The effects of 2 preschool-based shared-reading interventions were evaluated with 95 children, ages 2- to 5-years, from low-income families. Language skills of the children were below age-level as measured by standardized tests. Children were pretested and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) no-treatment control, (b) typical shared-reading condition, and (c) dialogic (interactive) shared-reading condition. For both intervention conditions, undergraduate volunteers read to children in small groups. Following the 6-week intervention, children were posttested on measures of oral language, listening comprehension, and phonological sensitivity. Both interventions produced positive effects. Results favoring dialogic reading were found on a measure of descriptive use of language, whereas results favoring typical shared-reading were found on measures of listening comprehension and alliteration detection.

Research has indicated a substantial overlap between reading disability (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, few studies concerning this overlap have been conducted with preschool children. This study examined the overlap between behaviors associated with ADHD and emergent literacy skills in preschool children. One group of 44 children (mean age = 48 months, SD = 11.3) was from middle-income families, and one group of 41 children (mean age = 53 months, SD = 8.1) attended Head Start. Results demonstrated that attention problems were substantially, consistently, and uniquely associated with emergent literacy skills in both groups; however, the effect was strongest for the middle-income group. These findings indicate that the association between reading skills and behaviors associated with ADHD is present in preschool children and that emergent literacy skills may mediate the link between ADHD and RD found in older children.