Are there language or cognitive abilities which are critical for success in an academic kindergarten program

Includes bibliographical references (pages 51-56)The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the amount of language development, motor\ud performance, conservation ability and academic achievement\ud as reflected in reading. Twenty-seven children, ranging in\ud age from five years, four months to six years and three\ud months, were included in the study. Language development,\ud as measured by the ITPA, motor performance, as measured by\ud Gesell tasks, and ability to conserve, as measured by\ud Piagetian tasks, were correlated with reading achievement,\ud as measured by the Metropolitan readiness and the PreReading\ud Test of Scholastic Ability and three tests from the\ud SWRL reading program. Data were analyzed using the Pearson\ud Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Findings showed\ud that there is a statistically significant relationship between\ud language development and reading achievement as well\ud as motor performance and reading achievement. No relationship was found between ability to conserve and achievement