A group of speech-language impaired children was administered a battery of standardized language tests and measures of phonological processing in kindergarten. Performance on these language measures was then compared to reading ability in first grade. Results indicated that children with semantic-syntactic language deficits had more difficulties in reading than did children with primarily speech articulation impairments. In addition, phonological processing measures were found to be good predictors of reading achievement. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the early identification of developmental dyslexia.