Methods and systems for predicting future and concurrent reading ability are provided. A first variable comprising a measurement of picture vocabulary, a second variable comprising a measurement of phonemic awareness, a third variable comprising a measurement of rapid naming, and a fourth variable comprising a measurement of single letter or word naming are detected. An assessment of concurrent or future reading ability is generated from the first, second, third and fourth variables. The assessment of concurrent or future reading ability may be carried out with an empirically-based model of actual clinical experience or a regression model.