Some children demonstrate adequate or better reading achievement in early school grades, but fall significantly behind their peers in later grades. These children are often referred to as late-emerging poor readers. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and heterogeneity of these poor readers. We also examined the early language and nonverbal cognitive abilities of late-emerging poor readers. Participants were 493 children who were a subsample from an epidemiological study of language impairments in school-age children. In kindergarten, children were administered a battery of language, early literacy, and nonverbal cognitive measures. Word reading and reading comprehension achievement was assessed in second, fourth, eighth, and tenth grades. Latent transition analysis was used to model changes in reading classification (good vs. poor reader) across grades. Population estimates revealed that 13.4% percent of children could be classified as late-emerging poor readers. These children could be divided into those with problems in comprehension alone (52%), word reading alone (36%), or both (12%). Further results indicated that late-emerging poor readers often had a history of language and/or nonverbal cognitive impairments in kindergarten. Subtypes of poor readers also differed significantly in their profiles of language, early literacy, and nonverbal cognitive abilities in kindergarten. Results are discussed in terms of causal factors and implications for early identification.

Response to intervention (RTI) holds great promise for the early identification and prevention of reading disabilities. The success of RTI rests in part on the accuracy of universal screening tools used within this framework. Despite advancements, screening instruments designed to identify children at risk for reading disabilities continue to have limited predictive validity. In this study, we examine a common screening instrument for the presence of floor effects and investigate the impact that these effects have on the predictive validity of the instrument. Longitudinal data (kindergarten-3rd grade) from a large cohort of children were used. These data included children’s performances on five measures from DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) and two reading achievement outcome measures. Results showed that DIBELS measures were characterized by floor effects in their initial administrations, and that these effects reduced the predictive validity of the measures. The implications of these findings for early identification are discussed.

Purpose This study examined the reading achievement growth of children with language impairments (LI) across the school grades. The authors sought to determine whether children with LI demonstrate a delayed, deficit, or cumulative pattern of reading achievement growth when compared with children with typical language (TL). Method A group of 225 children with LI and a group of 379 children with TL were identified in kindergarten and were administered multiple measures of word recognition and reading comprehension in 2nd, 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. Results Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the constructs of word recognition and reading comprehension were invariant across grades and groups of children with LI and TL. Further analyses indicated that a multiple group latent growth curve analysis was appropriate. This analysis showed that children with LI differed significantly from children with TL in initial level (2nd grade) of word recognition and reading comprehension, but they did not differ significantly in the shape of their growth trajectories. Conclusion These results are consistent with a deficit model of reading growth in children with LI. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for early identification.

Early and accurate identification of children at risk for reading disabilities (RD) is critical for the prevention of RD within a RTI framework. In this study, we investigated the use of universal screening and progress monitoring for the early identification of RD in kindergarten children. Three-hundred sixty-six children were administered a battery of screening measures at the beginning of kindergarten and progress monitoring probes across the school year. A subset of children who showed initial risk for RD also received a 26-week Tier 2 intervention. Participants’ achievement in word reading accuracy and/or fluency was assessed at the end of first grade. Results indicated that a screening battery containing measures of letter naming fluency, phonological awareness, rapid naming or nonword repetition accurately identified good and poor readers at the end of first grade. Findings also showed that children’s response to supplemental and/or classroom instruction measured in terms of growth in letter naming fluency added significantly to the prediction of reading outcomes.

The simple view of reading proposes that reading comprehension is the product of word reading and language comprehension. In this study, we used the simple view framework to examine the early prediction of reading comprehension abilities. Using multiple measures for all constructs, we assessed word reading precursors (i.e., letter knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid naming) and oral language at the beginning of kindergarten and reading comprehension at the end of third grade. Word reading was also assessed at the end of second grade and served as a mediator. Structural equation modeling showed that precursors of word reading and language comprehension accurately predicted reading comprehension in both mediated and non-mediated models. The results have important implications for the early identification of reading comprehension difficulties.