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By: National Center for Education Statistics (2011)
A nationally representative sample of 213,100 fourth-graders participated in the 2011 assessment. Learn more about the key findings and trends in this Reading 2011 snapshot.
By: Katherine A. Dougherty Stahl and Marco A. Bravo (2011)
What are some ways that we can gauge vocabulary development in the content areas? In this article, the authors explain how the intricacies of word knowledge make assessment difficult, particularly with content area vocabulary. They suggest ways to improve assessments that more precisely track students' vocabulary growth across the curriculum, including English language learners.
By: What Works Clearinghouse, U.S. Department of Education (2011)
Learn more about the four recommended practices in Response to Intervention (RTI): universal screening; progress monitoring and differentiation; systematic skill instruction; and system-wide implementation.
By: Sharon Vaughn and Alba Ortiz (2010)
This article briefly highlights the knowledge base on reading and RTI for ELLs, and provides preliminary support for the use of practices related to RTI with this population.
By: Reading Rockets (2010)
An introduction to 6 + 1 Trait® Writing, customized rubrics, student self-assessment, and peer editing.
By: Reading Rockets (2009)
"Get Ready to Read" is a fast, free, research-based, and easy-to-use screening tool. It consists of 20 questions that parents and caregivers can ask a four-year-old to see if he or she is on track for learning how to read.
By: Reading Rockets (2009)
It's important to recognize what good schools look like. The quality of your child's school has a huge impact on his or her learning.
By: What Works Clearinghouse (2009)
After reviewing the research, the What Works Clearninghouse recommends that in tier 3 of Response To Intervention, schools provide provide intensive instruction on a daily basis that promotes the development of the various components of reading proficiency to students who show minimal progress after reasonable time. It also provides some specific features that should be considered in carrying out this recommendation.
By: What Works Clearinghouse (2009)
After reviewing the research, the What Works Clearninghouse recommends that students in tier 2 of RTI be monitored at least monthly, and use this data to determine if and how primary grade students may need additional reading instructional support.
By: What Works Clearinghouse (2009)
The What Works Clearninghouse reviewed the research available about using Response To Intervention to help primary grade students overcome reading struggles. WWC's recommendation for tier 2 of RTI is to provide intensive, systematic instruction on up to three foundational reading skills in small groups to students.
By: What Works Clearinghouse (2009)
After reviewing the research, the What Works Clearninghouse recommends that in tier 1 of Response To Intervention, schools provide differentiated reading instruction for all students based on assessments of students’ current reading levels.
By: What Works Clearinghouse (2009)
According to research, the Education Department's What Works Clearinghouse finds that the first step in using Response To Intervention to help early elementary-aged students learn to read is to screen all students and regularly monitor students who are at elevated risk of reading problems.
By: What Works Clearinghouse (2009)
This is a checklist to help educators carry out the five recommendations made in the What Works Clearninghouse report Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RTI) and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades.
By: Joanne Meier (2009)
Teachers use a leveling system to determine your child’s reading score. Learn about the three major leveling systems and how to understand the meaning behind the scores.
By: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2008)
Answers to frequently asked questions on how to help children with communication disorders, particularly in regards to speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
By: American Federation of Teachers (2008)
Response to Intervention (RTI) is a complex subject and states and districts have a lot of discretion with the implementation of this three-step, research-based approach to intervention and placement. Learn about some of the common misconceptions of the RTI process and read about additional RTI web sources.
By: Susan Hall (2008)
How do parents know if their child's reading delay is a real problem or simply a "developmental lag?" How long should parents wait before seeking help if their child is struggling with reading? Susan Hall answers these questions.
By: Reading Rockets (2008)
Children who struggle with reading often need extra help. This help usually comes from the school, but some parents choose to look outside the school for professionals who can assess, diagnose, tutor, or provide other education services. The following article provides information on how to find the right person for your child.
By: National Association of School Psychologists (2008)
In this statement, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) identifies the characteristics of students more likely to be retained and the impact of retention at the secondary school level, late adolescence, and early adulthood. NASP also provides a long list of alternatives to retention and social promotion.
By: International Reading Association (2008)
There are a number of current informal reading inventories — each has its strengths, limitations, and unique characteristics, which should be considered in order to best fit a teacher's needs.
By: Reading Rockets (2008)
Tests are stressful for children of all ages, but necessary because they serve two important purposes: to find out how well an individual student is learning in the classroom, and to find out how well the school is meeting local and national benchmarks for student achievement. Here are some ways parents can help relieve test anxiety, stress, and pressure, as well as a guide to interpreting your child's test results.
By: Larry B. Silver, M.D. (2008)
If you think your child might have a learning disability, this article will help. Dr. Larry Silver tells parents the clues to look for in pre-school and elementary school children. Then the article talks about how to get a "psychoeducational evaluation" to find out for sure.
By: U.S. Department of Education (2007)
Studies show that screening English language learners for abilities in phonological processing, letter knowledge, and word and text reading will help identify those who are progressing well and/or who require additional instructional support.
