Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties (Essentials of Psychological Assessment)
David A. Kilpatrick
Language: English
Pages: 448
ISBN: 1118845242
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Practical, effective, evidence-based reading interventions that change students' lives
Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties is a practical, accessible, in-depth guide to reading assessment and intervention. It provides a detailed discussion of the nature and causes of reading difficulties, which will help develop the knowledge and confidence needed to accurately assess why a student is struggling. Readers will learn a framework for organizing testing results from current assessment batteries such as the WJ-IV, KTEA-3, and CTOPP-2. Case studies illustrate each of the concepts covered. A thorough discussion is provided on the assessment of phonics skills, phonological awareness, word recognition, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Formatted for easy reading as well as quick reference, the text includes bullet points, icons, callout boxes, and other design elements to call attention to important information.
Although a substantial amount of research has shown that most reading difficulties can be prevented or corrected, standard reading remediation efforts have proven largely ineffective. School psychologists are routinely called upon to evaluate students with reading difficulties and to make recommendations to address such difficulties. This book provides an overview of the best assessment and intervention techniques, backed by the most current research findings.
- Bridge the gap between research and practice
- Accurately assess the reason(s) why a student struggles in reading
- Improve reading skills using the most highly effective evidence-based techniques
Reading may well be the most important thing students are taught during their school careers. It is a skill they will use every day of their lives; one that will dictate, in part, later life success. Struggling students need help now, and Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties shows how to get these students on track.
during the correct pronunciation of the word. The child puts the stress/accent on the wrong syllable. The child pronounces the word with at least one unusual sounding vowel or consonant, different from how the child would say the word orally. A word is in a student's sight vocabulary when the word is consistently pronounced correctly, instantly, and effortlessly, without benefit of context. A second approach would be for the word identification test to include only irregular words. This is not
knowledge, phonological awareness, and reading skills. Regardless of which phonological awareness program is selected, Words Their Way would be an excellent supplement to any such program. With its emphasis on early spelling and orthographic skills, it would likely enhance the effectiveness of any phonological awareness program. Unlike most programs mentioned here, which are best suited for K–1, this program is appropriate beyond first grade. Equipped for Reading Success Equipped for Reading
knowledge, phonological awareness, and reading skills. Regardless of which phonological awareness program is selected, Words Their Way would be an excellent supplement to any such program. With its emphasis on early spelling and orthographic skills, it would likely enhance the effectiveness of any phonological awareness program. Unlike most programs mentioned here, which are best suited for K–1, this program is appropriate beyond first grade. Equipped for Reading Success Equipped for Reading
underestimate how much students have improved. Thus, standard score point gains on nationally normed reading tests appear to be the best way to determine if an intervention has helped weak readers narrow or even close the gap with their typically developing peers. Caution Results can be statistically significant without being educationally meaningful. Very small normative improvements in standard scores (e.g., 2 to 4 points) may not be noticed in real-world reading situations and do not close
is that children need letter-sound knowledge to phonically decode words. This intuition is quite accurate and has strong empirical support (Brady, 2011; Ehri, 2005a; NICHD, 2000; Share, 1995, 2011). However, there is another likely reason why letter-name and letter-sound knowledge predict later reading skills. They may be early “markers” of the phonological-core deficit. This assumes children have had adequate opportunities at home and/or in preschool to learn letter names and sounds, which is