In Focus
Universal Screening and Reading Skill Development
Universal screening is the foundation of the Response-To-Intervention (RTI) model
of student support implemented in Tennessee in 2014. RTI was implemented in an attempt
to thwart the wait to fail model historically relied on by schools. The hope of RTI
is that schools fail to wait as students struggle to acquire basic skills. Instead,
they provide timely skills-based intervention to support struggling students. Many
school districts across the nation utilize the RTI process and universal screening.
Universal screening consists of administering developmentally and instructionally
appropriate measures to identify students who may need additional support. Universal
screening measures are typically brief measures. Many are administered as a one-minute
assessment. Measures may be administered to the whole class (e.g., Reading Comprehension
MAZE measure) or the individual (e.g., Oral Reading Fluency measure). The infographic
on p. 15 explores typical reading development milestones and aligns these milestones
to developmentally and instructionally appropriate universal screening measures.
What?
Reading comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading. Reading comprehension comprises
many different processes and relies on several foundational skills. Reading comprehension is often represented
by Scarborough’s (2001) model of reading and the associated reading rope graphic.
Reading comprehension is divided into two main strands in Scarborough’s model: word
recognition and language comprehension. The word recognition strand encompasses the
core skills of phonological awareness, sight words, and decoding. The language comprehension
strand includes background knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, language structures, verbal
reasoning, and literacy knowledge.
Similarly, the center’s model of reading comprehension, i.e., the reading wall, represents skills and processes that contribute to reading comprehension. The top block of the infographic represents reading comprehension and includes the skills that support reading comprehension. Each subskill supports and contributes to the efficiency and accuracy of the skills above. For example, a reader needs to know letter-sound relationships to decode new or unknown words successfully.
Phonological awareness, which includes phonemic awareness, is an essential foundational
building block to develop accurate sound-symbol representations. As sound-symbol knowledge
is consolidated and instruction in syllable types is provided, readers decode in larger
chunks, and spelling (i.e., encoding) skills develop through direct instruction and
practice. As readers consolidate this knowledge and practice these skills, fluency
is built, and readers become better able to accurately and automatically decode and
identify words in connected text.
These basic skills and processes make reading comprehension possible, but they are
insufficient in isolation. Decoding and word recognition is the first step in reading
comprehension. Readers also must have adequate background, vocabulary, and syntactic
knowledge to understand the meaning of words in context. Building basic reading skills
is the first, critical step in the process of developing reading comprehension.
When?
The middle block of the infographic presents the timeline for the development of skills
commonly tested by universal screening. Please note that all skills that support reading
comprehension are not typically included in universal screening process. The areas
that are not currently part of the universal screening process are greyed out in the
infographic. These areas are often included in more diagnostic assessments, e.g.,
screening for characteristics of dyslexia. While the terms accurate and automatic
appear greyed out in the infographic, accuracy and automaticity are essential components
included in timed universal screening measures.
Phonological awareness includes an awareness of syllable and word boundaries as well
as rhyme, alliteration, onset-rime awareness (ages 3–4), and phonemic awareness. Phonemic
awareness includes identifying, blending, segmenting, deleting, and manipulating phonemes
(ages 5–6). Weaknesses in phonological awareness, and especially phonemic awareness,
contribute to difficulty establishing sound-symbol relationships. Letter knowledge
typically develops as students receive direct instruction in the alphabet and phonics.
Depending on a child’s exposure to direct instruction, letter knowledge and sound-symbol
knowledge develop around 4–5 years old. Decoding (ages 5–7) and encoding (ages 5–12)
skills strengthen as children receive direct instruction in spelling, syllable types,
and syllable boundaries.
As readers consolidate and practice these basic skills, accuracy and automaticity
in reading connected text builds. Fluency continues to improve with practice, and
typical students begin to demonstrate efficient reading around the second semester
of first grade (ages 7+). These skills contribute to the development of reading comprehension.
Vocabulary, morphology, background, and syntactic knowledge also contribute to reading
comprehension. Reading comprehension skills develop over the course of a reader’s
life, but universal screening for reading comprehension is developmentally appropriate
beginning in the second grade when a student should have consolidated the underlying
skills (i.e., accuracy) and built automaticity for reading comprehension.
How?
There are many measures that can provide information about the development of each
of the skills. One example measure is listed in the third block of the infographic.
These are common measures available from testing companies (e.g., Pearson) or organizations
(e.g., DIBELS from the University of Oregon). Please note that this is not a comprehensive
list of measures. For example, phonemic awareness may also be measured with an initial
sound fluency measure. The age or grade should be used to determine an appropriate
measure. The instruction provided to the student should also be considered when selecting
and interpreting screening measures. A measure that serves as a universal screener
at a lower grade level may be used as a diagnostic screener for a student at a higher
grade level.
Outcome measures that represent the consolidation of basic skills (i.e., fluency and
reading comprehension) necessarily include those subskills (decoding, letter-sound
knowledge, phonological awareness). However, it is not possible to determine if a
student has a weakness in an underlying subskill based on an outcome measure. For
example, a student identified as needing additional support through universal screening
using an oral reading fluency measure cannot be presumed to have underlying weaknesses
in phonological awareness and sound-symbol knowledge. To determine the student’s strength
or weakness with these skills, a specific measure targeting only these skills should
be administered.
Universal screening is the first step in identifying potential need for intervention.
Dyslexia-specific or diagnostic screening guides intervention. For more information
on developmentally aligned universal screening measures and their appropriate use,
please see our publication Dyslexia within RTI.
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Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia
615-494-8880
dyslexia@mtsu.edu
@DyslexiaMTSU
@MTSUDyslexia Center
mtsudyslexia