Reading retardation:a 12-year prospective study. Implications for the pediatrician

A 12-year study has (1) assessed the predictive efficiency of a preschool test battery in relation to short- and long-term school achievement; (2) evaluated socioeconomic locale and operational school structure as indicators of subsequent progress; (3) observed the effects of some correctional experiences on later school performance. Almost 1,000 children have been involved; 606 remain in the project. Mental ages have ranged from 54 to 104 months though the mean chronologic age at school entry was 74 months. Twenty-three percent failed to complete first-grade requirements in the first year. Failure rates within separate schools ranged from three to 71% and had an inverse relationship to socioeconomic level. Within the middle-class area, children in an open-space school had double the failure rate of their peers in traditional classrooms.