In this article we explore the application of Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC)-based cognitive assessment to school psychology practice. We review the theoretical literature to address both identification practices, with a focus on learning disabilities and mental retardation eligibility, and program development, with a focus on linking assessment to…

Response to intervention (RTI) must be combined with comprehensive cognitive assessment to identify children with learning disabilities. This article presents the Cognitive Hypothesis Testing (CHT) model for integrating RTI and comprehensive evaluation practices in the identification of children with reading disabilities. The CHT model utilizes a…

This study describes the evolution of an exemplary Title I reading program in a rural elementary school. The key element in the program was a knowledgeable reading teacher who worked directly with children and also supervised the tutoring efforts of others (teacher assistants and community volunteers). A snapshot of longitudinal test data showed…

In this article, the author talks about the dismal results in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests, brought about by the inadequacy of funds required by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Recently, chief school officers from 14 states, various state legislatures, and superintendents by the bushel have been loud in their…

The processes of change in children's reading motivation have not been widely studied. We investigated whether situated interest for a specific book may lead to longer-term intrinsic motivation for general reading. Two schools with 120 grade 3 students filled out reading logs identifying their reasons for reading their favorite books twice. In…

Kentucky's goal of reaching academic "proficiency" by 2014 illuminated 2002 reading test scores: 44.30% of middle and 71.25% of high school students scored below "proficient." The research question was, "Do teaching practices in schools with high reading achievement scores differ from teaching practices in schools with low…

During the school years, psychological test norms may be indexed by age or by grade. A number of studies have shown that using age-based norms appears to produce biases associated with grade assignment. Cahan and Cohen [Child Dev. 60 (1989) 1239-1249] showed that the effect of one grade was over twice the effect of 1 year of age for most verbal…

Schools across the nation are implementing reform models intended to enable all children to meet state-established academic standards. One of the nation's comprehensive school reform models is Success for All (SFA). This study assessed the impact of the program on elementary school students in standardized reading scores as well as attendance and…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 propelled high stakes testing to an unprecedented level of significance. Decisions based on the results of such mandated assessments is flawed in that the tests are not an accurate measure of actual knowledge and neglect to address environmental, socio-cultural, and economic factors influencing student…

In our theoretical framework, reading engagement entails multiple perspectives on reading that consist of motivational dispositions, cognitive strategies, conceptual understanding, and social discourse. Possessing these attributes, engaged readers are typically higher achievers than less engaged readers, who show fewer of these qualities or less…

Looping is the practice in which a teacher instructs the same group of students for at least two school years, following them from one grade level to the next. Once a "loop" of two or more years is completed, the teacher may start a new loop teaching a new group of students. This evaluation study of the practice of looping in a large…

The diagnosis of developmental dyslexia (DD) is reliant on a discrepancy between intellectual functioning and reading achievement. Discrepancy-based formulae have frequently been employed to establish the significance of the difference between "intelligence" and "actual" reading achievement. These formulae, however, often fail to take into…

The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale for collecting and using curriculum-based measurement (CB) data as well as providing specific guidelines for how to collect CBM data in reading, spelling, and math. Relying on the research conducted on CBM over the past 25 years, we define what CBM is and how it is different from…

Noble High School, a large school located in rural southern Maine, embraces the concept of smaller learning communities, and its more than 1,100 students are heterogeneously grouped into teams. Although Noble was recently cited as a model of rural education (NASSP, 2004), its students nevertheless struggle to develop important literacy skills. On…

This study investigated the orthographic and phonological coding strategies of students with symmetrical and asymmetrical reading and spelling achievement. Based on performance on a standardized achievement test, fourth-and fifth-grade students (N = 50) were classified as having no difficulties with reading and spelling, difficulties with both…