Universal Literacy Screening: First Steps Toward Prevention &

Intervention

1

Dr. M

arcia Invernizzi, University of V

irginia

Power point available at:

http://pals.virginia.edu

Click on “What’s New”

Shared Vision….Common Goals

Why Early Intervention? An estimated 1in 5 children has difficulty

learning to read in school (NRC) As many as 45% have difficulty learning to

read (NICHD) Most poor readers at the end of 1st are still

poor readers at the end or 4th (Juel, 1988) Lack of achievement in the early grades is

associated with a declining spiral of negative effects (Stanovich, 1986)

Good News! Most reading problems can be prevented…

when indicators are detected early intervention is implemented immediately

Evidence suggests that the percentage of children with reading difficulties can be reduced…… from current levels (20 - 45%) to 5% or fewer through EARLY INTERVENTION

Who Are These Children? Oral language delays

or impairments

Phonological insensitivity

Difficulty learning the alphabet or letter sounds

Poor spelling

Difficulty reading single words & nonsense words

Good listening comprehension but poor decoding

Oral reading dysfluencies

Produce Spoonerisms

Avoid reading & writing activities

Have difficulty pronouncing big words

alphabetic principle

Struggling readers have trouble with individual sounds within words & their orthographic mappings

phonemic awareness

The awareness that words may be broken into the smallest units of individual speech sounds—phonemes

Is related to the ability to decode single words independent of intelligence

Most Difficult Tasks:

1. Identifying speech sounds 2. Cracking the alphabetic code3. Spelling4. Single word reading5. Oral Reading Fluency

General Intelligence

Vocabulary

Word Identification

Reasoning

Concept Formation

Text

Decoding

Meaning

How can we Find and Help these Children?

Practice universal literacy screening

Administer instructionally transparent diagnostic assessments

Provide early intervention

Virginia’s Early Intervention Reading Initiative (EIRI)

Established by the 1997 Virginia Acts of Assembly to help participating school districts identify K and 1st

grade children at risk for reading difficulties to provide early intervention services to those students

with diagnosed needs in reading

In 2000, the General Assembly expanded the EIRI to include students in grades K-3

EIRI Purposes:

To provide a valid & reliable screening tool to help teachers identify students at risk for reading difficulties : PALS

To offer incentive funds for school divisions to provide 2 ½ hours of additional reading instruction to identified students per week

To provide specific information necessary to tailor instruction & intervention to diagnosed needs

PALS-K Beginning Sounds Rhyme Alphabet Naming Letter Sounds Spelling (# of phonemes)

Concept of Word

Summed Score

& Benchmarks

PALS 1-3 Entry (Screening) Level)

Single Word Reading (in graded word lists)

Spelling (phonics) Oral Reading in Context

Diagnostic Levels Alphabetic Knowledge Phonemic Awareness

Summed Score, Benchmarks,

& Reading Levels

Criteria-Referenced Forms a dichotomous

distribution Samples domain-specific

items deeply Indicates specific skills

Informs instruction Provides benchmarks for

what a child @ a given grade should know

Forms the basis of remedial instruction

Generates benchmarks & reading levels

Norm-Referenced Forms a normal distribution

useful for big picture Samples items broadly and

sparingly Does not inform instruction

Shows where a child is located on a distribution in relation to the average child in the normative sample

Generates standard scores & percentiles

Why Criteria-Referenced?

18

Identified

What skills?

RtIntervention vs. Discrepancy Approach

1. Wait to fail vs. Prevent failure2. Questionable validity of IQ

achievement/discrepancy3. Discrepancy approach inflates number

of LD because itdoes not distinguish experiential/instructional deficits from biological/ cognitive deficits

4. Eligibility testing often provides little direction for instruction

5. Reactive vs. Proactive instruction & intervention

Vellutino, Scanlon, & Lyon, 2000

Universal Screening & the Early Identification of Risk

The earlier the intervention, the more likely they will catch up.

