sample of 239 first-grade students was evaluated using a broad neuropsychological battery to assess their cognitive skills. The results showed that phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, speed of…

Prior research has demonstrated that linguistic skills and knowledge contribute to successful reading acquisition. In contrast, little is known about the influence of domain-general learning abilities on reading. To investigate associations between general memory functions and reading during the early stages of learning to read, performance…

In this study, we aimed to determine the early cognitive and home environmental predictors of reading in Turkish-speaking children. A total of 362 children participated in the study. We monitored the children for 3 years and assessed the home environmental variables and cognitive skills in kindergarten, reading fluency at the end of the first…

Data from a randomized control trial of a multi-component intensive reading intervention were analyzed to determine the proportion of students nonresponsive to intervention and to identify predictors of nonresponse. Participants included 216 first-grade students identified as at-risk for reading difficulties. Response to intervention was…

It is common in intervention research to use measures of working memory either as an explanatory or a control variable. This study examines the contribution of cognitive abilities, including verbal working memory (WM) and attention, to language performance in first- and second-grade children. We assessed children (N = 414) on two forms of verbal…

Using kindergarten up to fourth-grade data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (2010--2011 cohort), we investigated systematic variability in English language learners' (ELLs; n = 303) mathematics growth as well as relations of kindergarten language growth and working memory (WM) to ELLs' mathematics growth. Using growth mixture modeling,…

Growth in working memory capacity, the number of items kept active in mind, is thought to be an important aspect of childhood cognitive development. Here, we focused on participants' awareness of the contents of their working memory, or "meta-working memory," which seems important because people can put cognitive abilities to best use…

This study examined developmental profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension in Grades 1 to 9 (ages 7 to 15) in a large Finnish sample (N = 2,518). In addition, early predictors of the profiles were analyzed with respect to kindergarten cognitive skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automized naming [RAN], number…

Cognitive flexibility is a sophisticated form of executive functions that predicts a range of adaptive outcomes; however, little is known about which caregiving behaviors predict the rapid improvements in children's cognitive flexibility during early childhood. This study examined whether ordinary variations in mothers' provision of emotional and…

This paper investigates the effect of primary school students' utilization of extended education offerings and of the quality of extended education on reading achievement in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. All-day schools are being set up. Among other reasons, as a means to level the increasing scholastic demands in the primary schools.…

Research has identified various domain-general and domain-specific cognitive abilities as predictors of children's individual differences in mathematics achievement. However, research into the predictors of children's individual growth rates, namely between-person differences in within-person change in mathematics achievement is scarce. We…

The primary aim of this study was determining Grade 1 cognitive predictors of students at risk for writing disabilities in Grades 2 through 4. Applying cognitive measures selected to align with theoretical and empirical models of writing, tasks were administered to Grade 1 students assessing fine-motor, linguistic, and executive functions: 84 at…

The primary aim of this study was determining Grade 1 cognitive predictors of students at risk for writing disabilities in Grades 2 through 4. Applying cognitive measures selected to align with theoretical and empirical models of writing, tasks were administered to Grade 1 students assessing fine-motor, linguistic, and executive functions: 84 at…

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,364), the present study supports an agentic perspective; it demonstrates that mothers' depressive symptoms in infancy predict children's poor first-grade cognitive functioning because depressive symptoms…