Alisha K. Wackerle-Hollman

Designing a Measurement Framework for Response to Intervention in Early Childhood Programs

The overall architecture and major components of a measurement system designed and evaluated to support Response to Intervention (RTI) in the areas of language and literacy in early childhood programs are described. Efficient and reliable measurement is essential for implementing any viable RTI system, and implementing such a system in early childhood programs presents several special challenges. This article describes (a) the general approach taken to developing and evaluating this measurement system, including its conceptual and methodological foundations, methods, and results for developing items and scales for second-generation Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs 2.0), and (b) use of these scales in a larger decision-making framework for differentiating language and literacy instruction to match the needs of preschool children at risk of academic difficulties. The authors conclude with a review of some challenges associated with developing measurement for differentiated instruction in early childhood settings.

Redefining Individual Growth and Development Indicators: Oral language

Language skills developed during preschool contribute strongly to later reading and academic achievement. Effective preschool assessment and intervention should focus on core components of language development, specifically oral language skills. The Early Language and Literacy Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) are a set of measures that have demonstrated utility in language and early literacy assessment, evaluation, and intervention studies. The purpose of this article is to describe two studies conducted to build on the existing oral language IGDI, Picture Naming, to increase utility for instructional decision making, particularly within an early childhood Response to Intervention framework. Study 1 outlines the initial development and piloting of potential measures and Study 2 describes the revision and continued analysis of the most promising measures. Results of Study 1 and Study 2 indicate that Picture Naming has continued utility as a measure of oral language skill development and that one newly developed oral language IGDI, Definitional Vocabulary, has potential utility.

Redefining Individual Growth and Development Indicators Phonological Awareness

Learning to read is one of the most important indicators of academic achievement. The development of early literacy skills during the preschool years is associated with improved reading outcomes in later grades. One of these skill areas, phonological awareness, shows particular importance because of its strong link to later reading success. Presented here are two studies that describe the development and revision of four measures of phonological awareness skills: Individual Growth and Development Indicators Sound Blending, Syllable Sameness, Rhyming, and Alliteration 2.0. The authors discuss the measure development process, revision, and utility within an early childhood Response to Intervention framework.

Advances in Multi-tiered Systems of Support for Prekindergarten Children: Lessons Learned from 5 Years of Research and Development from the Center for Response to Intervention in Early Childhood

While response to intervention (RTI) is in widespread use in K–12 programs, it is still an emerging practice in programs serving preschool-aged children. In 2008, the Institute of Education Sciences funded the Center on Response to Intervention in Early Childhood (CRTIEC): (1) to conduct a focused program of research to develop and rigorously evaluate and replicate intensive interventions for preschool language and early literacy skills and (2) to develop and validate an assessment system linked to these interventions. This chapter briefly describes some of the differences between preschool and K–12 educational settings and examines some of the challenges to implementing RTI in light of these contextual differences. Lessons learned and implications derived from a multisite study of the quality of early literacy in tier 1 across preschool programs are outlined along with programmatic research carried out to develop tier 2 and tier 3 language and literacy interventions, and measures for identifying and monitoring the progress of children needing additional tiers of support in these interventions. Also described are a specific investigation of children who are dual language learners and annual surveys of states showing a growing trend in the implementation of RTI programs and policies for preschool-aged children.

Can We Measure the Transition to Reading? General Outcome Measures and Early Literacy Development From Preschool to Early Elementary Grades

This study evaluated the extent to which existing measures met standards for a continuous suite of general outcome measures (GOMs) assessing children’s early literacy from preschool through early elementary school. The study assessed 316 children from age 3 years (2 years prekindergarten) through Grade 2, with 8 to 10 measures of language, alphabetic principle, phonological awareness, and beginning reading. We evaluated measures at each grade group against six standards for GOMs extracted from earlier work. We found that one measure of oral language met five or six standards at all grade levels, and several measures of phonological awareness and alphabetic principle showed promise across all five grade levels. Results are discussed in relation to ongoing research and development of a flexible and seamless system to assess children’s academic progress across time for effective prevention and remediation, as well as theoretical and empirical analyses in early literacy, early reading, and GOMs.

Development of Early Measures of Comprehension: Innovation in Individual Growth and Development Indicators.

Early comprehension is an important, but not well-understood, contribution to early literacy and language development. Specifically, research regarding the nature of skills representative of early comprehension, including how they contribute to later reading success, is needed to support best practices to adequately prepare students. This article describes the process involved in the creation and refinement of the newly developed comprehension Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs 2.0). Two theoretical models of early comprehension are discussed to highlight the inherent complexity of this domain. Results of three studies are presented: Study 1 outlines the initial piloting process, Study 2 represents a larger-scale investigation, and Study 3 describes further field testing and reveals the final IGDI 2.0 comprehension candidate: Which One Doesn’t Belong (WODB). Results indicated WODB out-performed the other candidate measures across psychometric and pragmatic criteria. The utility of the WODB task within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework is also discussed.

Assessing Early Literacy Growth in Preschoolers Using Individual Growth and Development Indicators

Evidence of longitudinal relations between language and early literacy skills in early childhood and later reading (and other) achievement is growing, along with an expanding array of early education programs designed to improve later academic outcomes and prevent, reduce, or close later academic achievement gaps across groups. Assessment systems to support this intervention have been developed, but to date we have little evidence of these systems’ outcomes when used at a broad scale in community-based preschool programs. For this broad purpose, two research questions were addressed: (a) How much progress do children make on language and early literacy skills over the course of one school year? and (b) What is the relationship between child characteristics, baseline performance, and growth on language and early literacy skills? Results indicated growth over time for all measures and relations between child age, gender, and free-or-reduced-price status and students’ performance at the beginning of the school year, but (with one exception) no relation between these covariates and growth over time. Discussion centers on current status of language and early literacy assessment in early childhood education as well as needs and issues to be addressed in future research and program development.

Bridging the Gap: Individual Growth and Development Indicators--The Which One Doesn't Belong Task.

The Individual Growth and Development Indicator (IGDI): Which One Doesn’t Belong (WODB) task is an early comprehension screening assessment designed for use in pre-Kindergarten multi-tiered systems of support. This article summarizes the purpose, procedures, and evidence base currently available in the literature to support the WODB task. Example items and validity claims are reviewed.