After considering the relationships between (a) reading fluency and reading rate and (b) reading rate and sight vocabulary, this study addressed a very practical question. Can a cut score on a sight vocabulary task (1-min) predict level of reading fluency 4+ months into the future? The prediction was tested at multiple times point across grades…

The Motivation for Educational Attainment (MEA) questionnaire, developed to assess facets related to early adolescents' motivation to complete high school, has a bifactor structure with a large general factor and three smaller orthogonal specific factors (teacher expectations, peer aspirations, value of education). This prospective validity study…

In a sample of 195 first graders selected for poor reading performance, the authors explored four cognitive predictors of later reading comprehension and reading disability (RD) status. In fall of first grade, the authors measured the children's phonological processing, rapid automatized naming (RAN), oral language comprehension, and nonverbal…

To individualize instruction in reading, a system of diagnostic measures must be used to establish needs areas. Author examines a number of such measures and proposes subsequent study culminating in a Predictive Index. (Editor/MB)

Study 1 retrospectively analyzed neuropsychological and psychoeducational tests given to N = 220 first graders, with follow-up assessments in third and eighth grade. Four predictor constructs were derived: (1) Phonemic Awareness, (2) Picture Vocabulary, (3) Rapid Naming, and (4) Single Word Reading. Together, these accounted for 88%, 76%, 69%, and…

This paper presents evidence that the Snyder/Pope Visual Memory Technique using the Bender-Gestalt Test is a useful predictor of reading ability for first-grade children. Short-term visual recall appears highly related to the Grade 1 reading task and should be assessed when children begin learning to read. (Author/SJL)

A battery of four reading readiness assessment tasks was administered to 267 first grade students to determine if the tasks predicted reading achievement as well as the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT). The four tasks, which were the best predictors in a previous study of seven readiness tasks, were the aural word boundaries task, the…

This research is part of a longitudinal study designed to compare measures of first-grade oral language with reading achievement at various grade levels. The original study constructed ten measures for oral language from interviews with 100 first graders and compared those measures to the reading achievement of the subjects at the end of first…

The relative contributions of learning style dimensions, intelligence quotient, and their interactions to prediction of academic performance were examined. Kindergarten students were evaluated, and their first grade achievement was studied. Although IQ was found the better predictor, learning styles accounted for statistically significant…

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the ability of an auditory perceptual technique to enhance prediction of later reading success of children of kindergarten and first grade age. A group of kindergarten age students and a group of first grade age students were selected as subjects. The Revised Auditory Test was used to assess…

Uses a review of literature to explain the inaccuracy and inappropriateness of routine kindergarten screening for potential first-grade learning problems for purposes of placement in kindergarten or first grade. (Author/BB)

A variety of factor analysis techniques were employed to explore the structure of five reading readiness instruments (Gates Reading Readiness Test, Developmental Tests of Visual Perception, Metropolitan Readiness Tests, Specially Constructed Readiness Test by Olson, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) as predictor variables of performance on…

The reliability and validity of the Spotlight for Literacy screening test was tested by administration to Australian first-graders. Prediction was best for low- and high-achievement groups. In general, girls scored higher than boys, groups differed according to socioeconomic status, and children from English-speaking homes scored higher than…

This study was designed to select and explore a research battery which, when administered at the beginning of the school year, more adequately and efficiently predicts end-of-year reading achievement than have previously used tests and test batteries. The most powerful predictor tests were designed to provide a more adequate screening device than…