Brookes author Jennifer Mahdavi, the expert behind A Teacher’s Guide to Progress Monitoring, is with us today to connect progress monitoring with the Science of Reading. Dr. Mahdavi offers a vivid example of how PM can help teachers refine their instruction—and improve outcomes—for students who struggle with reading skills.

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You’ve been well prepared to use Science of Reading (SOR) evidence-based practices. You can easily describe the difference between phonemic awareness and phonics and the importance of each one. You have first-hand experience with how well most of your students learn when you teach them with systematic, explicit instruction.

Yet it is January and first-grader Emmie, who has attended school regularly and worked diligently every day, is not experiencing the same growth in her reading skills as her peers. Her performance under your excellent SOR instruction does not make sense.

Science of any kind also requires assessment and evaluation of the effects of the treatment recommended to ensure its effectiveness. Science of Reading establishes what and how to teach literacy; progress monitoring helps you determine whether the SOR practices you are implementing are effective for Emmie.

Progress Monitoring: A Meaningful Element in the Science of Reading

SOR’s foundations rest on research from diverse fields like neuroscience, linguistics, psychology, and education. The converging findings from these disparate fields provide a strong evidence base for teachers to use structured, systematic, explicit instruction in foundational literacy skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) to support all learners.

Progress monitoring (PM) is a kind of formative assessment that helps us evaluate whether students are learning at a rate that will keep them at grade level. For Emmie, that means we can go beyond “she doesn’t seem to be making progress” to finding evidence of how much and how quickly she is learning. Critically, PM will help us determine when we need to change the instruction Emmie receives

The Science of Reading is also implicated in the identification of children who have dyslexia. As a language-based reading disability marked by difficulty with rapid naming, phonological processing, and fluent reading and spelling, dyslexia can be remediated with SOR evidence-based instruction. Progress monitoring is commonly recommended as a tool to screen for dyslexia and ensure that interventions are effective for individual students.

We don’t know if Emmie has dyslexia, but finding out is important.

Be a Scientist of Reading Instruction

You want Emmie and all of your students to leave first grade as proficient readers. That means that like any good scientist, you need to use research-validated teaching techniques in your classroom and also conduct tests to ensure that your “experiments” are proceeding according to plan.

Emmie and other children who struggle to master literacy skills are relying on you!

Your school district very likely has a preferred measure for progress monitoring in reading. Maybe you have been trained to use it, but never really understood how the juice was worth the squeeze. Seek out this PM package at your site. Let’s make that data live instead of relegating it to a shelf for use only 3 times a year.

Each week, administer an oral reading fluency (ORF) measure to Emmie and keep a graph of the words read correctly per minute (WCPM). Repeated measurements of the WCPM score will show you whether your instruction is yielding the level of progress that will get Emmie back to grade level expectations. Three weeks in a row of flat or slow growth mean that your instructional strategy needs to change; a reliably rising line confirms that your approach is working.

You start by establishing a baseline by administering an ORF measure 3 times and chart that on your graph (see the blue line on the sample graph below). This shows that Emmie’s baseline fluency is clearly below expectations for a mid-year first grader.

Knowing that Emmie’s oral reading fluency places her in an at-risk or literacy failure category is not enough. These data are like the check-engine light in a car. When that light comes on, we know something is wrong with the car, but we need to plug the car into a computer to diagnose the issue that needs to be repaired. Similarly, our PM data light up the fact that we have a problem, but not what that problem is. We need to dig into Emmie’s performance to find the barriers to reading growth. Diagnostic assessment helps us understand whether the child has foundational phonemic awareness or phonics skills and where the gaps in knowledge are.

Emmie’s PM graph for oral reading fluency documents our first intervention, teaching her to read and spell the CVCe pattern (the red line on the graph). Her weekly progress over 3 weeks with this intervention is too slow. That check-engine light is shining like a beacon!

Because the PM graph does not tell you why Emmie’s progress is so slow, you administer your favorite phonics screener. You’re asking a different assessment question: not “Is Emmie making progress?” but “What does she need to advance?” Your screener shows you that Emmie can read about 85% of the CVCe words she is presented with, but that her grasp on vowel teams like ai and ea is tenuous. You move Emmie into a group working on the vowel teams and continue weekly PM. Soon you see a steep increase in Emmie’s WCPM (the yellow line) and you begin to notice her confidence and comprehension also growing.

