Predicting Reading Failure: Beyond the Readiness Model

The limited success of investigations directed toward predicting reading failure is discussed. The relative lack of success is attributed to the apparent reliance on a reading readiness model and on procedures which do not assess the impact of the many variables shaping school success and failure. The position espoused here is that a youngster's success or failure in school is most fruitfully seen as a function of the interaction between his strengths, weaknesses, and limitations and the specific classroom situational factors he encounters. A formal hypothesis suggested by this interactional model is offered, and a novel strategy for predicting reading failure is briefly described.