Presents a model of reading comprehension development from a cognitive perspective. Employs structural equation analytical methods to evaluate within- and cross-grade relations among theoretically relevant variables. Finds phonemic knowledge drives comprehension for grades two and three; background knowledge has its greatest effect in grades three…

Finds high correlations between word reading and nonword reading; and skill in word identification was almost inseparable from the phonologically analytic decoding process that is tapped by nonword reading. Notes differences in reading comprehension were closely associated with differences in decoding skill. (SC)

Discusses conventional theory of speech and attempts to prove that it is implausible and likely to mislead the reading researcher or teacher who follows it. Offers and supports an alternative theory that is more plausible and less conventional which argues that phonologic structures developed early in life provide a basis for reading…

Suggests placing phonological awareness in the context of the problems of reading and the symptoms of reading disability. Considers how reading builds on the foundations of the child's development of primary language. Contains eight assertions about the development of reading and its difficulties. (SC)

Investigates causes of high and low reading achievement among elementary students using a causal model. Finds support for the model. Notes an implication of the model is that teaching and learning relevant to improving listening comprehension and word identification proximally affect verbal knowledge and pronunciation knowledge, and distally…

This study compares 2 measures of reading comprehension: (a) the Woodcock-Johnson Passage Comprehension test, a standard in reading research, and (b) the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading Comprehension (DARC), an innovative measure. Data from 192 Grade 3 Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) were used to fit a series of latent variable…

This study focuses on the shared variance between reading comprehension and word-level reading skills in a population of 534 Greek children in Grades 2 through 4. The correlations between measures of word and pseudoword accuracy and fluency, on the one hand, and vocabulary and comprehension skills, on the other, were sizeable and stable or…

Examines the reading skills of children who have deficient decoding skills in the years following the first grade and traces their progress across 20 sessions of a decoding skills intervention called Word Building. Presents results in terms of the consequences of not fully engaging in alphabetic decoding during early reading experience, and the…

Suggests that (1) readers store a substantial amount of text-sequencing information; (2) memory for text-sequencing information is strongly related to comprehension; (3) memory for place on the page is very weak; and (4) memory for place-on-the-page and text-sequencing information appear to be distinct. Indicates that text-sequence information is…

Presents finding of two studies designed to test the theory that limitations in working memory pose a lower limit to reading rate for effective prose recall. Tests college students, young adults and older adults, finding no evidence to support the theory. (NH)

In 43 countries, 199,097 fifteen-year-olds completed a reading comprehension test and a questionnaire. We analyzed the data using multilevel regressions of Rasch-estimated test scores to test the associations of gender and context on reading achievement among adolescents. In every country, girls outscored boys. Reading enjoyment mediated 42% of…

Examines specific effects of phonological abilities and linguistic comprehension on the development of word-decoding ability and reading comprehension, respectively, of 141 Dutch children from the end of first grade to the end of third grade. Finds that partly different determinants underlie the development of word-decoding ability and reading…

Confronts 3 large lacunae in research on reading fluency: definition, component structure, and theory-based intervention. Presents a developmental- and component-based definition of reading fluency. Discusses how different types of current fluency interventions correspond to particular components in fluency's structure and to particular phases of…

Recent theoretical advances in working memory guided analyses of cognitive measures in 122 children with dyslexia and their 200 affected biological parents in families with a multigenerational history of dyslexia. Both children and adults were most severely impaired, on average, in three working memory components- phonological word-form storage,…

Compares reading and spelling development of native Dutch-speaking children and minority children in the first two grades. Finds that the minority children kept up with the native Dutch-speaking children on word blending and word decoding tasks, but not on spelling and reading comprehension. Suggests that children learning to read in a second…