Eureka! SOR told you what to teach, and PM told you whether that instruction was working. When Emmie’s progress lagged, you made a data-based change to your instruction. When her progress accelerated, your graph let you know to continue your effective practices for now.

That is data-based decision making, and progress monitoring supplied the data.

Science Never Rests

You and Emmie (and her parents) are so excited to see her mastering the foundations of reading. As her WCPM edges closer to grade level, you continue your systematic progress monitoring and explicit phonics instruction. It is important that Emmie continues to make adequate progress toward reading proficiency. Scientists do not stop their research when they solve one problem; they and we continue to dig for better methods and better answers.

If you have not implemented progress monitoring before, it can feel overwhelming to put the procedure in practice. Just as we do for our students, we need to lean on our own assets as the foundation for acquiring new skills. If you feel confident about SOR techniques, you are well prepared to select and adapt evidence-based literacy instruction.

The Next Step

Your next step is to collect and use data to evaluate the impact of SOR on students like Emmie. My book, A Teacher’s Guide to Progress Monitoring, can support you as you develop your PM skills and add them to your teaching laboratory. It’s a practical, teacher-friendly guide, and you can read some of the reviews and get your own copy at the link below.

The post From Evidence-Based to Emmie-Based: The Science of Reading and Progress Monitoring appeared first on Brookes Blog.

Prerequisite: Build Awareness

If a behavior or skill cannot be named or recognized, it cannot be tracked or monitored. For example, if students don’t recognize that they constantly interrupt other speakers, they will not be able to evaluate how often they engage in that socially inappropriate behavior. Have students act out situations that clearly demonstrate interrupting behavior and compare these to ordinary conversation. Facilitating discussions about rude interruptions versus normal conversation will also help all students differentiate the two kinds of talking.

Step 1: Develop Social Validity

Social validity is the notion that the change to be undertaken is important to the learner, significant to the community, and acceptable to the interventionist. You can increase the social validity of the effort by working closely with a student to select their own behavior or skill to change. Rather than just trying to convince the student that they should work on a particular skill, ask the student what change they would like to make.

Goals have the greatest social validity to the individual (who must do the hard work of achieving them) when that individual has chosen those goals. And social validity may be the difference between forcing a learner “off the plank” or that person happily diving off the highest board.

Step 2: Develop Awareness of Variability in the Skill

Because some individuals with disabilities may be unfamiliar with the ideas of progress monitoring, graphing, or even thinking about how their performance varies from one day to the next, early lessons must focus on these concepts. If you’ve already been collecting data about your student’s progress, you may want to share that first.

Have a conversation with the student about their current level of performance and goals for the future.  Encourage the student to discuss what they know about their performance by asking questions to help them self-monitor. The early stage of self-monitoring involves being able to answer the questions, “What do I do well?” and “What do I need to do better?”

Step 3: Use Explicit Instruction

Direct, explicit instruction with the “I-do, we-do, you-do” pattern (Archer & Hughes, 2011) is perfect for teaching students how to monitor their own behaviors. Here’s how to do it:

• Explain and model the process (“I-do”). For students with more limited communicative ability, self-evaluation may consist of comparing performance to a model and then indicating whether the two match. As you model the steps, explain each one to your student so they can follow your thinking as you develop your graph or fill in your chart.
• Distribute your selected self-monitoring tool to learners (“we-do”). This tool may be prefilled with relevant information to get the learner started more quickly. During this instructional stage, each learner should have a turn to interact with the tool, filling it in and describing the thinking behind doing so, pressing the correct button, or offering the correct picture icon. This is an opportunity to closely observe the student and quickly correct any errors.
• Let students practice self-monitoring under loose guidance (“you-do”). After each learner has performed self-monitoring under close guidance, gradually release them into this phase. Refrain from the impulse to jump in quickly to prompt students, but don’t allow learners to struggle for such a long time that they give up the attempt.

