The Science of Reading for Educators

Literacy Assessments Within a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework, decision making begins first with assessment. Through the assessments administered, problem solving teams are able to look at the overall “health” of a school by determining how many students are on target to meet grade level expectations versus how many students are not on target for success. This can help schools determine which elements of the core curriculum need to be supplemented or adjusted. Additional assessments can then be utilized to look at the overall performance of grade levels, classrooms, and individual students. There are multiple forms of assessment that are used as part of a comprehensive assessment system within a school, but the three most commonly used to make decisions as part of the problem solving process are universal screeners, diagnostic assessments, and progress monitoring. Universal Screeners A universal screener is designed to determine if a student is at-risk for reading dif

Literacy seems to be a universal bipartisan issue that everyone can agree is of utmost importance. In 1965 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESSA) was signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson with the purpose “to provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps.” President Johnson believed this law to be a civil rights law at its heart. However, fourth grade reading proficiency data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that gaps continue to persist between our African American, 18% proficient, and Hispanic, 23% proficient, students when compared to their white peers, 45% proficient (NAEP 2019). Significant gaps are also found when comparing Students with Disabilities, 12% proficient, to their non-disabled peers, 39% proficient, and when comparing students of poverty, 21% proficient, to their more affluent peers, 51% proficient. The ESSA defines comprehe

Over the last twenty years, multiple states have recognized the importance and lasting impact of students being able to read on grade level by third grade and have taken measures to enact legislation to support this goal through various methods and means. Some states require grade level retention, while others require promotion with the provision of specific intervention supports (Weyer 2019). There are currently 16 states plus Washington D.C. that require retention while allowing for specific exemptions meeting criteria set by the state, and there are eight states that allow for retention but don’t require it. In response to this the North Carolina General Assembly established the Read to Achieve legislation in 2012 (RMS Research Corporation 2017). The original bill was sponsored by Phil Berger with the goal of all students able to read on grade level by the end of third grade and ending social promotion. This legislation mandated the use of early literacy screeners in grades K-3