Individual Differences in Reading Development: A Review of 25 Years of Empirical Research on Matthew Effects in Reading

Abstract

The idea of Matthew effects in reading-the widening achievement gap between good and poor readers-has attracted considerable attention in education research in the past 25 years. Despite the popularity of the topic, however, empirical studies that have analyzed the core assumption of Matthew effects in reading have produced inconsistent results. This review summarizes the empirical findings on the development of early interindividual differences in reading. We did not find strong support for the general validity of a pattern of widening achievement differences or for a pattern of decreasing achievement differences in reading. The inclusion of moderating variables, however, allowed a clearer ..