Early literacy and writing development are inter-related, yet predictors of beginning writing are less well studied than beginning reading. This study investigated contributions of school-entry name-writing to writing skills after 1 and 2 years of school in New Zealand above and beyond school-entry oral language and early literacy skills.…

Beginning with the 2020/21 school year, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) began an ongoing effort to collect and analyze literacy screening assessment data from schools and districts participating in certain state grants to inform improvement efforts. Grantee schools and districts that provide literacy…

In the 2020/21 school year, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) began an ongoing effort to collect and analyze literacy screening assessment data from schools and districts participating in certain state grants to inform improvement efforts. Grantee schools and districts that provide literacy screening…

Beginning with the 2020/21 school year, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) began an ongoing effort to collect and analyze early literacy screening assessment data from schools and districts participating in certain state grants to inform improvement efforts. Outcome data suggest that the current educational…

Oral language and early literacy skills are theorized to provide the foundation for reading acquisition. To understand these relations, methods are needed that depict dynamic skill development in the context of reading acquisition. We modeled contributions of school-entry skills and early skill trajectories to later reading with 105 5-year-old…

This study described the growth trajectories of 105 children (n = 55 boys) who had just started primary school in New Zealand (NZ). Children were assessed every fourth school week around 1.5 months after starting school, for five sessions on Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills first sound fluency (FSF), AIMSweb letter sound fluency…

A Comprehensive early literacy policy establishes support and intensive reading interventions for K-3 students to ensure they read on grade level by the end of 3rd grade. The policy also requires 3rd grade students to demonstrate sufficient reading skills for promotion to 4th grade. For students severely below grade level and who do not qualify…

Significant attention and legislation have been directed to assessment intervention for students with word-level reading disability (WLRD; i.e., dyslexia). Scholars have called for similar attention to prevention-oriented approaches in which intervention is provided to students at risk for WLRD from the earliest grades. Progress monitoring is a…

A growing body of research suggests that growth in early literacy skills, including letter sound fluency, is predictive of later reading outcomes. In turn, educators and school psychologists use measures of letter sound fluency to monitor student response to early reading instruction. Limited research has evaluated whether decision-making…

Phoneme discrimination is the ability to detect subtle similarities and differences between phonemes. Phoneme discrimination is a strong predictor of reading development and poor phoneme discrimination may predict reading disabilities (Lyytinen et al., 2004). The ability to discriminate phonemes may be an even more critical skill for Emergent…

Due to barriers to kindergarten readiness, many kindergarten students do not enter kindergarten with the prerequisite skills needed for reading. A number of students do not leave kindergarten with adequate reading skills needed for future success. As a result, students are ill-prepared for first grade and are at risk for future reading failure.…

The Early Literacy Program focuses on the development of early literacy skills, with additional emphasis on intervention for students at risk of not meeting grade-based reading benchmarks. Districts and charter schools (LEAs) assess, and report to the state, students' reading composites and benchmarks three (3) times a year using the Acadience…

The Early Literacy Program focuses on the development of early literacy skills, with additional emphasis placed on intervention for students at risk of not meeting grade-based reading benchmarks. Resources available to aid these students include interventions and supports for students in grades kindergarten through third grade, standards and…

The Early Literacy Program focuses on the development of early literacy skills in all students, with additional emphasis placed on intervention for "at-risk" students. Resources available to aid these students include interventions and supports for students in grades kindergarten through third grade, standards and assessments for testing…

Assessment is prevalent throughout all levels of education in the United States. Even though educators are familiar with the idea of assessing students, familiarity does not necessarily ensure assessment literacy, or data-based decision making (DBDM) knowledge. Assessment literacy and DBDM are critical in education, and early childhood education…