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Students with dyslexia demonstrate reading difficulty in early literacy skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, word recognition, decoding), and administering screeners is a necessary step to implement effective intervention. There are several commonly used reading screeners, but the decision accuracy and predictive value between them varies. In the current study, scores on two different reading screeners, the Shaywitz DyslexiaScreen (SDS) and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills Next (DIBELS Next) were compared for 115 U.S. Grades K-3 students with specific reading deficits using the Phonological Awareness Composite of the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing as the criterion. Tests of sensitivity, specificity, and post-test probabilities were used to evaluate the decision accuracy of the data. Results suggested that the decision accuracy for DIBELS Next (78%) was better than SDS (45%), and both sensitivity (DIBELS Next = 90%, SDS = 35%) and positive post-test probability (DIBELS Next = 71%, SDS = 42%) favored DIBELS Next. Thus, the DIBELS Next measures demonstrated acceptable decision accuracy in identifying students with low phonological awareness, but the SDS did not.

A skill-by-treatment interaction (STI) isolates skill deficits and manipulates conditions to match them to student needs. Based on the learning hierarchy, preintervention scores can help predict which intervention will be most successful for an individual student. This study compared the efficacy of a modeling and practice-based decoding intervention for 29 kindergarten and first-grade students. Results suggested that grade was not a significant predictor of which intervention was more effective, but preintervention accuracy in nonsense word fluency was a significant predictor of the more effective intervention, accounted for 68% of the variance, and correctly identified the more effective intervention 88% of the time.

Research has demonstrated that regular school attendance is necessary for acceptable academic performance and the development of desirable social skills and behaviors. One in seven students in the United States struggles with chronic absenteeism, and 36 states use accountability metrics that are designed to assess attendance rates as part of school performance profiles. The current meta-analysis examined the effects of interventions and programs on student attendance outcomes in pre-K-12 public schools. Data were taken from 22 random and nonrandom controlled intervention studies published from 2000 to 2018. Between-group (weighted g = 0.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.14-0.36) and within-group (weighted g = 1.04; 95% CI, 0.32-1.76) research designs resulted in small effects on attendance outcomes. Interventions were coded across three categories: behavioral interventions, family-school partnerships, and academic interventions. All three intervention areas resulted in small effects (weighted g = 0.09-0.26). The confidence interval for family-school partnerships was the only one that included 0, which suggests the possibility of a zero effect for that variable. Results suggest that most practices implemented to improve student attendance are either understudied, lead to small effects, or both. Implications for practice and future research regarding attendance interventions are discussed.

In this paper we describe the process of monitoring fidelity of implementation for a teacher-implemented early writing intervention. As part of a large, federally funded project, teachers who worked with students in grades 1 through 3 in schools across two states in the US were recruited and then randomly assigned to implementation and control conditions. Using Data-Based Individualization (DBI) as a framework for best practice in assessment and intervention, teachers in the implementation group received professional development on early writing intervention and assessment and then implemented these practices with their students who had significant writing challenges. Coaches, who were part of the research project, supported teachers and also observed teachers in both the implementation and control conditions at least twice during the course of the 20-week study. This paper focuses on the results of the fidelity measures that were administered throughout the project. An overview of the importance of fidelity checks is followed by a description of the fidelity tools used, as well as data from those tools. Areas of strength and challenge for teachers when implementing early writing assessment and intervention and engaging in data-based decision making with fidelity are discussed, along with recommendations regarding the practical and research importance of fidelity checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a multiyear, multisite, randomized control trial, we examined the effects of comprehensive professional development designed to support teachers’ data-based instruction (DBI) for students with intensive early writing needs. Teachers (N = 154; primarily special educators or intervention specialists) were assigned randomly to a treatment group (n = 76), in which they received tools, learning, and coaching to support their DBI implementation over 20 weeks, or to a control group (n = 78). Students either received DBI in early writing (n = 155) from treatment teachers or their usual writing instruction (n = 154) from control teachers. Treatment teachers outperformed controls on measures of DBI knowledge and skills (d = 1.57) and self-efficacy for writing instruction (d = .94), and treatment students outperformed controls on proximal and distal writing outcomes (ds = .14–.29). Student characteristics (grade, special education status, English learner status, and race/ethnicity) did not moderate intervention effects. We discuss findings in terms of the importance of supporting students with intensive learning needs, the efficacy and feasibility of implementing DBI-TLC, and implications for pre- and in-service teacher training and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]