Early Screening and Diagnostic Reading Tests
Overview Assessment of Disadvantage in Schools for 'DEIS' Evaluation of the School Support Programme Study of Disadvantage in Rural Schools Programme for International Student Assessment International Civics and Citizenship Education Study Teaching and Learning International Survey National Assessment of English Reading National Assessment of Mathematics Achievement Standardized Test Development Early Screening and Diagnostic Reading Tests Early Screening and Diagnostic Mathematics Tests An Evaluation of 'Early Start' Irish in the Leaving Certificate Examination Points for Leaving Certificate Subjects Summer Learning Loss Staying in education: A new way forward	The Centre is currently finalising the development of Screening and Diagnostic Tests in Reading. The Screening Test of Reading, which can be administered to groups of pupils towards the end of Senior Infants or the beginning of First class, consists of 10 word recognition items and 20 items dealing with aspects of reading comprehension. Pupils who score below a designated cut score (17 in Senior Infants; 21 in First Class) are given an individually-administered Diagnostic Reading Test. It consists of subtests covering rhyme perception, initial sounds in words, rhyme production, sound blending, phoneme segmentation, sound deletion, recall of letter strings, letter recognition, word production and letter-phoneme mapping. Cut-scores were identified for each subtest in consultation with experts. Pupils scoring below the cut-score on a subtest are considered to be at risk with reference to the skills measured by the subtest, and additional support is recommended. In October, 2007, the Screening and Diagnostic Tests for Reading were administered in First class in 41 schools, 22 of which were selected from the sample of 120 urban schools that had supplied data, in May 2007, for the evaluation of the School Support Programme (SSP).  A total of 1288 pupils took the Screening Test, and a subgroup of 366 (those scoring below the designated cut-off point) took the Diagnostic Test.  In May, 2008,  pupils in First Class who had been tested the previous October were administered the Drumcondra Primary Reading Test – Revised, so that  performance on the Screening and Diagnostic Tests at the beginning of the school year could be linked to reading achievement at the end of the year. Also in May, 2008, another group of 41 schools (again including 22 from the SSP evaluation) was selected. The Screening Test was administered to 1381 pupils in Senior Infants in these schools.  A subset of 310 pupils who had scored below the designated cut-off point on the Screening Test took the Diagnostic Reading Test. Current work is focused on developing a technical manual to accompany the tests. It is planned to make the tests available to schools in the first half of 2009.  In the evaluation of the SSP, provision is being made to follow the progress of some pupils who obtained low scores on DTEL, at least until June 2010.
St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland     -     Telephone: +353 1 8373789     -     Fax: +353 1 8378997     -     Email: info@erc.ie

Programme Of Work

Early Screening and Diagnostic Reading Tests

 The Centre is currently finalising the development of Screening and Diagnostic Tests in Reading.

The Screening Test of Reading, which can be administered to groups of pupils towards the end of Senior Infants or the beginning of First class, consists of 10 word recognition items and 20 items dealing with aspects of reading comprehension. Pupils who score below a designated cut score (17 in Senior Infants; 21 in First Class) are given an individually-administered Diagnostic Reading Test. It consists of subtests covering rhyme perception, initial sounds in words, rhyme production, sound blending, phoneme segmentation, sound deletion, recall of letter strings, letter recognition, word production and letter-phoneme mapping. Cut-scores were identified for each subtest in consultation with experts. Pupils scoring below the cut-score on a subtest are considered to be at risk with reference to the skills measured by the subtest, and additional support is recommended.

In October, 2007, the Screening and Diagnostic Tests for Reading were administered in First class in 41 schools, 22 of which were selected from the sample of 120 urban schools that had supplied data, in May 2007, for the evaluation of the School Support Programme (SSP).  A total of 1288 pupils took the Screening Test, and a subgroup of 366 (those scoring below the designated cut-off point) took the Diagnostic Test.  In May, 2008,  pupils in First Class who had been tested the previous October were administered the Drumcondra Primary Reading Test – Revised, so that  performance on the Screening and Diagnostic Tests at the beginning of the school year could be linked to reading achievement at the end of the year. Also in May, 2008, another group of 41 schools (again including 22 from the SSP evaluation) was selected. The Screening Test was administered to 1381 pupils in Senior Infants in these schools.  A subset of 310 pupils who had scored below the designated cut-off point on the Screening Test took the Diagnostic Reading Test.

Current work is focused on developing a technical manual to accompany the tests. It is planned to make the tests available to schools in the first half of 2009.  In the evaluation of the SSP, provision is being made to follow the progress of some pupils who obtained low scores on DTEL, at least until June 2010.