Step 4: Rate Progress Alongside the Student

During the early stages of self-monitoring, keep your own records of progress in parallel with the ones the learners keep. Each day that the charts are marked, compare your own with what the learner showed. This is an excellent way to build interrater reliability—that is, consistency in how different individuals rate or categorize the same behavior—and to check that the results obtained are an accurate reflection of performance.

Step 5: Collaboratively Evaluate Progress

Your interrater reliability check-in can be a supportive and celebratory time as well as a measure of accountability. Take a moment to talk about the change in ability demonstrated by the graph. You can ask the learner what they did to make the improvements recorded or what actions they may take to do better the next time. Always encourage the learner to take ownership of the work that has been done and that will be done in the future.

Clear, specific statements about what the graphs reveal, connecting the progress to the effort, help those with less experience understand how to engage with the process. Rather than just say, “I met my goal this week,” your student may say, “I met my goal this week, and I think it was because I paid attention to using that strategy we have been working on.”

Step 6: Fade Supports

One key to increasing self-determination in students with disabilities is to fade or remove supports when they’re no longer necessary. When we continue to provide scaffolding that learners don’t need, they are not forced to work more independently. In terms of self-monitoring, the supports we need to fade include specific teaching about how to self-monitor, side-by-side progress charting, and collaborative evaluation.

Following these six steps will help students with disabilities reflect on their work and self-monitor the progress they’re making in your classroom. For more guidance on the art and science of progress monitoring, read this Q&A with author Jennifer Mahdavi and add her book to your professional library!

A Teacher’s Guide to Progress Monitoring

Track Goals to Refine Instruction for All Students
By Jennifer N. Mahdavi, Ph.D.

“Makes the process of ongoing assessment come alive . . . a must-have for teachers who want to ensure that all students make progress toward learning goals.”—Diane Haager, Professor Emeritus, California State University Los Angeles

“The comprehensive case studies provide the real-world link that readers need to see progress monitoring in action!”—Elizabeth Potts, Missouri Western State University

The post How to Help Students with Disabilities Self-Monitor Their Progress appeared first on Brookes Blog.

To help you put coaching to work within your instructional team or program, we’ve rounded up five essential early childhood coaching resources to consider adding to your professional development toolbox.

#1-#2: Coaching in Home Visiting
Book and Workbook
By Christa Haring, Ph.D., & Angela Rau, MAT, with invited contributors

In a nutshell:
The first coaching guides specially designed for home visitors and their supervisors, this groundbreaking book and workbook answer the call for more and better training in early childhood home visiting programs. Use the book to learn the principles of building a coaching framework that strengthens relationships, promotes equity, and improves outcomes for families and staff alike. Then use the companion workbook to help translate those big ideas into daily practice.

Practical materials:
The workbook is packed with planning exercises, reflection prompts, helpful tips and strategies, vignettes and examples from the field, and advice from real home visitors. More than a dozen printable, fillable worksheets are available online.

Rave review:
“The authors empower home visitors to build trust, continually improve practice, and achieve outcomes with families through a comprehensive range of skill-based, practice-based, and performance-based techniques.”—Brad Richardson, Ph.D., University of Iowa School of Social Work

EXPLORE THE BOOKS

#3: Coaching and Consultation Practices in Early Childhood
Laurie A. Dinnebeil, Ph.D., & William F. McInerney, Ph.D.

In a nutshell:
The authoritative product of the authors’ years of experience in early intervention and special education, this book is an indispensable roadmap to multiple models of professional collaboration in early childhood. Equally useful as a professional resource or a textbook for courses on coaching and consultation, the book presents an engaging mix of case examples, discussion questions, and group activities to help readers master every phase of a successful collaborative relationship.

Practical materials:
More than 25 downloads—including progress monitoring forms, action plans, a planning matrix, self‐assessments, and coaching session sample logs—help lay the groundwork for successful coaching and consultation.

