To address the needs of a diverse group of students with reading difficulties, a majority of researchers over the last decade have designed and implemented multicomponent reading interventions (MCRIs) that provide instruction in multiple areas of reading yielding mixed results. The current study evaluates whether students’ baseline word reading skills predict their response to a MCRI. Data from a randomized controlled trial for third- and fourth-grade students with reading difficulties (N = 128) were analyzed. Results demonstrate that baseline word reading was a significant predictor of students’ end-of-year reading comprehension performance. Treatment group students who had lower baseline word reading compared with those students with comparatively higher word reading scores performed significantly lower on posttest reading comprehension. Findings denote the importance of word reading instruction for upper elementary students who are below-average word readers and also indicate the need for tailoring reading intervention to align with individual reader needs.

为了满足不同群体的阅读困难学生的需求，过去十年中的大多数研究人员设计并实施了多成分阅读干预 (MCRI)，在多个阅读领域提供指导，产生了不同的结果。目前的研究评估学生的基本单词阅读技能是否可以预测他们对 MCRI 的反应。来自阅读困难的三年级和四年级学生的随机对照试验数据（N= 128) 进行了分析。结果表明，基线单词阅读是学生年终阅读理解表现的重要预测指标。与单词阅读分数相对较高的学生相比，基线单词阅读量较低的治疗组学生在后测阅读理解上的表现明显较低。研究结果表明，对于读字能力低于平均水平的高年级小学生来说，进行单词阅读教学的重要性，也表明需要定制阅读干预以适应个别读者的需求。