The earlier the intervention, the less likely students will end up in special education.

Phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, orthographic knowledge, word recognition, and actual reading, are potent predictors and provide the diagnostic information necessary for instruction.

Virginia’s EIRI & RtI

EIRI lays the foundation for RtI by providing: A statewide infrastructure for universal literacy

screening in the early grades Easy access to diagnostic information necessary

for instruction Incentive funding for early intervention in reading Additional assessment windows for progress

monitoring

How Does this Work? Universal screening identifies risk Diagnostic information provides…

benchmarks for what a child should know in specific literacy skills the basis for instruction & intervention

Early intervention provides… individualized targeted instruction a proactive approach to preventing reading failure

EIRI + RtI =

Comprehensive school-wide processes for the early identification of students likely to experience reading difficulties through universal screening

Common criteria and assessment tools for measuring reading and related skills.

Consistent, targeted instruction in the classroom and in the intervention program

Collaborative professional development agendas to address high quality, research-based standards and evidence-based, differentiated instruction

Virginia: First in Nation to….. Practice universal literacy screening K-3 Bank student-level data over time Transfer student scores as they move Encourage schools to provide 2 ½ hrs of

additional instruction Harvest population-level data annually

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

num

ber

of s

tude

nts

instructional oral reading level

Number of First Graders at Different Instructional Oral Reading Levels, Spring 2006 (n = 72,129)

The Predictive Power of Universal Screening Using a Common Tool Matched Cohort 1 (N=27,725):

Of the 90% of the K students who met PALS benchmarks at K entry, 84% also passed the 3rd grade SOL in Reading 4 years later.

Matched Cohort 2 (N=27,840): Of the 88% of the K students who met PALS

benchmarks at K entry, 87% also passed the 3rd grade SOL in Reading 4 years later.

EIRI & PALS Align the Mission of RtI Screening: identifies students not meeting

minimal literacy competencies who are in need of additional instruction

Diagnosis: provides explicit information about what literacy skills students know and which they need to learn

Progress Monitoring: shows student growth over time in specific literacy skill areas

Universal Literacy Screening

Purpose #1: Identification of children in need of further

assessment and/or intervention

EIRI Solution: PALS class reports available on the PALS

website: http://pals.virginia.edu

Class Reports

32

Identified

Universal Literacy Screening

Purpose #2: to provide feedback about class performance to adjust curriculum & identify instructional needs

EIRI Solution: PALS class reports available on the PALS

website: http://pals.virginia.edu

Reading Levels

Reading & Phonics

Teachers Use PALS Data to Form Reading Groups in K-3 Classrooms

Tier I: Excellent Classroom Instruction

differentiated small-group instruction

informal assessment

adequate resources

collegial support

classroom management

culturally responsive

professional development

instructional level

RtI Tier IImprove overall quality of classroom instruction

Responsiveness of teacherComprehensiveness of instructionPALS helps differentiate reading instruction

Universal Literacy Screening

Purpose # 3: Diagnosis of children who may have had a poor

testing experience. EIRI Solution:

PALS individual student reports available on the PALS website: http://pals.virginia.edu

Teachers Use PALS Data to Plan Additional Small-Group Intervention

Who needs additional instruction? What has been their history? What reading level are they on? What letter sounds do they know? Need

to learn? What phonics/spelling features do they

know? Need to learn? Do they have phonemic awareness? How

much?

Who?

History?

History?

Reading Level?

Teachers Use PALS Data to Target Specific Needs Identified by PALS

Tier II: Small-Group Enhancements

all NRP components

classroom coordination intensetargeted to individual

needs

instructional level

in addition to

classroom

culturally responsive

Provide 2 ½ hours of additional instruction OVER & BEYOND What is Given in the Classroom

Use PALS STUDENT REPORTS to individualize

Interactive Strategies Approach (Vellutino & Scanlon)

TIER II

Why Screen 3 Times a Year?

