The purpose of this study was to examine the simple view of reading (SVR) and contributions of verbal proficiency and reading fluency to reading comprehension for fourth-, seventh-and ninth-grade readers (N 5 271). The SVR explained a significant proportion of variance in reading comprehension for all grades with decreasing explained variance in higher grades. The variance explained by decoding decreased from fourth grade to higher grades. The variance explained by listening comprehension increased from fourth-to seventh-grade, but did not change from seventhto ninth-grade. In all grades, verbal proficiency and reading fluency contributed substantial additional variance to reading comprehension beyond the SVR. Changes in the predictive relation between listening and reading comprehension and factors influencing reading comprehension in each grade are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to identify potential general outcome indicators (GOIs) of language proficiency. Brief narratives were elicited from 45 kindergarten, first-grade, and third-grade children using single-picture scenes and a standardized protocol. Measures of language productivity, verbal fluency, and grammaticality were examined for alternate-form reliability and criterion validity. Two verbal fluency measures, total productive words per minute and total number of words per minute, were reliably obtained for students in all grades, demonstrated moderate criterion validity with a standardized oral language measure, and differentiated third-grade students from those in kindergarten and first grade. Additional standards for GOIs are discussed.

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