Thursday, September 6, 2012

What is The Value of Pre-Screening Kindergarteners?

We are screening our Title I students in Kindergarten and some First Graders for pre-reading skills.  This article covers both sides of the Kindergarten Screener debate - "Yes, it's and good idea" and "No, for children this young." 
Screening in this article covers more areas than our screener for pre-reading skills.  The consensus among kindergarten teachers say that the information is extremely helpful and establishes a beginning point from which to build success.
The same can be said for the value of our LEX pre-screener.  Especially with a time-frame of 2 hours per week, results will help teachers target instruction. 
For you teachers of pre-readers, how is our screener working for you?  What information has been the most helpful?  Where would you like to see improvement?  Please enter your comments below.

Should We Screen Entering Kindergarten Students for Readiness? Stu Silberman. 9.5.12. Education Week - Public Engagement & Ed Reform. 
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/engagement_and_reform/2012/09/should_we_screen_entering_kindergarten_students_for_readiness.html?cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS2

1 comment:

  1. The pre-reading screener is great in terms of meeting students where they are and "closing gaps" in their learning. The 6:1 ratio allows individualized instruction based on the screener and builds the learner’s academic confidence.

    The alphabet identification and writing is the most helpful. More and more students are trained to write their names but never recognize the letters in their names. We spend a great deal on writing and identifying letters. As an incentive for students to learn the letter names, I create individualized trackers and draw happy faces once letters are mastered. The students are egger to watch the amount of happy faces grow over the year. I was happy to see that rhyming was included in the newest pre-screener. I believe that rhyming skills help reading skills.

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