Two Canadian First Nations samples of Grades 3 and 4 children were assessed for cognitive processing, word reading, and phonological awareness skills. Both groups were from Plains Cree rural reservations in different provinces. The two groups showed significant differences on several key cognitive variables although there were more similarities than differences. Groups, separately and combined, showed a significant relationship between decoding, phonological awareness variables, word decoding, and successive processing that has also been observed among children from the mainstream culture. In general, the cognitive processing, reading, and reading subskills of First Nations children are, on average, below the norms for these measures. The findings are discussed in terms of reading disability identification practices from a Discrepancy Model and the Consistency–Discrepancy Model using PASS (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive) theory among First Nations children.
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