The invention provides a method of detecting small target nucleotide sequences, in particular, small RNA species that are present in a sample. The method generally comprises a poly-A polymerization step or a ligation step to add a universal sequence to the 3′-end of all RNA molecules, followed by a universal primer-mediated cDNA synthesis, solid-phase selection, assay oligo annealing, extension and PCR amplification/labeling. The method of the invention can be practiced to amplify and label a small amount of miRNA or other ncRNA. The resulting amplification product can be read out on a universal array or an array with miRNA-specific or ncRNA-specific probes. The invention has multiple embodiments, including methods, compositions, and kits. In general, the nucleic acids, compositions, and kits comprise materials that are useful in carrying out the methods of the invention or are produced by the methods, and that can be used to detect small target nucleic acid sequences present in samples, in particular, small RNA species.