what do reading scores predict?

from: The Tests We Need and Why We Don't Have Them

Scores in Early Reading Tests Predict Scores in Later Reading Tests. The more one reads, the more automated becomes the process, and, through reading itself, the broader becomes one's knowledge and vocabulary, and consequently the more readily one understands ever more difficult matter.⁷

Scores on Reading Tests Predict Grades in School. There is a positive correlation between reading scores and academic achievement.⁸

Scores on Reading Tests Predict Job Performance. Obviously, reading scores do not predict whether somebody can fix your car's engine. But, according to studies conducted by the armed services, reading scores do predict how readily and well a person will learn to fix your car's engine.⁹

Scores in Reading Tests Predict Income. Given the causal connections between communicative ability, learning ability, and job performance, it is not surprising that superior job skill should be rewarded, on average, with superior pay.10

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7. Cunningham, Anne E. Stanovich, Keith E., Early Reading Acquisition and Its Relation to Reading Experience and Ability 10 Years Later, Developmental Psychology v33 n6 p934-45 Nov 1997.

8. Lindblom-Ylanne, Sari And Others, Selecting Students for Medical School: What Predicts Success during Basic Science Studies? A Cognitive Approach. Higher Education v31 n4 p507-27 Jun 1996.Blai, Boris, Jr., The Nelson-Denny Reading Test and Harcum-earned Academic Averages., Harcum Junior Coll., Bryn Mawr, Pa.Jun 1971.Gudan, Sirkka, The Nelson-Denny Reading Test as a Predictor of Academic Success in Selected Classes in a Specific Community College. Schoolcraft Coll., Livonia, Mich. Jan 1983

9. Scribner, B.L.S., Smith, D.A., Baldwin, R.H., and Phillips, R.L., Are Smart Tankers Better? AFQT and Military Productivity, Armed Forces and Society, 12, 1986, pp.193-206;Horne, D., "The Impact of Soldier Quality on Army Performance," Armed Forces and Society, 13, 1987, pp. 443-445;Fernandez, J.C., "Soldier Quality and Job Performance in Team Tasks," Social Science Quarterly, 73, 1992, pp. 253-265, C. Jencks and M. Phillips, eds, The Black-White Test Score Gap, Brookings, Washington, DC, 1998, pp. 14-15, 75-76.