After a universal screening assessment, how can K-6 educators translate the results into evidence-based instruction, targeted interventions, and improved reading outcomes? The timely new edition of this bestselling book has clear and practical answers. Fully updated with the latest reading research and models, this teacher-friendly planning guide…

Purpose: The Access to Literacy Assessment System--Phonological Awareness (ATLAS-PA) was developed for use with children with speech and/or language impairment. The subtests (Rhyming, Blending, and Segmenting) are appropriate for children who are 3-7 years of age. ATLAS-PA is composed entirely of receptive items, incorporates individualized levels…

Purpose: The Access to Literacy Assessment System--Phonological Awareness (ATLAS-PA) was developed for use with children with speech and/or language impairment. The subtests (rhyming, blending, segmenting) are appropriate for children who are 3 to 7 years of age. ATLAS-PA is comprised entirely of receptive items, incorporates individualized levels…

There is not general consensus on best practice for assessment and intervention of phonological awareness (PA) for children who are D/deaf or hard of hearing (D/dhh). The current study surveyed the PA practices of teachers of the deaf and speech-language pathologists to explore perceptions of PA importance, familiarity, and helpfulness related to…

This study investigated the complexity of leveled passages used in four classroom reading assessments. A total of 167 passages leveled for Grades 1-6 from these assessments were analyzed using four analytical tools of text complexity. More traditional, two-factor measures of text complexity found a general trend of fairly consistent across-grade…

This study evaluated the extent to which existing measures met standards for a continuous suite of general outcome measures (GOMs) assessing children's early literacy from preschool through early elementary school. The study assessed 316 children from age 3 years (2 years prekindergarten) through Grade 2, with 8 to 10 measures of language,…

Motivated by the multiple-measures clause of recent federal policy regarding student eligibility for alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MASs), this study examined how scores or combinations of scores from a diverse set of assessments predicted students' end-of-year proficiency status on statewide achievement…

This research investigates the relationship among processing behaviors and their link to comprehending expository discourse. Students who orally read a chapter on geographical formations followed by a retelling. Using Pearson's chi-square and logistic regression, it was found that clauses were recalled whether the clause had been read with no…

The National Reading Panel has highlighted the lack of educational opportunities that underprepared prekindergarten students are likely to experience. Traditionally, girls have outperformed boys in reading achievement. Local school districts are concerned with the increase of prekindergarten students who enter the primary grades deficient in…

The present study examined the stability (i.e., 4-month and 12-month test-retest reliability) of six selected school-based indices of adequate reading progress. The total sampling frame included between 3970 and 5655 schools depending on the index and research question. Each school had at least 40 second-grade students that had complete Oral…

Accurate identification of at-risk kindergarten and 1st-grade students through early reading screening is an essential element of responsiveness to intervention models of reading instruction. The authors consider predictive validity and classification accuracy of early reading screening assessments with attention to sensitivity and specificity.…

States are increasingly interested in including measures of student achievement growth, or "value- added," in evaluating teachers. Annual state assessments, however, which are the typical measure of student growth, usually cover only reading and math teachers and only in grades 4-8. These state assessments thus cannot …

States and school districts are exploring alternatives to state tests for measuring teachers' contributions to student learning. One approach applies statistical value-added methods to alternative student assessments such as commercially available tests and end-of course tests. The evidence suggests that these methods can reliably distinguish…

Care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs) have advanced and matured, a number of states and localities have undertaken evaluations to validate the systems. Such efforts stem from the desire to ensure that the system is designed and operating in the ways envisioned when the system was established. Given that a central component in a QRIS…

This article reports on a 4-year longitudinal study of the effects of Literacy Collaborative (LC), a school-wide reform model that relies primarily on the one-on-one coaching of teachers as a lever for improving student literacy learning. Kindergarten through second-grade students in 17 schools were assessed twice annually with DIBELS and Terra…