Rave review:
“A masterful resource for coaching and consultation practices…The emphases on adult learning and performance feedback will propel teachers and other professionals towards fidelity to evidence-based practices.”—Robin McWilliam, Ph.D., Professor, Special Education and Multiple Abilities, University of Alabama, Director, EIEIO

EXPLORE THE BOOK

#4: Essentials of Practice-Based Coaching
Supporting Effective Practices in Early Childhood
Patricia Snyder, Ph.D., Mary Louse Hemmeter, Ph.D., & Lise K. Fox, Ph.D.

In a nutshell:
Many early childhood programs and coaches rely on Practice-Based Coaching (PBC) to ensure that professionals are effectively implementing evidence-based methods. Now the popular PBC framework has a definitive research-to-practice guide written by the experts who developed it! This book has everything readers need to help practitioners promote healthy, age-appropriate development in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Learn how to develop collaborative partnerships between coach and coachee, write effective goals and action plans, give supportive and constructive feedback, and more.

Practical materials:
The book includes 30+ downloadable resources, such as coaching data collection forms, a coaching strategies quick reference guide, checklists, and organizational templates.

Rave review:
“Thoroughly researched and thoughtfully designed…integrates evidence and recommended practice with the implementation strategies and procedures for early childhood educators to apply the model in their programs.” Juliann Woods, Ph.D., SLP-CCC, Professor Emeritus, Communication and Early Childhood Research and Practice Center, Florida State University

EXPLORE THE BOOK

#5: The Early Childhood Coaching Handbook, Second Edition
Dathan D. Rush, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, & M’Lisa L. Shelden, PT, Ph.D.

In a nutshell:
This handbook walks you step‐by‐step through the five characteristics of successful early childhood coaching practices: observation, action, reflection, feedback, and joint planning. You’ll learn about the essential qualities of effective coaches and discover how to adjust coaching techniques to meet the specific needs of educators, parents, and caregivers. Plus you’ll get new content inspired by user feedback, including updated research, the latest evidence‐based practices, and almost 80 pages of sample scripts and scenarios.

Practical materials:
Help cultivate ongoing coaching success with a host of downloadable resources, including a Coaching Plan, Framework for Reflective Questioning, Coaching Practices Rating Scale, and Coaching Log.

Rave review:
“A powerful book…Rush and Shelden have provided rich descriptions, powerful examples and specific content of the practice and its application to natural learning practices for families and young children.”—Mary Henricks, former preschool teacher, home visitor, and coach

EXPLORE THE BOOK

Use the resources in today’s post to help your program create, maintain, and evaluate successful coaching relationships: a proven and powerful strategy for boosting the skills of practitioners, empowering families, and ensuring high-quality learning experiences for children.

The post Roundup: 5 Essential Books on Early Childhood Coaching appeared first on Brookes Blog.

Create an autumn-themed sculpture

Gather materials together from outside (twigs and branches, acorns, pine cones, pretty stones) and around your home (newspaper, Popsicle sticks, small boxes, plastic containers, bits of ribbon, and fabric). For fine-motor practice, give children masking tape, pipe cleaners, duct tape, and some glue for joining materials together. Put the materials in a place where children can work on their special creation for a few days and let the sculpture dry. When it’s done, proudly display it on the table, your mantel, or another prominent location in your home.

Make a gratitude book honoring family and friends

This skill-boosting activity can be a sweet way to help children express gratitude for family members and friends this fall. Help a child make their own book of all the special people in their life. Print out photos of family members and friends, let the child arrange and glue them onto sturdy sheets of paper, and help them staple the pages together or tie them with ribbon. Give them supplies they can use to decorate the book: glitter pens, sequins, stickers, bits of shiny paper, pictures cut from old greeting cards and magazines. When the book is done, look at it together and talk about the special people in the photos and why you’re thankful for them. Not only will this book be a cherished memento, this project will also help children strengthen fine motor, communication, social-emotional, and problem-solving skills.

Bake pretzel letters together

Baking edible letters with a child will fill your home with extra warmth and help them with motor, problem-solving, and early literacy skills. Wash your hands together first, and then cut pizza dough into strips (or make your own dough with a recipe like this one). Help the child form letters with the dough, and show them how to brush the letters with a beaten egg, sprinkle them with salt, and bake until golden brown. Review the sounds that each letter makes as you form the shapes. Eat up your ABCs together! (To help reinforce early math skills, you can also make pretzel numbers.)

