This article reviews our understanding of reading disorders in children and relates it to current proposals for their classification in DSM-5. There are two different, commonly occurring, forms of reading disorder in children which arise from different underlying language difficulties. Dyslexia (as defined in DSM-5), or decoding difficulty, refers…

Data from instruments which are technically adequate and which inform instruction are not only considered best practice, but are legally mandated by laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and No Child Left Behind. The Phonics Diagnostic Inventory (PDI) was designed to assess students' proficiency with specific…

School districts in the U.S. are mandated to identify young children with disabilities. Developmental screeners are typically used to screen for such skill deficits. Academic tests are used in older students. A significant challenge is identifying children with potential learning disabilities early in their school career. This study identifies a…

As teachers, administrators, and members of intervention teams use student performance data to inform instructional decisions and monitor implementation of tiered instruction in a Response to Intervention (RTI) model, assuring fidelity of implementation or treatment integrity continues to be a challenge. This article describes how one school…

Reading difficulties and disabilities present serious and potentially lifelong challenges. Children who do not read well are more likely to be retained a grade in school, drop out of high school, become a teen parent, or enter the juvenile justice system. Building on the extant research and seminal studies, including the National Reading Panel and…

Many schools are beginning to use Response to Intervention (RTI) in the classroom, and educators have found that it has made a difference for many students. The purpose of RTI is to identify those children who are struggling in school and to ensure that each of those children receive just the right instruction or intervention to be successful.…

With the recently passed Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004), federal law encourages monitoring student progress and gauging responsiveness to instruction. The Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency (TOSWRF; Mather, Hammill, Allen, & Roberts, 2004) is a group-administered test that holds promise for monitoring student progress.…