Responsive school mental health services require proactive family engagement at the outset of prevention and early intervention, particularly across key transition periods such as kindergarten. Universal screening for mental health is one important process within a school mental health framework to proactively engage families in a collaborative…

The main purpose of this study was to validate the curriculum-based measure "Indicadores de Progreso de Aprendizaje en Matemáticas" (IPAM [Indicators of Basic Early Math Skills]) in a local, Spanish-speaking context. This tool has been designed to identify first-grade students at risk for mathematics learning disabilities. The IPAM…

The main objective of this study was to analyze what writing measures, or combination of measures, would be most appropriate for early detection of students at risk of presenting future difficulties in learning to write in Spanish, in terms of tasks, scoring indices (dependent, independent and accurate-precision) and duration. A sample of 231…

Preschool has been recognized as an optimal time to provide behavioral and emotional supports to children; however, there is a need to examine the stability, accuracy, and predictive validity of universal emotional and behavioral screening scores in early childhood to inform procedures for repeated screenings across time. The present study…

This study examined the relative contributions of Latino/a children's (N = 102) school readiness and early literacy skills during kindergarten in predicting first grade reading achievement. By using discriminant function analyses, the current study identified a set of areas to assess that could be used to effectively screen children during…

Two studies using similar methods in two states investigated the long-term predictive utility of two single-skill early numeracy Curriculum Based Measures (CBMs) and the degree to which they can adequately predict high-stakes test scores. Data were drawn from kindergarten and first-grade students. State standardized assessment data from the…

This study examined the predictive validity of early literacy measures with first-grade Korean English language learners (ELLs) in the United States at varying levels of English proficiency. Participants were screened using Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency…

Universal screening for emotional and behavioral risk in schools facilitates early identification and intervention for students as part of multitiered systems of support. Early identification has the potential to mitigate adverse outcomes of emotional and behavioral disorders. The purpose of this study was to extend existing research on the…

This study examined the predictive validity of a computer-adaptive assessment for measuring kindergarten reading skills using the STAR Early Literacy (SEL) test. The findings showed that the results of SEL assessments administered during the fall, winter, and spring of kindergarten were moderate and statistically significant predictors of year-end…

The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, Second Edition (NNAT2), is used widely to screen students for possible inclusion in talent development programs. The NNAT2 claims to provide a more culturally neutral evaluation of general ability than tests such as Form 6 of the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT6), which has Verbal and Quantitative batteries in…

The present study used multiple regression to determine the predictive value of Kindergarten phonemic awareness, rapid serial naming, letter knowledge, and cognitive ability for predicting first-grade word reading and fluency. Participants were 131 first-grade students from a mid-Atlantic school system. A combination of predictor variables was…

Because of a greater need to focus on early achievement in mathematics and increased global competition in this area, emphasis is increasingly being placed upon screening and monitoring of math development in early elementary to ensure progress for all students. Although protocols for early literacy assessment exist, research of psychometrically…

This study used data from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS; Good & Kaminski, 2002) oral reading fluency (ORF) probes to examine variation among different ORF score types (i.e., the median of three passages, the mean of all three passages, the mean of passages 2 and 3, and the score from passage 3) in predicting…

This study assessed the effects of sampling breadth on technical features of word identification fluency (WIF), a tool for screening and monitoring the reading development of first graders. From a potential pool of 704 first-grade students, the authors measured both a representative sample (n = 284) and 2 other subgroups: those with low reading…

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.…