Family background as a predictor of reading comprehension performance: An examination of the contributions of human, financial, and social capital

This study examines the relationship between students' family background, (i.e., human, social and financial capital), and the comprehension of struggling readers in grades 2-6. Decades of research have worked to further understand the relationship between background factors and achievement. However, few studies have focused on comprehension outcomes, or accounted for parent cognitive ability and intergenerational effects. Family background surveys and assessments of cognitive and reading skills were administered to the parents of struggling readers (N = 51). Correlation and regression analyses examined the relationship between family background variables and students' comprehension scores, identifying a significant relationship accounting for as much or more variability than the traditional socioeconomic measures. These findings have implications regarding how we currently examine the influence of socioeconomic status in intervention research and its role in identifying students at-risk for reading failure and their differential response to intervention.