Improving Literacy Briefs

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is a distinct dialect with unique grammatical rules and vocabulary, differing from mainstream English. More inclusive assessment tools are needed to account for these differences.

El Inglés Vernáculo Afroamericano (AAVE) es un dialecto distinto con reglas gramaticales y vocabulario únicos, que difiere del inglés estándar. Se necesitan herramientas de evaluación más inclusivas para tener en cuenta estas diferencias.

Debido a la complejidad de hablar dos idiomas, los maestros y los padres deben considerar cuáles son las mejores prácticas de evaluación para identificar correctamente los Trastornos del Desarrollo del Lenguaje en los estudiantes bilingües.

Due to the complexities of speaking two languages, teachers and parents must consider what assessment practices are best for properly identifying Developmental Language Disorders in bilingual students.

La evaluación es un proceso de recopilación de información. La detección es un proceso de evaluación que ayuda a los profesores a identificar a los alumnos que corren el riesgo de no alcanzar los objetivos de aprendizaje de su curso.

Aprender a leer consiste en desarrollar habilidades en dos ámbitos: la lectura precisa y fluida, y la comprensión del significado de los textos. El aprendizaje de estas destrezas no se produce de forma natural. Tanto la lectura precisa de palabras como la comprensión de textos requieren una enseñanza cuidadosa y sistemática.

Comienza tu recorrido en la Ciencia de la Lectura con estos puntos destacados sobre qué ES y qué NO ES.

La enseñanza eficaz de la lectura incorpora cinco componentes: conciencia fonémica, fonética, fluidez, vocabulario y comprensión de la lectura. Estos cinco componentes de la lectura están relacionados entre sí. La conciencia fonémica, la fonética, la fluidez y el vocabulario contribuyen a la comprensión de la lectura, lo cual es el objetivo de la lectura.

Traditional literacy diagnostic tools can be biased against minority populations. Research is being done on new types of assessments that more accurately evaluate the literacy skills of culturally and linguistically diverse families.

Structured Literacy is an approach to reading instruction that explicitly teaches systematic word-identification and decoding strategies. This brief outlines the key features of Structured Literacy and tips for delivering this approach.

Dadas las brechas socioeconómicas en las habilidades lingüísticas de los niños y niñas, es importante para los padres y maestros entender las formas en que pueden apoyar el desarrollo lingüístico de sus hijos e hijas. Esto significa evaluar adecuadamente todos los componentes clave del lenguage y fomentar conversaciones interactivas desde una edad temprana.

Given the socioeconomic gap between children’s language skills, it is important for parents and teachers to understand the ways they can support their child’s development. This means properly assessing all key components of language skills and being involved in interactive engagement early in the child’s life.

Language difficulties and internalizing problems, such as anxiety and depression, often co-occur in children, but it is not known why. This study looked at data from Norwegian siblings aged 5 to 8 years old and found that this co-occurrence is mainly due to family factors (e.g., genetics, shared environment).

A systematic review of all 50 state education agency websites revealed that Response to Intervention (RTI) has evolved since the first decade of implementation. What does it look like now?

A literacy advocate supports or speaks out for someone else’s educational needs or rights in reading, writing, and language. As a family member, you know your child best. You have seen your child’s literacy skills progress over time. You can embrace your role as an advocate and learn how to work together with your child’s school toward common goals.

Participar en experiencias de alfabetización en el hogar puede desarrollar la capacidad de lectura, la comprensión y las habilidades lingüísticas de su hijo. Las actividades en las que puede participar en casa incluyen: lectura conjunta, dibujo, canto, narración de cuentos, recitación, juegos y rimas. Puede adaptar las actividades a la edad y el nivel de habilidad de su hijo, y puede incorporar la tecnología en sus oportunidades de aprendizaje.

Aprender a leer es difícil y no sucede naturalmente. Requiere instrucción explícita y sistemática, lo cual es especialmente importante para los lectores con dificultades. Aprender a leer implica muchas habilidades diferentes que deben enseñarse a su hijo. La instrucción en conciencia fonológica, fonética, fluidez, vocabulario y comprensión ayudará a su hijo a aprender a leer.

