This report examines the readiness of Latino (Hispanic descent) high school students for college-level academic work based on their reading comprehension and verbal reasoning skills. Pertinent college admissions test data and educational survey data are reviewed, and findings are discussed from a variety of research fields that sharpen the understanding of factors that can promote or inhibit the development of verbal comprehension and reasoning skills among these students. The analysis of research covers contextual factors, discourse processing, and word recognition factors related to reading comprehension and verbal reasoning performance. Based on the review, it is concluded that coherent approaches are emerging for understanding the reading comprehension and reasoning skills development of Latino students, including the importance of communicative competence, linguistic features of texts, second language learning, comprehension and reasoning strategies, and verbal decoding of English words. The report includes a discussion of questions that need to be pursued in devising effective instruction and interventions based on what the research has revealed. (Contains 37 references.) (NAV)