Reading and writing have an essential place in the social life of individuals as well as in school learning. In this study, bidirectional relationships between reading and writing skills have been examined after gender and socio-economic level of students have been controlled. The participants in this study were 240 fifth-grade students from 10 primary schools in four different districts of Ankara in Turkey. A text was chosen to evaluate students' comprehension and writing skills, and an achivement test that includes questions relating to the text was developed. Analytic and holistic rubrics were used to evaluate the students' reading and writing skills. Hierarchial multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to reveal the bidirectional relationship between reading and writing skills. The results indicated that reading and writing skills are important predictors of each other andsupport the possibility of a bidirectional relationship between two variables. One possible explanation for this is that reading and writing skills influence each other. Researchers, practitioners, and parents may need to target both reading and writing skills to best help poor readers become proficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]