The authors examined how motivational and cognitive variables predict reading comprehension, and whether each predictor variable adds unique explanatory power when statistically controlling for the others. Fourth-grade students (N = 205) completed measures of reading comprehension in September and December of the same year, and measures of…

Investigates the relationships among pronunciation level (decoding), verbal level (listening), and accuracy level (reading) in grades 1 to 6, and for students who are in the advanced phase of decoding. Finds that the level of reading accuracy of students can be improved the most throughout grades 1 to 6 by emphasizing instruction that will improve…

Investigates the use of orthographic analogies in 6-year-olds. Notes that neither rime nor phoneme awareness measures were correlated with rime inference uses and that vowel, but not rime inference, was correlated with scaffolding errors. Finds that rime detection was the strongest predictor of reading ability, whereas phoneme segmentation was the…

Reports on three studies comparing the reading and phonological skills of children with Down Syndrome (DS) and younger normally developing children of similar reading level. Notes that for children with DS, letter-sound knowledge did not predict reading. Suggests that children with DS do not possess full phoneme awareness. (PM)

Details a project in which cognition, language, early literacy, phonological awareness, and reading skills were examined in a group of adolescents and children with Down syndrome and a group of typically developed children match for nonverbal cognition. Concludes that language was a strong predictor in the group with Down syndrome. (PM)

Evaluates children at-risk for reading failure as kindergartners and again as first graders. Suggests that lexical access ability is an important factor in reading acquisition and that different combinations of phonological processes may be related to different aspects of reading. (RS)

Finds the best preschool predictors of reading were naming tests for boys and general verbal ability for girls; for kindergartners, a quantitative test surpassed test of phonemic awareness and language in predicting reading; effects of birth order were strongest at the preschool level; socioeconomic status had significant effects only for boys,…