Common Core Reading Standard 10 not only prescribes the difficulty of texts students should become able to read, but also the difficulty diet of texts schools should ask their students to read across the school year. The use of quantitative text-assessment tools in the implementation of this standard warrants an examination into the validity of…

Shows that there are beneficial uses of reading expectancy formulas in general, but that there are also factors that make it necessary to use caution when dealing with these formulas. (Author/GW)

The Rapid Automatized Naming Test was studied cross sectionally in a sample of kindergartners (n=342) at risk for reading disability and longitudinally in an epidemiologically normal sample of children (n=160). Findings indicate the absolute color/object naming speed was strongly related to reading level and vocabulary across grades. (Author/CR)

Reports that children's reading speed for paragraphs in which either words, syllables, or letters were spaced widely apart was a good predictor of reading ability in grades one through three, but not in grades four through six. (GT)

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)

Performance by 38 elementary reading-disabled and above-average readers was compared on a series of 6 measures of phonological awareness, including tests of ability to segment, blend, and manipulate phonemes. Results suggest that tasks requiring blending and manipulation of phonemes, in addition to segmentation, may predict decoding ability best.…

Cross-validates the Simple View of Reading using a sample of children with English as their first language. Support the idea that reading comprehension ability can be decomposed into decoding and listening comprehension abilities, but does not support the assumption that most of the substantive variance in reading comprehension can be explained by…

Examines the relationship of auditory-visual integration and reading performance in a sample of British 8 to 9 year olds. (HOD)

A study involving 205 children from the Danish island of Bornholm found significant paths from early language abilities at age 3 through expressive and receptive language in kindergarten via language awareness in kindergarten and word decoding in grade 2 to sentence reading in grades 3 and 4. (Author/CR)

Two-cohorts of Grade 1 English as a Second Language (ESL) (n=200) and English as a First Language (EL1) (n=70) children were followed for two years. By considering differences in phonological awareness and rapid naming, it was possible to predict variance on word recognition performance six months and one year later. (Contains references.)…

One hundred and two third graders were tested on match-to-sample, cognitive style tasks in the visual and auditory modalities as well as a visual-auditory cross-modal task. The results lend support to the relationship between cognitive style and reading performance. (Author/NQA)

A study investigated predictors of individual differences in responsiveness to word reading instruction in 55 typical first-graders and 41 identified as at-risk. A combination of rapid naming speed, letter sound knowledge, and phonemic awareness skill predicted word and nonword reading growth in the at-risk group. Growth modeling increased reading…

Electroencephalographic (EEG) power spectra were studied in two poor reader groups (dyslexia and slow learning) and a normal reading group with attention deficit disorder (ADD). In correlational analyses, the combination of greater low beta and less theta power significantly predicted better reading and spelling. Results suggest adequate readers…

Ninety-six children were administered an orthographic test as preschoolers and two measures of non-phonemic phonological awareness in mid-kindergarten. Both phonological measures and the orthographic measure added significant variance to grade 1 word reading. The orthographic measure contributed to variance in reading vocabulary and reading…

To better understand the effects of the family on the reading achievement of black children, a study examined the relative influence of specific maternal variables and the family socioeconomic status (SES) on reading achievement. A total of 31 mother-child dyads were selected from a university reading clinic, with the children aged 7 through 11…