Prediction of Reading Skills in Upper Elementary Students

Kim, Ae-Hwa; Hwang, Mina

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2008;13(1): 1-25.

Ae-Hwa Kim^` , and Mina Hwang^`

김애화(Ae-Hwa Kim)| 황민아(Mina Hwang)

ABSTRACT

implications for reading assessment and intervention. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to compare the reading abilities (i.e., reading fluency, sentence comprehension, vocabulary, comprehension monitoring, reading comprehension) of low-achieving students with those of normally-developing students, and (2) to examine the relative importance of multiple measures for the prediction of reading outcomes.
Methods
A total of 93 students (43 low-achieving students and 50 normally-developing students) participated in a variety of tests measuring reading fluency, sentence comprehension, vocabulary, comprehension monitoring, comprehension questioning, and story retelling.
Results
First, there were statistically significant differences between the two groups on all measures. Second, the vocabulary, comprehension questioning, and comprehension monitoring test was strongly predictive of reading abilities. Specifically, vocabulary was the most predictable variable for the low-achieving students while the comprehension monitoring was the most predictable variable for the normally-achieving students.
Discussion & Conclusion
Good predictors of reading outcomes vary depending on students’ reading abilities. Vocabulary was strongly predictive of reading abilities for low-achieving students, while comprehension monitoring was strongly predictive of reading abilities for normally-achieving students. Instructional implications for practice were discussed