Have outside fun with fall leaves

To sharpen fine and gross motor skills, see how many fun activities you can do with the leaves in your backyard or around your building. Head outside with children to rake leaves together, and jump in or leap over the piles. See how many leaves you can catch as they fall. Collect and sort leaves of different colors, sizes, and shapes.

Read an autumn-themed book together

On chilly fall evenings, snuggle up for some shared reading—one of the single most important activities you can do with a young child. Not only is it a wonderful way to bond and relax together, it also strengthens a child’s communication and language skills and sets the stage for early literacy development. Choose some autumn-themed books and engage the child while you read: ask them what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story, or have the child act out the story with you and pretend to be different characters. (For more tips on making the most of shared reading, check out this post.)

P.S. Don’t forget that activities should be supervised at all times by an adult. Any material, food, or toy given to a young child should be reviewed for safety.

Get the ASQ Learning Activities for your early childhood program! By sharing these fun, age-appropriate activities with families of young children, you’re reinforcing parents’ efforts to support their child’s development—and encouraging them to enjoy happy times with their children at home.

The post 5 Fun Fall Activities to Boost Child Development appeared first on Brookes Blog.

This article has been adapted from the book 

In early childhood programs, building positive relationships among colleagues will help improve the work you do together and lead to better outcomes for young children. If you’re an early childhood leader, coach, or consultant, use these recommended practices to support teaching teams in using positive, productive communication strategies that lead to a culture of caring, respect, and mutual responsibility.

Plan Opportunities to Get to Know Colleagues

Building a positive relationship requires effort and repeated opportunities. For example, have each team member fill out a “get-to-know-you” form with information that is interesting or unique to that person. Keep forms in a binder or folder that can be easily located to reference as desired. Teaching teams can also set aside a regular time to check in with one another or share celebrations (i.e., at the start of each day or the beginning of a weekly meeting). These regular check-ins give teaching teams an opportunity to show caring and interest in one another’s lives. (Be mindful of each person’s preferences for sharing personal information. Team members will likely have varying comfort levels with both sharing and receiving personal information.)

Develop an Inclusive Communication and Collaboration Plan

Have everyone complete a survey on work style. Each teacher completes the survey individually, and then the teaching team plans a time to meet together to discuss results. Discuss how each teacher’s preferred working style can be supported as well as how their preferences could contribute to the successful functioning of the classroom and to the care of individual children. Then develop a communication plan that works for all team members and ensures that everyone feels comfortable and included. Revisit this plan when a new member joins the team.

Communicate Positively

Simple things like a calm tone of voice, smiling at colleagues and children, making eye contact while communicating with others, saying “please” and “thank you,” and helping someone when they need something are all great ways to foster positivity. These interactions set the tone of the classroom environment. Keep in mind that knowing how an individual prefers to communicate and interact is critical for being able to express positivity and kindness in trauma-informed, culturally sensitive ways.

Model Kindness for Children

Children learn to be kind by watching adults’ interactions. Teaching teams can model kindness by using the simple positive communication strategies above, demonstrating specific social skills in front of children, and providing positive descriptive feedback to one another throughout the day.

Reflect Together on Collaboration and Conflict

To ensure productive collaboration, develop a plan for when and how to reflect on strategies that promote collaboration. Your team should also set aside dedicated time for talking about conflicts and missteps in the coworker relationship. When having conversations about teaming, practice a nonjudgmental stance, assume positive intent, and use “I” messages. Practice active listening with colleagues to ensure all voices are represented. Teachers should also have a set plan for who they can go to together to get support during a conflict, if needed.

Work Together on Classroom Guidance and Behavior Principles

There are four components educators should discuss and agree upon:

• reinforcing appropriate behavior and engagement
• equitably distributing attention
• responding to challenging situations
• identifying when a child may need additional support

Discussions around these four components should happen at the beginning of the year and periodically afterward to address the rapidly changing developmental needs of infants and toddlers. Develop a plan for addressing these components that can be revisited as needed.

