Identifying Predictors Of Young Children’s Reading Achievement

This study examined the relations among two strong, early predictors of reading achievement. Data from a previous longitudinal study (Morris, et al., 2013) were used to evaluate relations among sight word and spelling tasks and words read correctly per minute (wcpm) in contextual reading. Student performance on the sight word and spelling tasks at time points in first and second grades were evaluated on the ability to predict wcpm at the end of second grade. Descriptive statistics were used to examine relations among variables across time. Results indicated that all relations among the sight word task and spelling task were consistently strong and positive at all time points. While relations among the spelling task and the contextual reading task were consistently strong and positive, relations among sight word and contextual reading tasks were stronger at every time point.Standard Multiple Regression and Hierarchical Regressions were utilized to investigate the predictability of the independent variables. Results show that the sight word task administered closest in time to the criterion measure was the best predictor. However, the sight word measure administered in the middle of first grade was a very strong predictor of end of second grade contextual reading.