Students with dyslexia demonstrate reading difficulty in early literacy skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, word recognition, decoding), and administering screeners is a necessary step to implement effective intervention. There are several commonly used reading screeners, but the decision accuracy and predictive value between them varies. In the…

This study represents an initial examination of the potential of word dictation (WD), a form of curriculum-based measure, to identify risk in writing for young English language learners (ELs). The sample included 73 ELs with beginning to advanced English language proficiency in the first to third grades attending schools in one U.S. Midwestern…

Previous studies of K-12 dyslexia legislation have described broad trends in legislative content, such as the presence or absence of screening and intervention requirements. This study uses document analysis to provide a finer-grained description of the laws to highlight critical variation in policy that will directly affect (a) the number and…

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…

Universal screening is a critical component of school-based prevention systems. Screening data enable educators to target students for supplemental intervention, align resources to meet needs, and identify students who may be at risk for learning disabilities. One major requirement of the screening process is that all students are included to gain…

Many states now mandate early screening for dyslexia, but vary in how they address these mandates. There is confusion about the nature of screening versus diagnostic assessments, risk versus diagnosis, concurrent versus predictive validity, and inattention to indices of classification accuracy as the basis for determining risk. To help define what…

The research concerning three major types of measures designed to identify young children at risk of experiencing school problems is reviewed. Teacher perception, test batteries, and single instruments are discussed in terms of general considerations for use, advantages, and disadvantages. (Author/DB)

Several criteria are proposed for determining and communicating screening results. These criteria provide a context for judging prediction accuracy. It is argued that accuracy of prediction is of little value and cannot be considered sufficient unless the predictions lead to better educational opportunities for the students about whom they are…

Teacher perception, test batteries, and single instruments are presented as the major types of procedures for predicting which preschool children are at risk for experiencing school problems. (SBH)

Reanalysis of data derived from a meta-analysis of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, using a learning disability index derived from a principal-components analysis, found that the test discriminated reliably between 9,372 learning-disabled children and their non-disabled peers. (Author/CB)