Create a Roles and Responsibilities Table

Develop matrices as a team to purposefully plan for implementation of high-quality practices and outline adult roles. Roles and responsibilities matrices provide a structure for teachers to openly discuss one another’s strengths and preferences related to activities and routines throughout the classroom day. They’re also helpful for identifying times during the day when children may benefit from individualized support or targeted instruction. Plan who will deliver that instruction and what objectives can be targeted.

Support Others as a Team

Teaching teams should come together to collaborate with families and other professionals on a child’s support team. All team members should be aware of the child’s goals and the strategies being used in the classroom to address the child’s goals. As a team, make a plan to communicate regularly about the child’s progress and how the instructional strategies are working. This collaboration promotes continuity of care for each child and a more positive impact on learning and progress.

Educators often spend more time with their colleagues than they do with anyone else. Use these strategies to ensure that all team members develop positive relationships, feel valued and supported, and are on the same page about promoting children’s social-emotional development, behavior, and classroom supports.

Get more practical guidance in the book behind today’s post!

The post 8 Ways to Build Positive Relationships with Early Childhood Colleagues appeared first on Brookes Blog.

Follow best practices for all conversations.

When sharing screening results that indicate children need more support or a referral, remember to follow general best practices when talking with families, such as being timely, valuing confidentiality, and highlighting the child’s strengths. See this tip sheet on best practices for sharing results.

Restate the purpose of screening.

Remind families that screening is a check of their child’s development to see if they are meeting milestones for their age: “Your answers on ASQ show your child’s strengths and areas where your child may need more help or practice.” Emphasize that ASQ results do not label or diagnose a child and are not a judgment of a parent’s skills. They are focused on what skills a child is doing at this time. “A result below the target may not be a reason for immediate concern. This may simply be an area where we can give Harry additional support in the classroom.”

Think about where the family is in this process.

Family members may be relieved to have their concerns valued and may be ready to accept results, or they may feel upset, express disagreement, and not be ready to accept results. If family members have already expressed concerns about their child, they may be ready to hear information and take next steps. If parents have not been concerned or if this is all new information, more time to process may be needed.

The post 8 Tips for Sharing ASQ Results When Children Need Support appeared first on Brookes Blog.

But some myths still persist about MTSS and children with disabilities. If a child has an IEP, does that mean they can’t participate in MTSS? Should children with disabilities only receive Tier 2 and 3 interventions? Read on for five myths and truths about MTSS, excerpted and adapted from the book Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Young Children. 

MYTH: Children with disabilities and IEPs cannot participate in MTSS.

TRUTH: While children with identified disabilities should receive special education and related services related to their annual goals as documented on their IEPs, these services should not prevent them from participating in MTSS. Some of a child’s needs may be addressed through the IEP; however, other needs may not be identified for intensive special education services.

For example, a child with disabilities and an IEP may have delays in expressive communication and receive special education services to address IEP goals in language and communication. However, universal screening that is part of MTSS may also identify that child as at risk in early math skills. The child might then receive Tier 2 services to address early math skills, even though the child’s math skills did not warrant inclusion of annual goals on the IEP. The child also may have strengths in social interaction, self-care skills, and motor skills and continue receiving Tier 1 core support as long as they demonstrate growth rates in these areas that fall within the expected range for typically developing children.

MYTH: MTSS is intended to replace early childhood special education. 

TRUTH: Some may think that if a school district has adopted MTSS, then children cannot be referred for or receive early childhood special education (ECSE). But this isn’t the case.

Children who meet IDEA, state, and local education agency criteria for a disability and are determined eligible for special education and related services must have individualized goals and receive ECSE services as documented on their IEP. The two systems work together to provide appropriate and required services and supports to all children in a program.

MYTH: A child must experience MTSS and fail supports at each tier before they’re referred for an evaluation. 

TRUTH: A child doesn’t have to “fail” the three tiers of MTSS before they’re able to have an evaluation to determine eligibility for special education and related services. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has been very clear that MTSS may not be used to delay referral, evaluation, or the provision of special education and related services. Although it is possible to use information and data on progress for a child who participated in MTSS and was subsequently referred for special education evaluation, participation in MTSS may not replace or delay the comprehensive CSE.