El aprendizaje remoto de alfabetización incluye una combinación de experiencias de aprendizaje de alfabetización dirigidas por maestros, familias y estudiantes. Es una colaboración entre escuelas, familias y estudiantes. Los padres tienen un papel importante en ayudar a desarrollar las habilidades de alfabetización de su hijo.

Response to Intervention (RTI) has been promoted as a valid method for identifying learning disabilities, but questions remain about how it should be used. This study examined how individual student differences predicted response to a reading comprehension intervention using different measures as well as different definitions of “response.”

There is broad agreement that schools should implement early screening and intervention programs. State legislation generally favors the use of universal screening within schools across grades K-2.

This study explores factors that might predict the way dyslexia is identified by schools. The authors looked at data on 7,947 second-grade students in 126 schools from one U.S. state. The findings suggest systematic demographic differences in whether a student is identified with dyslexia by schools, even when using universal screening.

You can coach your child’s literacy learning at home. This means interacting with and guiding your child so he or she grows and succeeds.

This infographic highlights common definitions of dyslexia, and identifies core dimensions of dyslexia shared across those definitions.

Un defensor de la alfabetización apoya o habla por las necesidades educativas o los derechos de otra persona en lectura, escritura y lenguaje. Como miembro de la familia, usted conoce mejor a su hijo. Ha visto progresar las habilidades de alfabetización de su hijo con el tiempo. Puede asumir su papel como defensor y aprender a trabajar junto con la escuela de su hijo para lograr objetivos comunes.

In this study, second and third Grade students who scored at or below the 10th percentile on a fall reading screener received a targeted Tier 2 reading intervention. The findings underscore the importance of small group reading interventions, including for students with the lowest reading skills.

Screening assessments can help capture each child’s reading and language strengths and weaknesses in key early stages of development.

Students with intellectual disabilities can obtain higher levels of reading achievement. However, deficits in working memory can make learning early reading skills more difficult. Consider these research-based tips as you plan literacy instruction for these students.

There are many available screeners for reading and other education or social-emotional outcomes. This brief outlines important things to consider when choosing and using a screener.

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) tools are brief assessments that have several uses in school settings.

Dyslexia is a brain-based learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to read.

This infographic compares different approaches to screening fourth and fifth grade students to determine which most accurately identified risk of reading difficulties.

Dynamic assessment is a testing approach that focuses on how well a student can learn something new as opposed to what a student currently knows. It combines features of single timepoint or “static” assessment and multiple timepoint assessment to predict reading problems, as seen in the diagram below.

This study examined whether Dynamic Assessment, an approach to testing where students are instructed on tested material as part of the test, can improve the identification of mathematics difficulties in 392 first-grade English learners, with varying levels of language dominance. Students spoke mostly English with some Spanish, Spanish and English equally, mostly Spanish with some English, or exclusively Spanish. Students were randomly assigned to either a Spanish or English Dynamic Assessment condition.

This infographic examines the online presence of dyslexia across 195 countries.

Social Workers’ Role in Addressing Dyslexia.

El aprendizaje remoto de alfabetización es una colaboración entre escuelas, familias y estudiantes.

Fluency is the ability to read words, phrases, sentences, and stories accurately, with enough speed, and expression. It is important to remember that fluency is not an end in itself but a critical gateway to comprehension.

Screening for dyslexia risk should be part of a decision-making framework that answers four fundamental questions.

Repeated readings, goal setting, corrective feedback, and graphing performance can help build Fluency with Text.

Las familias y los educadores pueden trabajar juntos para garantizar que los niños tengan experiencias exitosas de alfabetización dentro y fuera de la escuela. Esto es especialmente importante si los niños tienen dificultades para leer. Las familias y los educadores juegan un papel importante en un enfoque integral para el desarrollo de la alfabetización a través de cuatro acciones clave: aprender, abogar, asociarse y apoyar.

