READING FIRST MISSION Less Than 5 Percent of Students Referred to Special Education in Alice Furry Marvi Hagopian

In the United States, 44 percent of fourth grade students are at “below basic” levels; only 2 to 5 percent of total number of students should legitimately be classified as having severe, intrinsically-based learning disorders.

Sixty to 80 percent of students in special education are likely to be suffering from consequences of inappropriate teaching, low standards, and/or disadvantageous environmental consequences.

THE CHALLENGE FOR READING FIRST Reduce the Number of Referrals to Special Education

What Research Tells Us: Reading disabilities affect at least 10 million children in the US Most reading disabilities reflect a persistent deficit rather than a developmental lag Approximately 74 percent of the children who are reading disabled in the third grade will remain disabled in the ninth grade

Distinguishing between disabled readers with and without an IQ achievement discrepancy is an invalid measurement Children with and without reading discrepancies show similar information processing, genetic, and neurophysiologic profiles

What Research Says About Students with Reading Delays: 80 percent of students who fall behind in reading by the end of first grade are still significantly behind in fourth grade, despite current conventional intervention practices Of the students with reading delays, 80 percent have primary weakness in phonological/phonemic awareness, phonics and work study, and oral fluency Based on research published in multiple sources and conducted by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the US Department of Education, and the US Department of Special Education.

The primary message of the No Child Left Behind is URGENCY - Leave No Child Behind! Teachers must determine at the earliest possible moment when a student is beginning to fall behind, and at the same time, know how to intervene to prevent that student from falling further behind.

It is now known that students do not outgrow reading problems!

Assessment and systematic, explicit, accelerated, and focused intervention efforts early in the school career of a child/student can make a huge difference. Be it Resolved:

Definition of a Student At-Risk of Falling Behind A student who the classroom teacher identifies as behind his or her peers as indicated by observations and progress monitoring assessments A student who has problems with: Spoken language Separating phonemes Matching sounds to letters and spellings Spelling Decoding Word substitution when reading, etc. See Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz, M.D.

Evidence Gathering and Confirming a Student At-Risk Initial Evidence Kindergarten Monitoring Log and Assessments Grades 1-3, 6-8 Week Skills Assessments in the range of 0-3 scores in repeated succession [especially for oral fluency and comprehension subtests] Confirmed Evidence Results from State Approved Screening/Diagnostic Assessments

Screening Assessments have predictive validity and are used to determine which students are likely to experience reading difficulty and need additional prevention/intervention instruction.

Diagnostic Assessments offer reliable, stable, and consistent evidence as to which beginning reading technical skills are mastered or not mastered and how much instructional prevention/intervention is most likely needed.

State-approved Supplemental Intervention Materials and Comprehensive Stand-alone Intervention Programs State Board approved list release dates: November 10, 2004 January 13, 2005 March 10, 2005 May 12, 2005

The State Board list will be based upon recommendations of the Department of Education and the Reading First, California Technical Assistance Center. Criteria will include ratings on: if it is research-based if it is aligned to adopted reading/language arts program if it is aligned to California English/Language Arts Content Standards

List of eligible intervention materials and programs must have been previously evaluated by either the Western or Eastern Reading First Technical Assistance Centers. See web sites: WRFTAC ERFTAC

Special Education Referral Reduction Program Application Guidance (see Application -- Sample)

1. Program Goals and Intents: Our district is committed to the Special Education Referral Reduction goal of the Reading First (RF) program and intends to implement a plan of early identification and accelerated and focused prevention/intervention instruction.

2. Program Assignments and Responsibilities: The plan allocates the necessary time and staff to oversee the implementation of this program at each of our RF schools.

3. RF Site Participation: All participating RF school sites are included in this program.

4. Screening and Assessment: Our district will select approved screening and diagnostic assessments to identify students for participation in this program.

5. Monitoring Responsibilities: Our district has designated and approved the monitoring responsibilities of all staff involved in the program.

6. Reporting: At the end of the year our district will submit required reports to the California Department of Education (CDE): : the number of special education referrals by grade level : the number of referrals placed in special education

7. Full Core Program Implementation: Our district will fully implement the state and district adopted reading/language arts instructional program as designed and analyze its effectiveness for each student prior to placement in a multi- tiered program that includes a supplemental prevention/intervention program.

8. Research-Based Supplemental Programs: Our district will only use research-based supplemental prevention/intervention programs after all efforts of full implementation of the adopted program have been exhausted.

9. Supplemental Materials: All supplemental materials used in our intervention program will be research- based and selected from the approved list provided by the State.

10. Budget = Difference between grant rate of $6,500 and $8,000 per RF teacher The LEA will be asked to submit a revised program budget no later than three months after receiving the grant award amendment for this program.

Application should be: Single-spaced At least 11-point font size One-inch margins all around

For Assistance: Check with your Reading First Regional Technical Assistance Center Director

Questions