Development and validity of the Rating Scales of Academic Skills for Reading Comprehension.

The development and psychometric qualities of a measure using teacher judgment to rate performance in reading comprehension for narrative text is described-the Rating Scales for Academic Skills-Reading Comprehension Narrative (RSAS-RCN). Sixty-five teachers from the third, fourth, and fifth grades of 8 elementary schools completed the measure on 177 students. Each teacher rated students who had been identified through school-based universal screening to be below the 25th percentile, between the 25th and 74th percentile, and at or above the 75th percentile on national normative standards.

Comparing computer adaptive and curriculum-based measures of math in progress monitoring.

The purpose of the study was to compare the use of a Computer Adaptive Test and Curriculum-Based Measurement in the assessment of mathematics. This study also investigated the degree to which slope or rate of change predicted student outcomes on the annual state assessment of mathematics above and beyond scores of single point screening assessments (i.e.

Implementation science and school psychology.

The APA Division 16 Working Group on Translating Science to Practice contends that implementation science is essential to the process of translating evidence-based interventions (EBIs) into the unique context of the schools, and that increasing attention to implementation will lead to the improvement of school psychological services and school learning environments. Key elements of implementation and implementation science are described. Four critical issues for implementation science in school psychology are presented: barriers to implementation, improving intervention fidelity and identifying core intervention components, implementation with diverse client populations, and implementation in diverse settings.

Monitoring early first-grade reading progress: a comparison of two measures.

This study compared the validity of progress monitoring slope of nonsense word fluency (NWF) and word identification fluency (WIF) with early first-grade readers. Students (N = 80) considered to be at risk for reading difficulty were monitored with NWF and WIF on a 1-2 week basis across 11 weeks. Reading skills at the end of first grade were assessed using measures of passage reading fluency, real and pseudoword reading efficiency, and basic comprehension.

Use of a Measure of Reading Comprehension to Enhance Prediction on the State High Stakes Assessment.

The current study examined the diagnostic accuracy of two screening measures of risk for future difficulties in reading comprehension, as well as the degree to which adding a screening measure of reading comprehension enhanced the prediction of Oral Reading Fluency to outcomes of student reading performance on the state high stakes assessment for grades 3 through 5. Data from fall and winter assessments of the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) and 4Sight Benchmark Assessment (4Sight) measures along with outcomes on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) across a total of 1000 students from 6 schools were examined using indices of diagnostic efficiency, ROC curve, and logistic regression analyses. Results showed that the addition of a measure of reading comprehension (4Sight) to DORF enhanced the decision making process for identifying students at risk for reading difficulties, especially for those students at higher elementary grades and those who achieved benchmark levels on the DORF.

Preparing psychologists to link systems of care in managing and preventing children's health problems.

Objective: To describe the need for innovations in training to link health, educational, and family systems and to illustrate how this can be accomplished through child-oriented psychology training programs.

Methods: We describe multiple pathways for the preparation of child-oriented psychologists to link health, educational, and family systems, in keeping with the National Institute of Mental Health guidelines for preparing professionals in child and adolescent psychology. These pathways include training embedded in graduate programs specializing in clinical child, pediatric, school, community, and family psychology.