Kindergarten predictors of first-grade reading achievement: a regular classroom sample

Routinely collected measures for 38 children in the kindergarten program in a middle-class school in a small midwestern city were analyzed as predictors of first-grade reading achievement on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and of first-grade performance on the Cognitive Abilities Test. Correlations among all variables are given. Stepwise multiple regression analyses predicting the first-grade variables showed that consonant-sound-identification was the best predictor of first-grade reading achievement and that the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Revised was the best predictor of cognitive ability. A second multiple regression analysis examined the contribution of each kindergarten variable to first-grade reading and cognitive scores. Analysis indicated that these children entered kindergarten with highly developed early reading skills which facilitated success with systematic reading instruction.