MYTH: Children with disabilities should only be served in the most intensive tier.

TRUTH: Many people assume that children who have disabilities and receive special education services, who are then identified as at-risk through universal screening, will automatically receive instruction at the most intensive level (Tier 3). However, it is the assessment of the child’s performance, team- based problem-solving, and progress-monitoring data that determines whether a child would benefit from more intensive instruction at Tiers 2 or 3.

Disability alone does not determine the intensity of instruction. MTSS is designed to be a fluid process with movement into and out of specific levels of tiered instruction over time. Children with disabilities may begin to receive more intensive services at Tier 2 or 3, and movement between the tiers will be based on their response to intervention within a tier.

MYTH: MTSS cannot be used in a self-contained special education class.

TRUTH: MTSS is not restricted to blended or inclusive classroom settings. It can be a very effective process for providing services in self-contained classrooms as well. Just as in blended classrooms, children in self-contained classrooms present a range of strengths and needs that can be addressed through tiered instruction.

For example, some children may benefit from small-group or individualized instruction in early writing skills whereas others may make sufficient progress by participation in the core curriculum, Tier 1. Also, the self-contained class may include children who can participate successfully in a core physical development curriculum (e.g., physical education, motor time activities) or a core social-emotional curriculum. Likewise, universal assessment can help teachers understand the range of skills in identified areas or domains, or it may pinpoint areas to change within the core curriculum.

MTSS can benefit all learners across a variety of settings. It gives you a framework for identifying kids who need more instructional support, implementing those supports, and quickly determining whether the strategies are working. If you teach in an early childhood setting and want an evidence-based planning guide to making MTSS work for you, check out the book:

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Young Children
Driving Change in Early Education
Edited by Judith J. Carta, Ph.D., & Robin Miller Young, Ed.D.

Discover how to design, implement, and monitor successful MTSS for children ages 3–5 across environments, including classrooms, programs, districts, and at the state level. Includes 6 online videos to enhance your application of concepts covered in the book!

The post 5 Myths and Truths about MTSS and Young Children with Disabilities appeared first on Brookes Blog.

This blog post was adapted from Rich Talk With Young Children by Rebecca Rolland, your practical guide to rich, intentional conversations that nurture all aspects of child development.

Dialogic reading—engaging young children in intentional conversation about a book as you read it out loud—is a powerful tool for fostering language development and early literacy skills. Children are active in this process, asking how and why questions and using books to jumpstart their thinking and learning.

Benefits Of Dialogic Reading

There are many benefits to encouraging young children to think critically about the stories you read and express their own ideas. Engaging in interactive conversations about books:

• Exposes children to new vocabulary, sentence structures, and storytelling techniques
• Helps children develop a deeper understanding of the text and enhances their comprehension skills
• Promotes critical thinking, problem solving, and imagination
• Nurtures chil­dren’s cognitive development and fosters a lifelong love of learning

Robust research supports dialogic reading as a powerful strategy. Studies going back decades (e.g., Dickinson & Smith, 1994) found that certain interactions in preschool classrooms link to improved vocabulary: those occurring while the story was read, those involving both children and teachers, and those that were analytic in nature, asking for reflection.

How Does Dialogic Reading Work?

Dialogic reading involves a series of open-ended questions that encourage chil­dren to think about the story and express their own ideas. These questions can focus on the illustrations, characters, plot, or overall theme of the book. The goal is to create a conversation between the reader and the child, where the child is actively engaged and participates in the storytelling process.

By asking questions that require more than a simple “yes” or “no” answer, teachers encourage young children to think critically and develop their language skills. Examples of open-ended ques­tions for different age groups include the following:

• Toddlers: “Which page was your favorite?”
• Preschoolers: “How does the bear feel when he hugs the rabbit?” “What do you think the fox is thinking?”
• Kindergarteners: “Why do you think the character made that choice?” “Can you tell me a story about a time when you felt like the character?”

