This study describes trajectories of early literacy skill development of 99 children (n ϭ 55 boys) in their first year of primary school in New Zealand (NZ). Children were assessed twice weekly for 8 weeks on Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS; Good & Kaminski, 2011) First Sound Fluency (FSF) and AIMSweb Letter Sound Fluency (LSF;Shinn & Shinn, 2002), with other early literacy and beginning reading skills assessed before and after progress monitoring. FSF and LSF growth trajectories were modeled separately. Multilevel modeling indicated improved performance; however, growth mixture modeling indicated 3 growth trajectories (i.e., latent classes; FSF and LSF, respectively): typical (77.6% of children, 65.7%), developing (10.8%, 14.6%), and limited progress (11.6%, 19.7%). Beginning of year screening was sometimes associated with latent class membership, whereas latent class membership differentiated mid-and year-end literacy skills. Results support progress monitoring of early literacy skills within the NZ context to aid earlier identification of children at-risk for difficulties with reading acquisition. Impact and ImplicationsThis study demonstrated that monitoring children's progress on early literacy skills over one term can reflect skill development in the first year of school. Although most children's performance improved over time, this study identified distinct growth trajectories, finding some children with low initial performance who showed limited progress. This research supports screening and progress monitoring for earlier identification and provision of supports to children experiencing challenges with reading acquisition.

Cerebrovascular and cognitive functioning peak developmentally in young adults, yet recent evidence indicates they may benefit on these fronts from regular engagement in physical activity. In light of epidemiological trends for increasingly sedentary lifestyles and the importance of optimal cerebrovascular and cognitive functioning, here we investigated relationships between physical activity levels, anterior frontal hemodynamics, and cognitive performance in 52 healthy young women. Analyses positively linked chronic physical activity level (CPAL) with anterior frontal oxygenated hemoglobin and cognitive inhibitory control, indicating regular physical activity may lead to hemodynamic and cognitive benefits, even in a cohort at developmental peak. In addition, higher anterior frontal oxygenated hemoglobin was linked to better performance for the most difficult cognitive task. Given the importance of oxygen availability for cognitive functioning, the current discovery of a relationship with CPAL may provide important insight toward understanding exercise-cognition links.

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