Over‐ and Under‐achievement in Reading

Distribution in the General Population

Bibliographic Data

ID9614869
AuthorsWILLIAM YULE (0000-0002-4949-0560, University of London), M Rutter (University of London), Michael Berger (0000-0002-1183-8410, University of London), J Thompson (0000-0001-6482-3741), Joy A Thompson (University of London)
Year1974
Volume44
Issue1
Pages1-12
Publication date1974-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Educational Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-0998 • E-ISSN: 2044-8279
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.2044-8279.1974.tb00760.x
PMID4817533
OpenAlexW2074436957
LanguageEN
Citations received11

S ummary . Empirical findings are presented on the distribution of over‐and under‐achievement in reading in five general population groups encompassing four age‐groups and two parts of the country—a major city and an area of small towns. It is shown that reading achievement does not exactly parallel IQ at all levels of intelligence, confirming the inappropriateness of the achievement ratio and like statistics. It is argued that over‐ and under‐achievement are best defined in terms of a regression equation based on IQ scores. Defined in this way, reading ability follows a generally normal distribution, over‐achievement and under‐achievement occurring with roughly the same frequency. However, there is a significant departure from normality at the extreme lower end of the curve such that gross under‐achievement in reading occurs at well above the expected frequency. This suggests that there is a meaningful group of children with specific reading retardation which is not explicable simply in terms of the bottom of a continuum

Academic achievement · Achievement test · Cognition · Developmental psychology · Intelligence quotient · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Normality · Population · Reading (process) · Sociology · Standardized test · Demography · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development · Social Psychology