 American Guidance Service.
Young, A., Beitchman, Y., Johnson, C., Douglas, L., Atkinson, L.,
Escobar, M., et al. (2002). Young adult academic outcomes in a
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JULIE E. DOCKRELL
Institute of Education, University of London
University of Warwick
Oxford Brookes University
JULIE E. DOCKRELL, Professor, Institute of Education, University of
London, England. GEOFF LINDSAY, Professor and Director, Centre for
Educational Development, Appraisal and Research, University of Warwick,
Coventry, England. VINCENT CONNELLY, Senior Lecturer, Department of
Psychology, Oxford Brookes University, England.
Address correspondence to Julie E. Dockrell, Institute of
Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H OAL, United
Kingdom (e-mail: email@example.com).
The authors would like to thank all the students, parents,
teachers, and support staff who gave willingly of their time; the
Department for Children, Schools, and Families who funded the final
phase of the project; and all the research assistants who contributed to
different phases of the study: Becky Clark, Clare Hall, Rebecca Jeanes,
and Clare Mackie. Measures collected at age 14 for part of the sample
contributed to the doctoral dissertation completed by Clare Mackie
Manuscript received November 2007; accepted June 2008.
Assessment Points and Skills Assessed
Mean Age Phase Phase Skills
Time (SD in months) UK U.S. Assessed
1 8 years Year 3 Elementary Language,
3 months (Key Stage 2) school literacy,
2 10 years Year 6 Elementary Language,
8 months (Key Stage 2) school literacy,
(4) Last year writing,
primary school nonverbal
3 12 years Year 7 Junior Literacy,
1 month (Key Stage 3) high/middle writing
(4) Entry to school
4 13 years Year 9 Middle Language,
11 months (Key Stage 3) school/high literacy,
(5) school writing,
5 15 years Year 11 High school Language,
10 months (Key Stage 4) literacy,
(4) Final year writing
Note. A Key Stage is one of the set stages of the national
curriculum in the United Kingdom.
Mean Z Scores and Standard Deviations for Language and Literacy
Measures at Ages 14 and 16
Competency Assessed Age Mean SD
Nonverbal ability (BAS z 14 -0.81 .6
Receptive vocabulary (BPVS z 16 -1.23 1.12
Formulated sentences (CELF z 14 -2.4 .35
Listening comprehension (CELF 16 -1.14 .66
Single word reading (BAS z 16 -1.79 .99
Reading comprehension (WORD z 16 -1.59 .73
Spelling (BAS z score) 16 -1.69 1.07
Competency Assessed Nonverbal Ability
Nonverbal ability (BAS z
Receptive vocabulary (BPVS z F(1, 56) = 9.03, p = .004,
score) [eta][p.sup.2] = .14;
Formulated sentences (CELF z F(1, 56) = 174.48, p < .0005,
score) [eta][p.sup.2] = .76
Listening comprehension (CELF F(1, 56) = 5.90, p = .018,
z score) [eta][p.sup.2] = .10;
Single word reading (BAS z F(1, 55) = 60.49, p < .0005,
score) [eta][p.sup.2] = .53;
Reading comprehension (WORD z F(1, 56) = 60.85,p < .0005,
score) [eta][p.sup.2] = .71
Spelling (BAS z score) F(1, 53) = 43.70, p < .0001,
[eta][p.sup.2] = .45
Note. BAS = British Ability Scales II (Elliott, Murray, & Pearson,
1997). BPVS = British Picture Vocabulary Scale (Dunn, Dunn, Whetton,
& Burley, 1997). CELF = Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals
(Peers, Lloyd, & Foster, 1999). WORD = Wechsler Objective Reading
Dimensions (Wechsler, 1993).
Correlations Between WOLD Change Score, Language, Literacy, Cognitive
Measures, and Writing at Time 4 and Time 5
Variable 1 2 3
WOLD change score
WOLD z score (TS) .81 *
Nonverbal z score (T4) .23 .42 *
Formulated sentences z score (T4) .23 .37 * .31 *
BPVS z score (T5) .25 .55 * .52 *
Listening to paragraphs z score (TS) .36 .47 * .25
TROG z score (T5) .20 .31 .26
BAS word reading z score (T5) .34 .59 * .51 *
TOWRE--word reading efficiency z score .35 .57 * .44 *
Word comprehension z score (TS) .23 .45 * .63 *
Spelling z score (T5) .38 * .65 * .46 *
Writing fluency z score .54 * .54 * .47 *
Variable 4 5 6
WOLD change score
WOLD z score (TS)
Nonverbal z score (T4)
Formulated sentences z sco