This study explored the relationship between the reading ability and science achievement of students in grades 5, 8, and 9. Reading ability was assessed with four measures: word recognition, vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and comprehension (23% of all passages were on science topics). Science achievement was assessed with state…

The present study explored the early predictors of reading comprehension difficulties in Chinese children. We originally recruited 290 Beijing and 154 Hong Kong children and further selected from each sample those (30 from Beijing and 22 from Hong Kong sample) in the lowest 25% on reading comprehension tests across the last two consecutive testing…

This study had three main aims. First, we examined to what extent listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammatical skills and verbal short-term memory (VSTM) assessed prior to formal reading instruction explained individual differences in early reading comprehension levels. Second, we examined to what extent the three common component skills,…

Adults often use simple words instead of complex words when talking to young children. Reasons vary from teachers' beliefs that young children cannot understand sophisticated vocabulary because they are too young or have limited language skills, to teachers' unfamiliarity with complex words or with strategies for supporting vocabulary. As a…

Many preschool language-focused interventions attempt to boost language and literacy skills in young children at risk in these areas of development, though the long-term effects of such interventions are not well-established. This study investigated kindergarten language and reading skills, specifically the subcomponents of vocabulary, decoding,…

This study explores the incidence of poor comprehenders, that is, children identified as having reading comprehension difficulties, despite age-appropriate word reading skills. It supports the findings that some children do show poor reading comprehension, despite age-appropriate word reading, as measured with a phonological coding test. However,…

The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlational and predictive relationships between parents with low literacy skills (n = 96) and their 3-5 year old children's emergent literacy skills (n = 96). In the study parents were assessed on measures of reading comprehension, decoding, fluency, oral vocabulary, and word identification,…

REACH is a targeted reading support programme designed to improve reading accuracy and comprehension in pupils with reading difficulties in Years 7 and 8. It is based on research by the Centre for Reading and Language at York and is delivered by specially trained teaching assistants (TAs). This evaluation tested two REACH interventions, one based…

This technical report describes the conceptual foundation and measurement properties of the Reading Inventory and Scholastic Evaluation (RISE). The RISE is a 6-subtest, Web-administered reading skills components battery. The theoretical and empirical foundations of each subtest in the battery are reviewed, as well as item designs. The results…

We examined cognitive attributes, attention, and self-efficacy of fourth grade struggling readers who were identified as adequate responders (n = 27), inadequate responders with comprehension only deficits (n = 46), and inadequate responders with comprehension and word reading deficits (n = 52) after receiving a multicomponent reading…

In the present study we investigated a developmentally changing role of text reading fluency in mediating the relations of word reading fluency and listening comprehension to reading comprehension. We addressed this question by using longitudinal data from Grades 1 to 4 and employing structural equation models. Results showed that the role of text…

Many low-skill readers have problems with visual word recognition. In particular, low-skill readers show a substantial nonword reading deficit that is attributed to deficits in sub-lexical processing. In this study, I examined whether the nonword deficits of German 14-year-old low-skill readers were associated with inefficient use of multi-letter…

Reading difficulties in elementary school-aged children may occur when two components of reading--word identification, comprehension, or both of these skills--are weak or underdeveloped (Gough, 1972; Hoover & Gough, 1990; Joshi & Aaron, 2000; Savage, 2001). One type of reading difficulty that is frequently identified by teachers is known…

This study examined the reading and math achievement profiles and longitudinal growth trajectories of a nationally representative sample of children ages 6 through 9 with an ASD. Four distinct achievement profiles were identified: higher-achieving (39%), hyperlexia (9%), hypercalculia (20%), and lower-achieving (32%). Children with hypercalculia…

Adults of varying reading comprehension skill learned a set of previously unknown rare English words (e.g., "gloaming") in three different learning conditions in which the type of word knowledge was manipulated. The words were presented in one of three conditions: (1) orthography-to-meaning (no phonology); (2) orthography-to-phonology (no…