Slow Starters and Long‐term Backward Readers: A Replication and Extension

S ummary . This study analysed data from a longitudinal investigation of reading ability in children from ages 7 to 13 years. Following Cox (1987), boys and girls with long‐term backward reading (LTB) were compared with boys and girls who showed good reading progress at 13, despite being poor readers at 7 (“slow starters” or SS). These two groups were contrasted on various measures of cognitive development, behaviour and family background at age 7 in an effort to identify predictors of reading progress. Only maternal reading ability differentiated significantly between the SS and LTB groups.