A Second Chance in Second Grade: The Independent and Cumulative Impact of First- and Second-Grade Reading Instruction and Students’ Letter-Word Reading Skill Growth

This study examines the relation of language arts instruction to students’ letter-word reading skill growth from the beginning of 1st grade to the end of 2nd grade using cross-classified random effects models. Amounts of teacher-managed, code-focused instruction in 1st and 2nd grade each uniquely predicted students’ letter-word reading skill growth; plus, there were child-by-instruction interactions. Students with weaker fall 1st grade letter-word reading scores demonstrated stronger letter-word reading at the end of 2nd grade when they spent more time in 1stand 2nd-grade teacher-managed, code-focused instruction. Students with stronger initial reading skills demonstrated higher 2nd-grade reading scores when they spent less time in 1st grade but more time in 2nd-grade teacher-managed, code-focused instruction. Students who participated in optimally effective 1st-grade and 2nd-grade classroom instruction demonstrated greater letter-word reading growth from the beginning of 1st grade to the end of 2nd grade than did students who participated in less effective instruction in either 1st or 2nd grade, or both. Still, for children who entered 1st grade with weaker reading skills, results indicate that SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF READING, 11(3), 199–233 Copyright © 2007, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.