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A Parent’s Guide to Screening: The Why

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The Why

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The Why

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The Why

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The Why

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The Why

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The Why

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The Why

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The Why

Screening:

Universal-done with ALL Students (3 times a year)
“Snapshot” in time
Purpose:

Proactively and preventatively assess if students are meeting benchmarks (or “at risk”)
Assess/Evaluate our curriculum and instruction overall and for groups of students

Needs to be a research based, reliable (consistent/reliable results) and valid (measures what we seek to measure)
Efficient

Screening at a school is no different. Like the previous examples, it is done periodically with all children - usually three times a year (fall, winter, and spring). It represents a snapshot in time since children do grow and change constantly. It’s purpose is to proactively and preventatively assess if students are meeting a level that research shows would indicate future success (called benchmarks) or if they are below or above and therefore in need of more or something different to prevent poor outcomes or less than adequate growth. Another use for screening data for a grade level, school, or district to evaluate how well their teaching practices and tools are working for their students overall, as well as groups of students. This is similar to when nationally we look a child screen data and note that we have a childhood obesity epidemic-such data should yield nation-wide campaigns and policies.

Sometimes the school screening data shows all kids need something more or different from what they are getting because too many are not reaching benchmark. This tool, like the medical examples, would need to have research behind it and would have to give consistent results measuring what we are trying to measure-in this case, reading or math skills, and be efficient for regular use.

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The Why

Regulations Requiring:

Comprehensive Literacy Plan

Comprehensive Assessment System

Specific Learning Disability Regulations

Basic Education Plan

High School Regulations

http://www.ride.ri.gov/InstructionAssessment/InstructionalResources/ResponsetoIntervention.aspx

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Commonly Asked Question

“My child has an IEP. Will testing accommodations and modifications be applied (e.g. Extra time, read aloud, etc)?”

First, we must note that districts typically have policies on this matter, so do check locally with you school/district.

This is answer is a response from Evelyn Johnson, Ed.D. from the RTI Action Network:

When deciding about whether it is appropriate to use accommodations on a test, it is important to consider the purpose of the test. The purpose of screening is to determine which students might be at risk for poor outcomes in a specific academic area and The goal is to create a quick sorting of students into "at-risk" and "not at-risk" categories. This quick sorting is then followed by further assessment of the students initially identified as "at-risk" to a) confirm the screening results and b) determine the extent and nature of the student's difficulties so that appropriate interventions can be provided.

Providing accommodations (such as extended time or reading the items) to students would likely invalidate the screening results-sort of like if you read aloud the chart for you child on a vision exam…we would no longer be assessing what we intended to assess. In fact, if you did that your child might get LESS than what they need because we inflated their current levels. However, accommodations that allow physical access to the test (e.g. large print versions for students with visual impairments) would be appropriate.

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THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO FOR YOUR CHILD. WE APPRECIATE YOUR PARTNERSHIP.