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Students who demonstrate mathematics difficulties in the early grades are at risk for poor educational outcomes. Fortunately, strategic early mathematics intervention programs can improve academic outcomes for students with mathematics difficulties, and instructional technology has demonstrated promise in delivering targeted and individualized mathematics instruction. However, it is unclear whether instructional technology is effective for all students, and there is a dearth of research on adaptations to technology-based interventions for students with difficulties attending to instruction. To this end, the current study investigated functional relations between the use of targeted instructional cueing and self-regulation support features in an iPad-based mathematics program, and improved response accuracy for kindergarten students. Results presented here suggest a functional relation between the provision of instructional cueing and self-regulation support features, and improved response accuracy for students who participated in an iPad-based mathematics intervention program. Implications for early mathematics instruction and technology-based intervention development are discussed. [This paper will be published in "Journal of Special Education Technology."]

In this technical report, implementation strategies from the first two years of Project ICEBERG exploration are described. Over this period of time, a new preschool assessment, curricular activity, and teacher training tool called the Learning Receptiveness Assessment-Greenhouse application, was iteratively developed, refined, and piloted to better support preschool children's literacy, behavioral, and working memory processing skills and facilitate improved learning as they approach the transition to kindergarten and beyond. During the exploration phase of tool implementation, we gathered experts from the field of assessment and early learning to determine and evaluate areas of need and contextual fit such as the availability and allocation of tool-appropriate support resources, the readiness of the tool for use across diverse classroom contexts, and its fit and alignment with relevant state and community initiatives and support systems. We highlight associated lessons learned that can influence effective and sustained tool implementation, namely the importance of observing and studying variations in tool use in actual preschool classrooms over protracted periods of time and identifying gaps in stakeholder alignment, with the goal of helping researchers build on our experience in their own work.

Identifying and measuring indicators of learning difficulties among young children and implementing effective instructional approaches are complicated, particularly during the transition to kindergarten. Purposeful school-based transition policies and practices support teacher and school decision-making and, thus, can ease the preschool-to-kindergarten transition and improve student reading and mathematics outcomes early in children's schooling. In this technical report, the authors present results from a survey of educators, specialists, administrators, and coordinators, designed to learn more about the field's readiness to implement a tablet-based screening tool to support and improve teacher data-based decision making in preschool and kindergarten learning contexts. In particular, they sought professional opinions from Oregon stakeholders to help identify implementation strategies, including those related to obstacles to sustainable integration, as part of Project ICEBERG (Intensifying Cognition, Early literacy and Behavior for Exceptional Reading Growth), a project funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). The primary purpose of Project ICEBERG is to develop strategies and resources to guide preschool and kindergarten teachers' instructional decisions and reduce children's risk for reading disabilities through the implementation of a newly developed web-based assessment tool and associated teacher support system. The authors targeted Oregon early learning and kindergarten stakeholders--preschool and kindergarten educators, specialists, administrators, coordinators, and parents--as respondents to the Innovation Need (IN) Survey developed and administered for this study. Findings included: (1) Early screening viewed as critical to identifying and meeting the learning needs of struggling preschool and kindergarten children; (2) 6 primary practice shortcomings (a) Gaps in screening and eligibility processes/policy; (b) Insufficient funding and resources; (c) Deficiencies in teacher assessment and instructional pedagogy; (d) Lack of parental awareness of screening and associated follow-up services and concerns about stigma attached to disability identification; (e) Poor alignment between preschool and kindergarten systems; and (f) Inequitable access to high-quality pre-schooling for at-risk populations; (3) Kindergarten teachers generally perceived as having greater knowledge and skills for identifying risk for early learning difficulties than early learning providers; and (4) Additional funding and ongoing professional development needs identified: (a) Improving teachers' early screening and instructional knowledge and skills; (b) Supporting integration of a tablet assessment for instruction tool into teaching practices to strengthen learning outcomes; and (c) Overcoming contextual obstacles unique to preschool and kindergarten settings. The Innovation Need Survey--Project ICEBERG--Fall 2015 is appended.