Auditory Perceptual Skills and Reading: A Rejoinder to Gersten and Carnine about What Kavale Did

Abstract

In the January/February 1984 issue of Remedial and Special Education, Gersten and Carnine offered a response to Kavale's (1981) meta-analysis assessing the relationship between auditory perceptual skills and reading. The present rejoinder demonstrates that the data were neither misinterpreted nor overinterpreted, and that Gersten and Carnine failed to portray accurately the primary purpose of the meta-analysis, which was to assess the usefulness of auditory perceptual variables in predicting reading ability. It is concluded here that no convincing contrary evidence was provided and that the earlier findings suggesting auditory perceptual skills to be important correlates of reading achievement remain valid.