Education reform in the United States is heavily regulated and has undergone various iterations in the past several decades. With each passing legislation, government mandates and educational initiatives become the focus of reform. School districts must constantly find ways to keep up with increasing state and federal accountability standards.…

Educators use universal screening to identify students who may be at risk for not meeting proficiency on the state assessment. Given the potential high-stakes of state tests, using accurate screeners is critical. Independent research is emerging on screeners such as the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), a computer adaptive test, and the…

This brief provides a summary of the validity of Istation ISIP Early Reading scores in predicting students' performance levels on the Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) in English language arts (ELA). This correlational study analyzed how well third grade students' winter performance on the ISIP Early Reading test predicted their spring…

Building on theories of cross linguistic transfer, reading proficiency of Spanish-speaking Emerging Bilinguals may be enhanced by providing tiered instruction through multitiered systems of support. To realize the benefits of this systems-level framework, technically adequate universal screening assessments to support teachers' decision making are…

Universal screening is the first mechanism by which students are identified as at risk of failure in the context of multitiered systems of supports. This study examined the validity and diagnostic accuracy of a reading computer-adaptive test as a screener to identify state achievement test performance for third through fifth graders (N = 1,696).…

This executive summary highlights findings from the full report (published separately) which analyzes construct and predictive validity of a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Competency Survey. Students' SEL skill ratings were correlated with other measures of SEL skills and other outcomes of interest. A separate research brief also was…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational research was to investigate to what extent 2007 performance of third grade students who had been retained in 2006 for failing to attain proficiency on the Reading and Mathematics Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) predicted their performance in 2010 on the sixth grade Reading and Mathematics…

This study examined the predictive validity and classification accuracy of two commonly used universal screening measures relative to a statewide achievement test. Results indicated that second-grade performance on oral reading fluency and the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), together with special education status, explained 68% of the…

This report analyzes construct and predictive validity of a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Competency Survey. Students' SEL skill ratings were correlated with other measures of SEL skills and other outcomes of interest. Separate research brief and executive summary were published. [For the Research Brief, see ED626925. For the Executive…

This study examined the predictive validity of curriculum-based measures in reading for Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) at various levels of English proficiency. Third-grade Spanish-speaking EL students were screened during the fall using DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) and Daze. Predictive validity was examined in relation to spring…

Early childhood professional organizations support teachers as the best assessors of students' academic, social, emotional, and physical development. This study investigates the predictive nature of teacher ratings of first-grade students' performance on a standards-based curriculum-embedded performance assessment within the context of a state…

Federal legislation has prescribed the increased use of statewide achievement tests as the culmination of a student's knowledge and ability at the end of a grade level; however, schools need to be able to predict those who are at-risk of performing poorly on these high-stakes tests. Three studies served to identify a means of predicting statewide…

The Brief Academic Competence Evaluation Screening System (BACESS) is a broadband universal screening instrument with three increasingly stringent phases for the identification of children at risk for academic and related behavior difficulties. The development of the BACESS involved two samples of students: K-5 students (n = 827) from the…

Current empirical evidence indicates poor learning trajectories for students with early literacy skill deficits. As such, reliable and valid detection of at-risk students through regular screening and progress monitoring is imperative. This study investigated the predictive validity of scores on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy…

This study examines the usefulness of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) in predicting the reading achievement of 74 disabled readers in grade 3 on the word recognition subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT). The WRAT word recognition subtest was used because previous research has demonstrated a high positive…