Ensures that students who need support receive additional instruction/intervention before it’s too late!

Helps identify the “point of entry” into the tiers of RtI intervention & the kinds of supports needed.

Monitors student growth over time

Growth

Growth

Student Growth Over Time:Progress Monitoring

Student concerns are discussed by instructional staff.

Classroom instruction is adjusted Additional Intervention is planned Existing intervention is tweaked or

intensified

Interventions are similar to Tier 2 except they are provided at a more intense level

Flexible and ongoing - students may return to lower tiers

Students who continue to struggle throughout Tier 3 may be evaluated for special education services

in addition to

Tier III: More Intensive Intervention

more time

more focusedclassroom

coordination More intenseindividualized

all NRP components

instructional level

culturally responsive

MORE! MORE! MORE!

Tier I: Excellent Classroom Instruction

differentiated small-group instruction

informal assessment

adequate resources

collegial support

classroom management

culturally responsive

professional development

Tier II: Small-Group Enhancements

in addition to

all NRP components

classroom coordination intensetargeted to individual

needs

Tier III: One-on-one Tutoring

more time

more focused

classroom coordination more intense

individualized

all NRP components

instructional level

instructional level

instructional level

in addition to culturally responsive

culturally responsive

For Reading, RTI means…

Growth in oral reading level

Growth in alphabet, phonics, and spelling

Growth in word recognition in isolation

Growth in phonemic awareness

Gain scores

Long-term retention (no summer loss)

EIRI and RtI: Fail-Safe Continua of Support

Differentiated instruction in the classroom

Additional small-group enhancements

More intense, individualized intervention

Evidence-based practice at all levels

Ongoing progress monitoring with instructional adjustments

ProfessionalDevelopmentThrough Data Scrutiny

The PALS website helps schools and districts look at their own data and to use their data to make instructional decisions:http://pals.virginia.edu

Online Score Entry & Reporting

55

Instructional Oral Reading Level, Spring 1st grade

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

14.00%

16.00%

18.00%

20.00%

level

per

cen

tag

e o

f st

ud

ents

VA

Wobegon

Woebegone 2005-2006

Oral Reading Levels of 2nd Graders at Mid-Year & Spring

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1st 1,2 2nd 2,3 3rd 3,4

MidYear

Spring

Looking at PALSData Informs Policy Initiatives such RtI

The PALS Internet database provides unique population-level data http://pals.virginia.edu

First Grade Instructional Oral Reading Levels by SES Decile Groups, Spring 2006

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

0 - 10.1% 10.1 -20.2%

20.2 -27.0%

27.0 -34.6%

34.6 -40.9%

40.9 -49.0%

49.0 -55.8%

55.8 -63.4%

63.4 -73.6%

> 73.6%

SES decile groups (% free/reduced lunch)

perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Below

On

Above

50

55

60

65

70

75

Fall 2003 Fall 2004 Fall 2005 Fall 2006

Per

cen

tag

e

Year

Percentage of Students Entering First Grade Already Reading Fall 1st Grade

PALS Online Assessment Wizard Teachers score directly online Results are calculated immediately Interpretive reports available immediately Provides Item-level data Saves time by reducing paper work Free

Instructional Support

Teachers receive live support in the PALS office through the hotline, email, the PALS website, and the Online Assessment Wizard.

64

Activities for TeachersPALS Web site Instructional resources

http://pals.virginia.edu

67

Student Score Transfer

Universal Screening +Early Intervention = Prevention ! Matched Cohort 1 (N= 27,725):

Of the 10% who did NOT meet PALS benchmarks at K entry, only 50% failed the 3rd grade SOL in Reading.

Matched Cohort 2 (N=27,840): Of the 12% who did NOT meet PALS benchmarks

at K entry, only 33% failed the 3rd grade SOL in Reading.

Shared Vision….Common Goals

Please contact me at the PALS office if you have any questions or concerns!

1-888-UVA-PALS pals@virginia.edu