By: National Center for Education Statistics (2007)
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) — a.k.a. The Nation's Report Card — is a nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. This article contains some of the results of the most recent NAEP assessment in reading and compares them to results from assessments in 2005 and in the first year data were available, usually 1992.
By: Mary Beth Klotz and Andrea Canter (2007)
Learn what questions to ask about Response to Intervention (RTI), an approach to helping struggling learners that is gaining momentum in schools across the country. This article from the National Association of School Psychologists tells you the most important features of the process, key terms, and RTI's relationship to special education evaluation.
By: FPG Child Development Institute (2007)
Can teachers and parents of preschoolers identify learning problems early enough to prevent problems later in school? The Recognition & Response model helps adults know what to look for and how to help, so that later remediation and special education may not be necessary.
By: National Center on Student Progress Monitoring (2007)
The National Center on Student Progress Monitoring has created a chart of scientifically based tools to measure students' progress. Determine which one best fits your school's needs.
By: Lynn S. Fuchs and Douglas Fuchs (2007)
Use Curriculum-Based Measurement to make sure students are on track for academic success by charting their trajectory of improvement all the way through the school year. CBM calculates rate of improvement during the first month of school and determines how much a student will need to improve each month to reach benchmark goals.
By: Reading Rockets (2007)
Learning to read is a challenge for many kids, but most can become good readers if they get the right help. Parents have an important job in recognizing when a child is struggling and knowing how to find help. Here are some signs to look for and things to do if you suspect your child is having trouble reading.
By: GreatSchools Editorial Staff (2007)
If you're thinking of hiring a private specialist to test your child for a learning disability, here are some key questions to ask yourself and the prospective evaluator.
By: National Association of School Psychologists (2006)
School psychologists working in districts that use Response to Intervention (RTI) can offer expertise at many levels, from system-wide program design to specific assessment and intervention efforts with individual students.
By: American Federation of Teachers (2006)
There are over two dozen individually administered screening tools produced for the primary grades. Considering their subject matter and purpose, schools must decide which assessment best fits their needs. This article gives an overview of the screening tools and the kind of information they provide.
By: National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) (2006)
Students must pass a high stakes tests to graduate high school. These tests are a major barrier for students with learning disabilities who often do not test well. Accommodations can help. Learn how to help children with learning disabilities do well on these tests.
By: Jan Hasbrouck (2006)
Screening, diagnosing, and progress monitoring are essential to making sure that all students become fluent readers — and the words-correct per-minute (WCPM) procedure can work for all three. Here's how teachers can use it to make well-informed and timely decisions about the instructional needs of their students.
By: Mary Ruth Coleman, Virginia Buysse, and Jennifer Neitzel (2006)
Some young children show signs that they may not be learning in an expected manner, even before they begin kindergarten. These children may exhibit problems in areas such as language development, phonological awareness, perceptual-motor abilities, and attention, which have been considered precursors of learning disabilities in older children. However, under current state and federal guidelines, these children are unlikely to meet eligibility criteria for having a learning disability. This is because formal identification of a child's learning disability generally does not occur until there is a measurable discrepancy between the child's aptitude and academic achievement, often not until the second or third grade.
By: Kathleen McLane (2006)
Is your school planning to implement student progress monitoring (SPM)? Are you thinking of using it in your classroom? If so, consider a number of factors to make SPM an integral part of classroom activities, rather than a series of isolated assessments unconnected to other parts of the learning experience. This brief offers some suggestions on how to use SPM in an integrated way.
By: Kathleen McLane (2006)
Progress monitoring can give you and your child's teacher information that can help your child learn more and learn faster, and help you make better decisions about the type of instruction that will work best with your child.
By: Kathleen McLane (2006)
Not only must schools teach academic skills, but they must measure how successful each child is acquiring these skills. One way to do this is Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM), which uses brief, timed tests made up of academic material taken from the child's school curriculum.
By: Kathleen McLane (2006)
Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM), which teachers use on an ongoing basis to track students’ progress toward annual goals, offers a number of benefits to parents and students, as well as teachers.
By: Louise Spear-Swerling (2006)
For English language learners, proper identification of learning disabilities can be crucial to success. The author offers practical tips for identifying learning disabilities and developing appropriate accommodations.
By: Barbara J. Ehren, Judith Montgomery, Judy Rudebusch, and Kathleen Whitmire (2006)
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can play a number of important roles in using RTI to identify children with disabilities and provide needed instruction to struggling students in both general education and special education settings. But these roles will require some fundamental changes in the way SLPs engage in assessment and intervention activities.
By: Jacob Milner (2006)
Handheld formative assessment technology provides teachers with a virtually real-time picture on which students need help, where they need it, and how the teachers can help best.
By: G. Emerson Dickman (2006)
RTI is not a particular method or instructional approach, rather it is a process that aims to shift educational resources toward the delivery and evaluation of instruction that works best for students. This article provides a quick overview of RTI as it relates to reading.
