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Promoting beginning reading success through meaningful assessment of early literacy skills
Author(s) -
Coyne Michael D.,
Harn Beth A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/pits.20127
Subject(s) - psychology , reading (process) , literacy , early literacy , emergent literacy , information literacy , mathematics education , medical education , pedagogy , developmental psychology , medicine , political science , law
Recent scientific advances in early literacy assessment have provided schools with access to critical information about students' foundational beginning reading skills. In this article, we describe how assessment of early literacy skills can help school psychologists promote beginning reading success for all children. First, we identify key skills in early literacy and describe a comprehensive assessment system, Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), developed to assess essential beginning reading skills. Next, we present a conceptual framework for thinking about early literacy assessment across four distinct purposes: (a) screening, (b) diagnosis, (c) progress monitoring, and (d) student outcomes. Finally, we provide school‐based examples that illustrate how DIBELS can be used to assess students' early literacy skills across each of these four purposes and facilitate informed and ongoing instructional decision making. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 33–43, 2006.