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No child left behind-what an important goal! The sweeping No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 focuses on some critical areas to accomplish this. The legislation includes major reform principles addressing accountability, flexibility, expanded parental options, and doing what works. This Act aims to improve the quality of education for all children-including children with special needs.
Reading First and Early Reading First, two crucial programs established by NCLB, concentrate respectively on grades K-3 and preschool-age children. At these young ages, NCLB wants schools to move away from trying to deal with failure after-the-fact through special education. Instead, schools are asked to move toward a prevention model that emphasizes strong instruction in important prereading skills. The programs also recognize the importance of early identification of children who are at risk of failing so that they can get extra attention in time to help keep them on level with their peers.
At Pearson's Assessment group, our mission has always been to help people identify as early as possible the individual learning needs of children, and to provide instructional materials appropriate for addressing those needs. Our standardized tests, whether individually-administered or group-administered, are a natural fit to NCLB because of their grounding in scientific research. The field of assessment has always required that published tests provide empirical evidence of reliability (consistency) and validity (that they actually measure what they claim to measure, and do what they claim to do).
Early Reading First
One of the four goals of Early Reading First is "to use screening assessments to effectively identify preschool-age children who may be at risk for reading failure." The rationale for early screening is the belief, supported by research, that intensive and directed instruction in prereading and early-reading skills can enable at-risk children to succeed who might otherwise fail. By the time a child is old enough to have demonstrated failure at learning to read, interventions are much less effective.
What predictors of reading failure can be measured at preschool age, and what kinds of instruments measure them? Early Reading First specifies four dimensions that are important to success in learning to read:
- Oral language (vocabulary, speaking, listening)
- Phonological awareness (rhyming, blending, segmenting)
- Print awareness
- Knowledge of the alphabet
Early Reading First requires recipients of its grants to acquire screening instruments, train teachers in their use, and use them regularly (perhaps embedded in instruction) for monitoring and for planning interventions for individual children.
Several Pearson's Assessment group tests serve these screening functions. The Peabody
Picture Vocabulary Test, Third Edition, and the Expressive
Vocabulary Test (both for ages 2 ½ and up) quickly, reliably, and validly
measure vocabulary through either listening (PPVT-III) or speaking (EVT).
The Oral and Written Language Scales (ages
3+) gives a fuller assessment of speaking and listening. Phonological awareness
(rhyming and sound matching) is measured by the the revised Kaufman
Test of Educational Achievement (ages 4 ½ +).
Reading First
This program, which is the "academic cornerstone" of NCLB, calls for the use
of "rigorous assessments with proven validity and reliability that effectively
screen and diagnose all students." A relatively large portion of the grants
may be devoted to professional development, to meet the requirement that all
K-3 teachers be qualified to use and interpret screening, diagnostic, and classroom-based
reading tests. Several Pearson's Assessment group tests (including PPVT-III and the Woodcock Reading
Mastery Tests-Revised) have quickly found their way on to the recommended
lists for states applying for Reading First grants. Why? Because Pearson
works hard to consistently produce reliable and valid tests.
Reading First funding will go primarily to districts and schools having a high percentage of students who are reading below grade level, or who are poor. The rationale for this targeting is that at-risk students stand to benefit the most from scientifically-based early education programs.
Here at Pearson's Assessment group, we've spent years developing materials for identifying and addressing individual learning needs. We've always been proud of our work and gratified to serve the children who may otherwise have been left behind.
More Information
More information about Pearson and Reading First is located at:
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