What are the long-term prospects for children with comprehension weaknesses? A registered report investigating education and employment outcomes

Reading is a key gateway to learning, enabling independent access to a range of educational materials. Thus, reading difficulties leave a child particularly vulnerable to academic problems in later schooling and beyond. However, while there is good awareness of children with word reading difficulties within the education system, much less is known about the children who struggle to comprehend texts despite having adequate word reading skills. In this registered report, we investigated the later education and occupational outcomes of 947 children initially identified as having poor reading comprehension at 8-9 years from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), compared to peers not identified as having a specific reading difficulty (n = 4,516) and those with word reading weaknesses (n = 1,383). We observed that children with comprehension weaknesses (1) were less likely than typical readers to meet UK national educational targets as they progressed through education, with more marked differences for mathematics and science than English; (2) had poorer qualifications at the point of leaving compulsory education, which were comparable to children with word reading weaknesses; and (3) were the group at greatest risk of being out of employment, education and training at age 20. However, there was considerable variability in outcomes, with much of the risk shared with socio-demographic factors. The results address an important gap in knowledge regarding the functional consequences of reading comprehension difficulties in mid-childhood, and inform discussions concerning the need for identification and targeted support in classroom settings.