The aim of this study is to comparatively examine the views of the preschool and primary school teachers about the criteria that qualified children books should have. The research group is comprised of 297 teachers (130 preschool teachers and 167 primary school teachers--of the first graders). The views of the teachers concerning the criteria that…

The present contribution aims at presenting an assessment tool (i.e., the TALK-assessment) built to evaluate the language development and school readiness of Italian preschoolers before they enter primary school, and its predictive validity for the children's reading and writing skills at the end of the first year of primary school. The early…

This study examines the response patterns of 288 Spanish-English dual language learners on a standardized test of receptive Spanish vocabulary. Investigators analyzed responses to 54 items on the "Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes" (TVIP) [Dunn, L. M., D. E. Lugo, E. R. Padilla, and L. M. Dunn. 1986. "Test de Vocabulario en Imganes…

The purpose of this study was to examine 4 early writing measures used to monitor the early writing progress of 1st-grade students. We administered the measures to 23 1st-grade students biweekly for a total of 16 weeks. We obtained 3-min samples and conducted analyses for each 1-min increment. We scored samples using 2 different methods: correct…

Traditional measures of reading ability designed for younger students typically focus on componential skills (e.g., decoding, vocabulary), and the items are often presented in a discrete and decontextualized format. The current study was designed to explore whether it was feasible to develop a more integrated, scenario-based assessment of…

Traditional measures of reading ability designed for younger students typically focus on componential skills (e.g., decoding, vocabulary) and the items are often presented in a discrete and decontextualized format. The current study was designed to explore whether it was feasible to develop a more integrated, scenario-based assessment of…

Quality incorporation of children's literature has long been supported to help students learn. The purpose of this study was to examine the 79 fiction selections of our state's sponsored reading list for grades K-2. The list was examined for original publication date, selections recognized as award winners, sex of authors, sex of protagonist, race…

This article draws on previously employed methods for conducting fidelity studies and applies them to an evaluation of an unprescribed intervention. We document the process of assessing the fidelity of implementation of the Math Recovery first-grade tutoring program, an unprescribed, diagnostic intervention. We describe how we drew on recent…

Malay is a consistent alphabetic orthography with complex syllable structures. The focus of this research was to investigate word recognition performance in order to inform reading interventions for low-progress early readers. Forty-six Grade 1 students were sampled and 11 were identified as low-progress readers. The results indicated that both…

The present study examined the technical adequacy of curriculum-based measures (CBMs) of early numeracy. Six 1-min early mathematics tasks were administered to 137 kindergarten and first-grade students, along with an omnibus test of early mathematics. The CBM measures included Count Out Loud, Quantity Discrimination, Number Identification, Missing…

Evidence from this Spring 2012 pilot suggests feedback about AISD teachers can be reliably obtained from students at all grade levels, and that such feedback can provide a valid supplemental measure of teacher quality to accompany additional indicators.

Models of Response to Intervention (RTI) include parameters of assessment and instruction. This study focuses on assessment with the purpose of developing a screening battery that validly and efficiently identifies first-grade children at risk for reading problems. In an RTI model, these children would be candidates for early intervention. We…

The present study describes the development and psychometric properties of the Self-Regulated Learning Teacher Belief Scale (SRLTB). The SRLTB is a self-report teacher scale with 10 items assessing teachers' beliefs about introducing self-regulated learning (SRL) in primary education. The process of item and scale development as well as testing…

In the county schools, students are assessed every nine weeks based on a writing prompt using a rubric supplied by the county, but the students are often taught using Writer's Workshop. This action research attempted to determine if Writer's Workshop and the use of writing prompts have different effects on first graders' writing ability and…

The purpose of this study was to develop a test of academic readiness for first grade instruction in Thailand. Test of Academic Readiness (TAR) consists of six domains: verbal, visual, memory, math, logical, and general knowledge. Two pilot studies were carried out and a main study tested items in those domains. Rasch model was used to assess the…