It is well established that emergent literacy is a strong predictor of later reading difficulties, and that the "home literacy environment" plays an important role in the development of children's preschool emergent literacy and oral language. Furthermore, reading difficulties runs in families and children with a family risk of reading…

We examined the development of children's positive and negative attitudes toward other-gender peers over 1 year, and explored the longitudinal social consequences of holding positive or negative attitudes on the beholder of these attitudes. Participants were 206 second graders (Mage = 7.18 yrs, SD = .56, 50% girls) and 206 fourth graders…

It has been common knowledge for decades that poor and working-class students tend to experience "summer learning loss," a drop in performance between spring and fall that serves to widen the gap between students. However, new research shows that the reality of summer learning loss is more complex. Megan Kuhfeld draws on data from the…

The concept of "Home Learning Environment" (HLE) covers activities in a family providing intellectual stimulation for a child, such as reading to him or her or visiting libraries. Numerous studies have shown an association between HLE and children's cognitive development. In this longitudinal study, we focus on HLE as a predictor for…

Often, the classification of words does not go beyond "difficult" (i.e., infrequent, late-learned, nonimageable, etc.) or "easy" (i.e., frequent, early-learned, imageable, etc.) words. In the present study, we used a latent cluster analysis to divide 703 Dutch words with scores for eight word properties into seven clusters of words. Each cluster…

We examined the double deficit hypothesis (Wolf & Bowers, 1999) and literacy development in a longitudinal dataset of 1,006 Finnish children who were nonreaders at school entry. A single phonological awareness (PA) deficit was a predictor of pseudoword spelling accuracy and reading fluency, and a single rapid automatized naming (RAN) deficit…

This study investigated the link between phoneme and onset-rime awareness and reading outcomes in children learning to read in a second language (L2). Closely matched phoneme and onset-rime awareness tasks were administered in English and French in the spring of kindergarten to English-dominant children in French immersion programmes (n=98).…

In developing countries, the role of the home environment in children's development of literacy skills is largely unknown. This study examines the relationship in a sample of 75 grade two children from rural eastern Tanzania. It also discusses the role of house building material and domestic facilities, in addition to parents' education and…

The low achievement of students from non-English-speaking households living in low socioeconomic contexts is associated with academic skill gaps evident at kindergarten entry. Yet, few cost-effective, valid instruments are available to assess these students' school readiness. To examine this topic, this longitudinal study followed 1,069 primarily…

The objective of this study was to investigate the contribution of rapid digit naming, phonological memory, letter sound naming, and orthographic knowledge to the prediction of responsiveness to a school-based, individual intervention of word reading fluency problems of 122 Dutch second and third graders whose reading scores were below the 10th…

The Number Sets Test was developed to assess the speed and accuracy with which children can identify and process quantities represented by Arabic numerals and object sets. The utility of this test for predicting mathematics achievement and risk for mathematical learning disability (MLD) was assessed for a sample of 223 children. A signal detection…

In a sample of 299 children (grades 2, 4, and 6), we examined parenting and negative life events as predictors of depressive cognitions, specifically low self-perceived competence, depressive cognitive schemas, and depressogenic attributional style. We also examined developmental trends in these relations. Children completed measures of parenting,…

This study focused on the predictive validity of fluency measures that comprise Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). Data were gathered from first through third graders attending 44 schools in 9 districts or local educational agencies that made up the first Reading First cohort in Michigan. Students were administered DIBELS…

Using an extant database, we examined three grade 1 criteria for identifying response to intervention (RTI) in English language learners (ELLs): (a) set benchmark criteria with a standard score above 95 (37th %ile) on both decoding and comprehension measures and a raw score of 40 or more correct words per minute (CWPM) on oral reading fluency; (b)…

In 1978, the Montgomery County (Maryland) public schools initiated an early admission (EA) pilot program that allowed 5-year olds to enter first grade. Two approaches were utilized: Under Plan I, a small number of 5-year olds entered regular grade 1 classes; under Plan II entire classes of 5-year olds attended school the full day, with the…