This issues of NASET’s Early Intervention series provides a resource that explores how early childhood assessment informs instruction and intervention, highlighting screening, diagnostic, and progress monitoring assessments. The authors, experts in the field of early childhood education and assessment, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each type of assessment. An appendix provides psychometric information on various diagnostic assessments of oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge.
The importance of the preschool period for becoming a skilled reader is highlighted by a significant body of evidence that preschool children’s development in the areas of oral language, phonological awareness, and print knowledge is predictive of how well they will learn to read once they are exposed to formal reading instruction in elementary school. Although there are now a number of empirically supported instructional activities for helping children who are at -risk of later reading difficulties acquire these early literacy skills, limitations in instructional time and opportunities in most preschool settings requires the use of valid assessment procedures to ensure that instructional resources are utilized efficiently. In this paper, we discuss the degree to which informal, diagnostic, screening, and progress-monitoring assessments of preschool early literacy skills can inform instructional decisions by considering the strengths and weaknesses of each approach to assessment.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3237681/?tool=pmcentre
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