Phonological awareness involves being able to recognize and manipulate the sounds within words. This skill is a foundation for understanding the alphabetic principle and reading success. There are several ways to effectively teach phonological awareness to prepare early readers, including: 1) teaching students to recognize and manipulate the sounds of speech, 2) teaching students letter-sound relations, and 3) teaching students to manipulate letter-sounds in print using word-building activities.

Researchers conducted a meta-analysis involving studies conducted over the last 4 decades that aimed to improve reading outcomes for Grade K-5 students with or at risk for dyslexia. They were primarily interested to know the factors and characteristics which were consistently associated with effective interventions and outcomes.

Four important steps for self-advocacy.

Families and educators can work together to ensure children have successful literacy experiences in and out of school. This is especially important if children have reading difficulties. Families and educators play important roles in a comprehensive approach to literacy development through four key actions: Learn, Advocate, Partner, and Support.

Cuatro maneras de ser un autogestor.

Ayude a su hijo a practicar habilidades lingüísticas y comprender ideas durante la vida cotidiana.

Ayude a su hijo a practicar habilidades de alfabetización temprana y comprender ideas durante la vida cotidiana.

Ayude a su hijo a practicar los sonidos del habla y las letras durante la vida cotidiana.

Al abordar juntos las necesidades promovemos un desarrollo más rápido y podemos detectar a tiempo asuntos problemáticos. Encuentre una solución que entre usted y la escuela puedan apoyar.

Hacer preguntas puede ayudar a su hijo a comprender lo que lee.

Ayudar a su hijo con los sonidos del habla apoya el éxito temprano en la lectura.

Cuatro consejos para usar al leer con su hijo.

La defensa viene en muchas formas y se puede hacer en una variedad de maneras. Cualquiera que sea el camino que elija, tenga un sistema de navegación para seguir y pronosticar el crecimiento de la alfabetización de su hijo.

Usted y la escuela pueden compartir recursos de alfabetización para ayudar a su hijo y a otras personas a obtener instrucción de alfabetización basada en evidencia. Aprenda a detectar prácticas cuestionables o ineficaces.

Usted y la escuela pueden analizar las herramientas de evaluación clave, las rúbricas, los criterios de calificación o las estrategias, para determinar juntos si su hijo tiene éxito en el aprendizaje del contenido de alfabetización, en ciertas habilidades o en la finalización de una tarea.

Ayudar a su hijo a separarse y conectar sonidos para pronunciar palabras apoya el éxito temprano en la lectura.

Usted y la escuela dependen el uno del otro para satisfacer las necesidades de alfabetización de su hijo. Entonces, trabajar juntos puede resolver conflictos a tiempo. Saber a dónde acudir cuando necesita información o apoyo también puede ayudarle.

La comunicación e interacción regulares y positivas entre usted y la escuela hacen posible la asociación para apoyar el aprendizaje de alfabetización de su hijo.

Las dificultades se pueden detectar temprano, haga estas preguntas si tiene inquietudes sobre el progreso de su hijo en la escuela.

La escuela y usted pueden hablar sobre el perfil de alfabetización de su hijo y cómo la instrucción y la intervención, se ajustan a las necesidades de su hijo.

Preguntas para hacer sobre las evaluaciones y la instrucción de su hijo en la escuela.

Preguntas para hacer sobre las habilidades de lectura de su hijo.

Preguntas para hacer sobre la instrucción de lectura de su hijo en la escuela.

Learning to read is difficult and does not happen naturally. It requires explicit and systematic instruction, which is especially important for struggling readers. Learning to read involves many different skills that must be taught to your child. Instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension will help your child learn to read.

Learning to read consists of developing skills in two areas: accurate, fluent reading and comprehending the meaning of texts. Learning these skills does not come naturally. Both accurate word reading and text comprehension require careful, systematic instruction.

This brief and infographic detail the intensification process and describe what and how to teach students who struggle with reading including what to teach and how to teach.

Studies report fundamental differences in brain development and activation patterns between individuals with dyslexia and those without.

You and the school share responsibility for your child’s language and literacy learning. Collaborate with your school to make decisions about your child’s literacy education right from the start. Your child benefits when you and the school work together to support her literacy development. Working together promotes faster development and catches trouble spots early.