By: Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin and Alejandro Brice (2005)
How can you tell when a student has a language-learning disability and when he or she is merely in the normal process of acquiring a second language?
By: National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (2005)
The purpose of this National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) report is to examine the concepts, potential benefits, practical issues, and unanswered questions associated with responsiveness to intervention (RTI) and learning disabilities (LD). A brief overview of the approach is provided, including attributes, characteristics, and promising features, as well as issues, concerns, unanswered questions, and research needs.
By: Reading Rockets (2005)
School psychologists play a critical role in the lives of children who are struggling to learn. More and more, for example, school psychologists are leaders in developing and carrying out the assessments and placements decisions that impact students from the beginning of their school careers. With your help, schools can reduce the number of students who lag behind grade level – and increase the number of successful readers.
By: The Access Center (2005)
How do you choose the best method for measuring reading progress? This brief article describes which assessments to use for different reading skills so that you can make sure all students are making progress towards becoming readers!
By: Sally M. Reis and Robert Colbert (2004)
Recent research on academically talented students with learning disabilities indicates that they have specific counseling needs that often are not addressed in elementary and secondary school. This article looks at what kinds of support students with this profile need, and how school counselors can provide it.
By: Carolyn B. Bagin and Lawrence M. Rudner (2004)
Standardized testing is one form of assessment used in schools. Find out about standardized tests, how and why schools use them, and how you can support your child.
By: Carolyn B. Bagin and Lawrence M. Rudner (2004)
Standardized testing is one form of assessment used in schools. Find out about standardized tests, how and why schools use them, and how you can support your child in this article for parents.
By: American Federation of Teachers (2004)
Early intervention works. Because it is also expensive, it's important to be able to identify the kids who are most at risk of reading failure. Thanks to a new generation of screening assessments, we can identify these students as early as kindergarten — and then invest in interventions for them.
By: Reading Rockets (2004)
The following are sample charts you can use when assessing students informally in the classroom. Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one.
By: Reading Rockets (2004)
These six short video clips give you the chance to watch and learn effective classroom-based assessment strategies. The video clips are from Reading Rockets' PBS television series Launching Young Readers. 
By: Reading Rockets (2004)
What should you do if you think your child is having trouble with reading? Sometimes children just need more time, but sometimes they need extra help. Trust your instincts! You know your child best. If you think there's a problem, there probably is.
By: Virginia Berninger, Donna Rury Smith, and Louise O'Donnell (2004)
This article discusses current research-supported instructional practices in reading and writing. It also reviews alternatives to ability-achievement discrepancy in identifying students for special education services, as well as introduces the idea that ability-achievement discrepancies should be based on specific cognitive factors that are relevant to specific kinds of learning disabilities rather than Full Scale IQ.
By: Marianne S. Meyer (2003)
Parents, does your child need to be evaluated for a learning disability? If so, read how to find the best professional, prepare for evaluation, and get the most information from the experience.
By: Lynn S. Fuchs and Douglas Fuchs (2003)
Progress monitoring is an assessment technique that tells teachers how and when to adjust curriculum so that students meet benchmark goals by the end of the year. This research shows that progress monitoring is an effective way to set and meet academic goals.
By: Kathleen Ross Kidder (2002)
Many professionals are involved in the diagnosis of LD: psychologists, educational specialists, and other professionals who work in specialized fields such as speech and language. This article identifies licensure requirements and who can diagnose LD and/or ADHD.
By: Diane Henry Leipzig (2001)
You may have a child in your life who isn't as successful with reading as you think he or she could be. The challenge is that not all reading difficulties look the same, and not all reading difficulties should be addressed in the same way.
By: Andrea DeBruin-Parecki, Kathryn Perkinson, and Lance Ferderer (2000)
When a child is having a language or reading problem, the reason could be simple to understand and deal with or it could be complicated. Often, children may just need more time to learn their language skills. On the other hand, some children might have trouble seeing, hearing, or speaking. Others may have a learning disability. If you think your child may have some kind of physical or learning problem, it is important to get help quickly.
By: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2000)
If your child hasn't started speaking by age one and or you are concerned about their speech and language skills, there may be a concern. Early identification is key. They need to receive treatment before school begins so they won't miss out on essential pre-reading skills. Learn what the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has to say about early identification, evaluation, and speech-language treatments.
By: National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) (1999)
Evaluation is used to identify the children who are eligible for special education and the type of help they need. Find out four steps in the evaluation process, from analyzing known information to developing a program.
By: Susan Gruskin, Kim Silverman, and Veda Bright (1997)
Parents who suspect their children have special needs can take several steps to make sure they get the support they need to help their children succeed. Find out some of these steps in these tips for parents.
By: Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities (1997)
The most common learning disability is difficulty with language and reading. Here are some warning signs of learning disabilities to look for in preschool and elementary school children.
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