discussed earlier, the results are limited to second- and third-grade students and are not

applicable to students younger or older. Therefore, the results of this study cannot be

generalized to any graders other than 2nd and 3rd graders.

 Implication for Future Research and Practice

 The results of this study provide implications for future research. Based on the

results, the logical next steps for research will be discussed in this section. Furthermore,

several implications for future practice are discussed in a later section.

Future Research Directions

Selecting Reading Assessments

 Instruments for assessment of children's reading levels should be clearly selected

and used for detecting problems of reading. The IDEA and Public Law 105-17 require

public school systems to evaluate children who are at risk for a reading disability. With

legislative support, a growing body of research has established the necessary

measurements for effective identification of early elementary students with reading

disabilities. However, questions still remain about the most effective and reliable set of

measurements for detecting reading disabilities in the early primary grades. Scarborough

(1998) analyzed predictive studies and suggested that researchers use a multivariate

approach to early and accurate screening of children. In her review, she indicated that

such studies use a wide variety of variables that ranged from cognitive skills to family

and school-based risk factors. In addition, the combination of variables used in each

study varied greatly across studies. Although various types of measures were effective in

detecting children with RD in the early ages, it is not feasible to give a full complement

of the assessments to each student. This approach is not cost or time effective. Therefore,

it is important to identify the most promising combination of predictors of early reading