Research consistently suggests that children’s reading abilities in the early grades are a strong predictor of reading comprehension in later grades (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; Duncan et al., 2007; Stanley et al., 2018; Storch & Whitehurst, 2002) and that students with early reading difficulties may continue to experience increasing difficulties over time, if not addressed (Morgan et al., 2008; Morgan et al., 2011; Partanen & Siegel, 2014).
Here are some research studies that support the statements above:
Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1997). Early reading acquisition and its relation to reading experience and ability 10 years later. Developmental psychology, 33(6), 934-945.
Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., … & Japel, C. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental psychology, 43(6), 1428-1446.
Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., & Hibel, J. (2008). Matthew effects for whom?. Learning Disability Quarterly, 31(4), 187-198.
Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., & Wu, Q. (2011). Kindergarten children’s growth trajectories in reading and mathematics: Who falls increasingly behind?. Journal of learning disabilities, 44(5), 472-488.
Partanen, M., & Siegel, L. S. (2014). Long-term outcome of the early identification and intervention of reading disabilities. Reading and Writing, 27, 665-684.
Stanley, C. T., Petscher, Y., & Catts, H. (2018). A longitudinal investigation of direct and indirect links between reading skills in kindergarten and reading comprehension in tenth grade. Reading and Writing, 31, 133-153.
Storch, S. A., & Whitehurst, G. J. (2002). Oral language and code-related precursors to reading: evidence from a longitudinal structural model. Developmental psychology, 38(6), 934-947.
