An investigation of the relationship between concrete operational thought and reading achievement

Abstract

Recent articles have suggested that there is a substantial relationship between concrete operational performance on Piagetian tasks and successful beginning reading. Some researchers have suggested delaying reading instruction until a child is in the concrete operational stage.

This study examined the relationship between performance on five Piagetian tasks and three measures of reading achievement in 101 first, second, and third grade randomly selected children. The results from this study indicated that the relationship is minimal and inconsistent across different measures of reading as well as across grade levels. At all grade levels, many children who were not concrete operational in their performance on the Piagetian tasks were reading as well or better than those who were concrete operational in their performance. Based on the results of this study, the practice of making a prediction concerning reading achievement using concrete operational performance on Piagetian tasks would be unsound.