This exploratory study builds upon extant reading development studies by identifying discrete groups based on reading comprehension trajectories across first grade. The main goal of this study was to enhance the field's understanding of early reading comprehension development and its underlying subcomponent skills, with the intent of better…

This study, framed by the component model of reading (CMR), examined the relative importance of kindergarten-entry predictors of first grade reading performance. Specifically, elements within the ecological domain included dialect, maternal education, amount of preschool, and home literacy; elements within the psychological domain included…

First grade students (n=221) were tested on measures of verbal fluency, visual attention, phonological awareness, orthographic recognition, rapid automated naming (RAN) of letters and objects, and reading. Findings indicated that word reading was directly and significantly predicted by RAN letter naming and general RAN cognitive processing time of…

A study compared the effectiveness of phonemic awareness and decoding training for 58 first graders with and without severe lexical retrieval weaknesses. All students demonstrated poor phonemic awareness. Students with relatively strong lexical retrieval skills responded more favorably to beginning reading instruction than did students with weak…

Blending and spelling training were compared to determine which intervention would improve the decoding skills of two first-grade boys with learning disabilities. Although neither intervention proved superior, the children met the learning criterion with both interventions and demonstrated both maintenance and generalization of their skills. (DB)

Recent advances concerning emerging/beginning reading skills, positive behavioral support (PBS), and three-tiered schoolwide prevention models combined with federal mandates (i.e., IDEA and No Child Left Behind) have stimulated interest in providing early and intensive instructional intervention services to children at risk for reading and…

Assessment of 486 first-quarter first graders identified 99 children as being at risk for reading difficulties, half of whom then received a phonological processing intervention. Results support the early identification of children at risk for reading difficulties and the effectiveness of the phonological processing intervention. (DB)

This study examined the development of reading and phonological processing abilities of 209 first graders assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. The discriminant analysis, based on reading and intelligence data, correctly identified later group membership (students with and without reading disabilities and "garden variety" poor…

Standardized sensory, perceptual, linguistic, intellectual, and cognitive tests were administered to 470 entering first graders. Factor analysis found four factors, which were reading related skills, visual cognition, verbal cognition, and speech processing. Cluster analysis identified nine profiles. The strongest predictors of later reading and…