Determining the right reading intervention for each student is essential to help them accelerate their reading growth. We will walk through a decision-making guide that outlines a systematic approach to identifying and addressing students' reading needs. Here’s a breakdown of the process for teachers to use to make data-informed decisions to ensure reading interventions match the targeted needs of the students.
Step 1: Initial Screening and Identification
The process begins with screening all students to identify those who may need additional support beyond the Universal Tier of instruction. Screening tools might include FastBridge scores, state assessment scores, course performance, or Early Warning System (EWS) indicators, which can highlight students at risk of falling behind. Based on this data, teachers create a list of students needing further assessment.
Step 2: Verify Comprehension Issues
Once at-risk students are identified, the next step is to verify whether a comprehension issue exists. This step involves the analysis of comprehension measures or administering formative assessments to determine if the student's main challenge lies in understanding the text.
No comprehension issue: If there is no issue, content support (like strategies for engagement or vocabulary building) might be sufficient to address the student’s needs.
Comprehension issue: If the student does struggle with comprehension, further diagnostic steps are needed.
Step 3: Administer Oral Reading Fluency Assessment
If comprehension issues are identified, an oral reading assessment helps determine whether fluency, accuracy, or both are contributing to the reading difficulties. Based on the outcomes of this assessment, students fall into one of four categories:
Fluent and Accurate: These students have a good handle on reading mechanics but may struggle with understanding complex vocabulary or themes. They would benefit from comprehension and vocabulary-focused interventions like summarization strategies or reciprocal teaching.
Fluent but Not Accurate: These students can read with fluency but lack accuracy, indicating potential decoding challenges. For them, a decoding intervention is recommended to improve accuracy through phonics-based strategies.
Not Fluent or Accurate: When students struggle with both fluency and accuracy, they may require a more intensive fluency intervention that also reinforces decoding skills. Strategies like repeated reading, duet reading, and decoding instruction can help improve both aspects.
Not Fluent but Accurate: Students who are accurate but lack fluency can benefit from interventions aimed at improving fluency alone, such as repeated reading, duet reading, and other fluency interventions.
Step 4: Diagnose Phonics Skills if Needed
For students identified as needing help with decoding, a phonics skills assessment further clarifies the specific phonics skills they struggle with. Tools like the Quick Phonics Screener can provide insights into which phonics areas require targeted support. If a student has phonics needs, dig deeper by checking to see if a phonemic awareness intervention is needed.
Step 5: Diagnose Phonemic Awareness Skills if Needed
For students identified as needing help with phonemic awareness, a phonemic awareness diagnostic assessment can help to target a starting point for the phonemic awareness intervention. However, the two skills that are absolutely necessary are phoneme blending and segmenting.
Step 6: Implement the Appropriate Intervention
Once the student’s specific needs are established through this diagnostic process, the appropriate intervention can be selected:
Comprehension and Vocabulary Interventions: These might include strategies like reciprocal teaching, writing summaries, morphology, or vocabulary instruction routines. Such interventions focus on gaining meaning from text.
Decoding Interventions: For students needing decoding support, phonics-focused interventions are essential. This could involve teaching multi-syllabic word routines or using structured phonics programs to reinforce sound-letter correspondence.
Fluency Interventions: Techniques like repeated reading, duet reading, or fluency-focused exercises aim to help students read with greater speed, accuracy, and expression.
Step 6: Progress Monitoring
After implementing an intervention, it’s important to monitor the student’s progress regularly. Progress monitoring tools must be sensitive enough to show change and help you determine whether the intervention is effective or if adjustments are needed.
Why This Process Matters
Using a structured, data-driven approach to identify reading intervention needs allows educators to:
Target specific skill deficits with precision, avoiding one-size-fits-all solutions.
Support students’ progress efficiently, ensuring they receive the help they need as soon as possible.
Adapt interventions as students improve, ensuring continuous progress and successful outcomes.
In summary, this diagnostic process helps educators provide individualized support that can make a significant difference in a student’s reading abilities. By identifying specific reading challenges and tailoring interventions accordingly, we can give students the tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.