This study involved a longitudinal analysis of academic skills and problem behavior through elementary school. The purposes of the study were (a) to explore the interactions between reading skills and problem behavior, and (b) to determine the value of regular screening assessments in predicting which students would not respond to school-wide behavior support in fifth grade. The participants were elementary school students who entered kindergarten in 1998 and completed fifth grade in a school district with school-wide reading and behavior support systems. Analyses consisted of logistic regressions to predict the number of discipline contacts in fifth grade. Results indicated that both reading and behavior variables (including kindergarten reading variables) significantly predicted the number of discipline referrals received in fifth grade. Results are discussed in terms of determining pathways to problem behavior and implications for a combined approach to academic and behavior problems.
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