Over 1,000 eighth grade students participated in a study to determine the relationships between learning style and reading/language arts skills as demonstrated by standardized testing. It was hypothesized that (1) individual learning style contributes significantly to reading and communication skills, (2) specific learning style elements acting together account for a significant amount of variance in reading and communication skills, and (3) no significant differences exist between sexes, races, and socioeconomic levels in preferences for learning style elements. Subjects were administered the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) and the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). Demographic date were gathered from the subjects' school enrollment records. The results supported the first and second hypotheses. Levels indicated that individual learning style accounts for 16% of the variance in reading and language arts skills. For reading skills, the most critical elements were persistence, adult motivation, authority figures not present, and intake. For language arts skills, the same four elements were identified as the most critical, but in a slightly different order. Hypothesis three was not supported: significant differences appeared in learning styles between boys and girls, among White, Black, and Hispanic students, and among the three predetermined socioeconomic levels. (Appendixes contain a chart of learning style elements, a description of the LSI, and a sample profile.) (HTH)