Puede entrenar el aprendizaje de alfabetización de su hijo en casa. Esto significa interactuar con su hijo y guiarlo para que crezca y tenga éxito.

Cuatro pasos importantes para la autodefensa.

Phonological awareness is like an umbrella. Rhyming, alliteration, sentence segmentation, syllables, onset and rime, and phonemic awareness all exist under this umbrella with phonemic awareness being the most advanced skill of phonological awareness.

Create a positive learning environment for students during remote learning with these ideas for creating a safe space and community.

Remote literacy learning includes a mixture of literacy learning experiences that are teacher-led, family-led, and student-led. It is a collaboration among schools, families, and students. Parents have an important role in helping develop your child’s literacy skills.

Remote literacy learning includes a mixture of literacy learning experiences that are teacher-led, family-led, and student-led. It is a collaboration among schools, families, and students. Schools play an important role in providing families and students support.

A well-functioning Multi-tiered System of Support for Reading (MTSS-R) collects fidelity of implementation data – including data on family engagement – and uses it to make improvements to the health of the system.

You and the school can share literacy resources to help your child and others get evidence-based literacy instruction. Learn to spot questionable or ineffective practices.

Four tips to use when reading with your child.

Questions to ask about your child's reading instruction at school.

The way you and families approach home-school interactions and relationships, impacts children’s literacy success.

Questions to ask about your child's assessments and instruction at school.

Addressing needs together promotes faster development and catches trouble spots early. Find a solution that you and the school can both support.

Addressing needs together promotes faster development and catches trouble spots early. See if you and families can find a solution that you both can support.

You and the school rely on each other to meet the literacy needs of your child. So, working together can solve conflicts early. Knowing where to turn when you need information or support can help too.

Helping your child with speech sounds supports early reading success.

Asking questions can help your child understand what she reads.

You and the school can talk about your child’s literacy profile and how literacy instruction and intervention is matched to your child’s literacy needs.

You and families can talk about individual children’s literacy profiles and how literacy instruction and intervention are matched to children’s literacy needs.

You and the school can discuss key assessment tools, rubrics, grading criteria, or strategies to determine together if your child is successful in learning literacy content, skills, or completing an assignment.

Helping your child stretch apart and connect sounds to sound out words supports early reading success.

Questions to ask about your child's reading skills.

Difficulties can be spotted early, ask these questions if you have concerns about your child's progress at school.

Regular and positive communication and interaction between you and the school make partnering to support your child’s literacy learning possible.

Regular and positive communication and interaction between you and families make partnering to support children’s literacy learning possible.

Advocacy comes in many forms and can be done in a variety of ways. Whatever path you choose, have a navigation system to follow and forecast your child’s literacy growth.

Help your child practice early literacy skills and understand ideas during everyday life.

Help your child practice speech sounds and letters during everyday life.

Help your child practice language skills and understand ideas during everyday life.

Remote literacy learning is a collaboration among schools, families, and students.

This infographic explores The Reading House (TRH), a children’s book designed to assess emergent skills in 3-4 year-old children during pediatric wellness visits.

It is common to feel uneasy about entering the workforce when you have a reading disability. Knowing where to turn when you need information or support can help. Learn more by visiting these websites.

Four ways to be a self-advocate.

Usted y la escuela comparten la responsabilidad del aprendizaje del lenguaje y la lectoescritura de su hijo. Colabore con su escuela para tomar decisiones sobre la alfabetización de su hijo desde el principio. Su hijo se beneficia cuando usted y la escuela trabajan juntos para apoyar su desarrollo de alfabetización. Trabajar juntos promueve un desarrollo más rápido y detecta los puntos problemáticos a tiempo.

The characteristics of dyslexia legislation.

Reading skills provide the foundation for academic success. From the beginning of school, students should be taught different ways of using language to help them learn and communicate about academic content. This brief discusses two areas of literacy development that students must learn so that they can do well in school: foundational reading skills and academic language.

Despite the disparities in education, research has demonstrated that all students, regardless of racial, ethnic, economic, or learning differences, can meet grade-level expectations for reading achievement with systematic and explicit instruction.

