Abt’s Kerry Hofer contributed to the analyses of the interrelationships among language abilities, phonological awareness, and letter-word knowledge in a sample of 489 predominantly African-American children from low-income homes. Most studies that use a large sample address a single measure of language; this is the first to use a large sample and multiple measures of vocabulary, discourse, and spontaneous language use, and then examine the interactions among language competencies and discrete strands of language ability and code-related skills (e.g., letter knowledge, decoding skill, phonological sensitivity). The findings can be used to help understand the early literacy development of children who are most in need of support.