When reading, try asking children questions such as:

• Tell me more about why that character seemed sad. (Expanding)
• What would it feel like to be that character? (Exploring)
• How would you have changed the ending? (Evaluating)

What To Avoid

The following is a list of things to avoid during dialogic reading:

• Overquestioning: Too many questions can interrupt the flow of the story and discourage the child from engaging.
• Correcting mistakes: Focus on overall understanding rather than correcting minor errors.
• Dominating the conversation: Allow the child to take the lead and express their own ideas.
• Rushing through the book: Take your time and enjoy the storytelling experience.
• Focusing solely on decoding: Although decoding is important, do not forget to emphasize comprehension and engagement.

Cultural Responsivity Is Key

Though dialogic reading has many clear benefits, it’s also critical to be culturally responsive. One size almost never fits all. Not all cultures and microcultures feel comfortable reading this way—and the important thing is that the practice feel warm, welcoming, and engaging for both adults and children. Moving forward, tailor your strategy to one that suits both you and your classroom’s needs.

The post How Dialogic Reading Helps Young Children Think and Learn appeared first on Brookes Blog.

When is it appropriate to recommend learning activities after developmental screening with ASQ? Here are four different scenarios in which you may want to follow a screening with age-appropriate ASQ-3 or ASQ:SE-2 Learning Activities.

Scenario #1: A child’s ASQ-3 or ASQ:SE-2 screening results indicate that development is on schedule, and you’d like to follow up with the family to ensure that development stays on track.

Example: You meet with Maria’s parents to review her 60-month ASQ:SE-2 results, which were below the cutoff (meaning that her social-emotional development is on track). To help ensure that Maria has a positive kindergarten experience that sets her up for long-term success, you equip her parents with the 54 to 72-month activity sheet and newsletter. You also provide age-appropriate tip sheets on healthy eating and sleeping, plus any special topic tip sheets Maria and her parents may benefit from (including Getting Ready for Kindergarten, Media and Technology, Stress and Your Child, and Positive Discipline). Use this handy chart to identify the appropriate ASQ:SE-2 Learning Activities handouts for a child’s age range.

Scenario #2: A child’s ASQ scores indicate the need for monitoring in one or more areas, and you’d like to give the family age-appropriate activities to encourage progress in those areas.

Example: George scores in the monitoring zone for Fine Motor on his 60-month ASQ-3 questionnaire. You meet with George’s father to share the results with him and discuss follow-up. During the meeting, you give George’s dad the Fine Motor activity sheet for 54 to 60 months and ask him to try the activities at home with George. These fun, low- to no-cost ideas include making a picture frame, creating a sculpture together, and collaborating on a map of the neighborhood. You also plan to have George’s father complete the 60-month ASQ-3 again in another 2 months to monitor his development.

Scenario #3: A family shares general concerns or questions during the screening process. Regardless of their child’s total scores, you’d like to follow up with tips and/or activities that address those specific concerns.

Example: After Isaiah’s mother completes his 60-month ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2 questionnaires, you review Isaiah’s results and see that his development seems to be on schedule. However, when you talk with his mother to share results, she expresses concerns about how stressful the transition to kindergarten has been for her son. You give Isaiah’s mom the Stress and Your Child tip sheet, found in the ASQ:SE-2 Learning Activities and More, and provide some suggestions for helping Isaiah through the challenges of a big change.

Scenario #4: A child has scores in the referral area (below the cutoff on ASQ-3 or above the cutoff on ASQ:SE-2), but is found not eligible for services. You’d like to help parents address the areas of concern at home.

Example: Samira scored below the cutoff in the Communication area on the 60-month ASQ-3, but after a full evaluation, she was not found eligible for services. When you meet with Samira’s parents, you provide them with the 54 to 60-month Communication activity sheet, along with the activity sheets for the other 4 developmental areas. You encourage them to work on the activities at home to help encourage their daughter’s development.

As with the entire ASQ system, the Learning Activities can be used flexibly to support families and meet their individual needs. You may want to clarify, reframe, or adapt some of the information to make it more accessible to a family or more compatible with their values or parenting practices. You can also use the activities to help guide conversations with parents about their child’s development and upcoming milestones.

By sharing these fun, age-appropriate activities with families of young children, you’re reinforcing parents’ efforts to support their child’s development—and encouraging them to enjoy happy times with their children at home.

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