Taking part in literacy experiences at home can develop your child’s reading ability, comprehension, and language skills.  Activities that you can engage in at home include: joint reading, drawing, singing, storytelling, reciting, game playing, and rhyming.  You can tailor activities to your child’s age and ability level, and can incorporate technology into your learning opportunities.

Effective reading instruction incorporates five components including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. These five components of reading are all linked. Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency and vocabulary all build up to reading comprehension, which is the goal of reading. 

The alphabetic principle is a critical skill that involves connecting letters with their sounds to read and write. Learning and applying the alphabetic principle takes time and is difficult for most children. Explicit phonics instruction and extensive practice are important when teaching children to learn the alphabetic principle.

This article proposes a “hybrid” model for dyslexia identification that documents low reading achievement, inadequate response to instruction, and exclusionary factors. It works best in multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS).

This study examined fourth-grade struggling readers and found that word reading performance recorded at pretest predicted these readers’ responses to intervention when it was administered. Students with the most substantial word reading problems may require more intensive and individualized treatments.

This Educator’s Toolbox, developed in Partnership with The Reading League Journal, describes some best practices that educators can use in their classrooms to help ELs acquire the language and literacy skills needed to succeed academically.

This Educator’s Toolbox, developed in Partnership with The Reading League Journal, provides practical ways to incorporate explicit vocabulary instruction within your classroom to ensure your vocabulary lessons are accessible to all learners

This Educator’s Toolbox, developed in Partnership with The Reading League Journal, provides practical ways to incorporate fluency instruction within your classroom.

This Educator’s Toolbox, developed in Partnership with The Reading League Journal, provides practical ways to incorporate instruction in systematic phonics instruction within your classroom.

This Educator’s Toolbox, developed in Partnership with The Reading League Journal, provides a framework for increasing the intensity of reading instruction and intervention for students who are not making desired progress toward their goals.

This Educator’s Toolbox, developed in Partnership with The Reading League Journal, uses an infographic to explain the critical role that phonological awareness plays in learning to read. You will learn what phonological awareness is, how to effectively teach phonological awareness to prepare early readers, and how this and other NCIL infographics can be used to promote awareness and understanding of evidence-based literacy practices.

This study proposes a new approach to operationalizing dyslexia in prevalence estimates. To capture the "unexpected" nature of dyslexia, it operationalizes dyslexia as a substantial difference between an individual's listening comprehension and reading.

Get started on your Science of Reading journey with these highlights about what it IS and what it IS NOT.

Breaking down the truth about Dyslexia.

Signs of typical reading development and possible indicators of risk for dyslexia.

When evaluating the quality of any screening tool, it is important to determine whether or not the assessment is biased against different groups of students. We want to ensure that students do not receive higher or lower scores on an assessment for reasons other than the primary skill or trait that is being tested.

Classification accuracy is a key characteristic of screening tools. A goal in classification accuracy is to correctly identify issues that result in a later problem and situations in which the scores identify issues that do not result in a later problem.

Assessment is a process of collecting information. Screening is an assessment process that helps teachers identify students who are at risk for not meeting grade-level learning goals.

Reliability is the consistency of a set of scores that are designed to measure the same thing. Reliability is a statistical property of scores that must be demonstrated rather than assumed.

Sample representativeness is an important piece to consider when evaluating the quality of a screening assessment. If you are trying to determine whether or not the screening tool accurately measures children’s skills, you want to ensure that the sample that is used to validate the tool is representative of your population of interest.

Validity is broadly defined as how well something measures what it’s supposed to measure. The reliability and validity of scores from assessments are two concepts that are closely knit together and feed into each other.

Vocabulary is knowing what words mean and how to say and use them correctly. This brief explains the four types of vocabulary, why vocabulary is important, and what vocabulary instruction should look like.

The term evidence-based is defined by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). According to ESEA, evidence-based programs are supported by strong, moderate, or promising research evidence of their effectiveness; or they demonstrate a rationale that they can improve a targeted outcome. NCIL supports the implementation of approaches with the highest levels of evidence supported by rigorous evaluations.