Language and Reading Evaluations in Pre-K and K

There are lots of professionals who are qualified to evaluate children for written language disorders, sometimes referred to as dyslexia.  Included in this group are speech-language pathologists (SLPs).

The American Speech-Language Association (ASHA) says that one of the roles of the SLP includes:

• Diagnosing disorders of reading and writing - including dyslexia - and describing the relationship between these disorders and the student's spoken language difficulties.  https://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?folderid=8589942549&section=Roles_and_Responsibilities

There are lots of different perspectives on how to evaluate, what should be included in the evaluation, and what we should call "it."  The people who don't win in all this confusion are the parents and kids. Google and social media outlets are flooded with both expert advice and pseudo-science snake oil.  It's hard to tell the difference as a parent.

Often, parents don't realize that their child is struggling with reading until second or third grade.  Sometimes, I am lucky enough to hear from parents with children in PK, K, or first grade who have spotted concerns and are seeking help.  I'm always excited when I hear this.  I love to work with the PK, K, and 1st grade emergent readers.

Here's the bummer...When these parents call me, often they have been told a few things.

• It's too early to test their child for reading
• They had an evaluation and were told everything was fine, except the child isn't learning.  

Boy, that really makes me sad.  Here we have a family who has spotted something wrong and they are being told nothing can be done yet.  That stinks and how frustrating!

So let's address some of those things parents are told.

It's too early to test reading in PK or K.

This is something parents are often told and it is absolutely not true.  It is not too early to test your child.  Maybe your child is not getting formal literacy instruction yet.  There are still some areas we can examine that will help us determine if things are on the right track or not.  Many children are in some form of preschool or pre-kindergarten and already being exposed to instruction in letters and sounds. Even if they are not enrolled in one of these programs, parents are often playing games and reading to children, providing important early experiences. Children are learning to play with rhyming words and sing their ABCs.  They are learning vocabulary and other language skills through read-alouds with parents or teachers.  All of these things are precursors to more formal reading instruction and all of these areas can be tested in your young child.

Additionally, we know that written language disorders, like dyslexia, are language-based.  Reading is language.  If you suspect that your child is having trouble with early reading skills like learning letters, chances are good that there are some underlying language issues.  We most certainly can test language skills in PK, K, and 1st! Getting information about language skills coupled with information about early reading skills through an evaluation is a great way to find out how to help your child.

My child had an evaluation and we were told everything was fine, but it's not.

Sometimes a parent will have an evaluation done for her young child and be told everything looks great.  This happens a lot when kids are below 2nd grade and have been given what some families call "an IQ test." It is difficult for children to score below average on these tests because at their young age, they do not have to get very many items correct in order to fall in the average range.

It is imperative that you find someone familiar with the age group of your child, Pre-K through 1st grade.  In addition, I recommend that the person who does the testing is someone with an in-depth knowledge of language and how to treat language disorders for this age.  Because your child does not have many "reading" skills yet, it is important that the evaluation takes a very close look at foundational language skills.  And I don't mean just giving a test.  The person who evaluates must understand how to analyze the results and what they mean, not just quote you a test score number.  

Speech-Language Pathologists are experts in language. Reading is built on a foundation of language skills.  If you suspect that your young child is struggling with early reading, it is important to seek the help of an SLP who is interested in doing an in-depth assessment of language AND early reading, including more than one broad test tool.

You need more than a printout of test scores.

Here's what you don't want to have happen.  You don't want to spend a lot of money on an evaluation and all you walk away with is a computer generated score sheet.  Sometimes, because the child is PK or K, you may get an evaluation and still not receive a diagnosis. Or you may get a diagnosis, but still need more testing because the assessment that was done was not very prescriptive.

Based on a print out of scores, are you able to tell ...

• Which letters of the alphabet your child knows and does not know?  
• Whether your child can identify the first and last sounds in words?  
• If your child was able to write their name and any other words and whether that writing was well formed, written on lines, written backwards, etc? 
• About the ability of your child to tell a story that makes sense and what story elements he/she included such as characters, setting, plot, and an ending?  

A printout of scores may not answer any of the above questions.  This is because a percentage or standard score may indicate that there is a problem, but it often does not provide any prescriptive detail that explains why the child got the score.  What exactly did they miss?  What were the specific skills? Without this information, it is not feasible to develop an adequate treatment plan for your child.  

Why can't we just skip to the part where the child starts treatment?  

An evaluation should be like a roadmap.  It should explain the specific skills your child knows and does not know.  A professional should be able to read it and

• know what specific skills are in need of remediation
• letter names
• rhyme
• syllables
• etc
• know the general level of the skills that need remediation
• child was able to name 10/26 letters
• child could identify when two given words rhymed, but could produce rhyming words
• child could identify one and two syllable words, but not three syllable words
• etc
• easily write a treatment plan and goals for your child based on the evaluation results.

If you skip over the evaluation that provides you the specific information needed to treat a child, then how do you know what to treat?  It is like calling the doctor and telling the doctor that your child is sick and asking for a prescription.  How would the doctor know what kind of treatment to prescribe if he/she does not know the specific symptoms or run the necessary tests?

There are many different reasons why a child may struggle with reading.  It is important to understand the specific reasons why your child is struggling with reading so that the right steps can be taken to best help your child.

How do I know if I am going to get the kind of evaluation I need for my child?

That is an excellent question!  As a parent it is difficult to navigate all the different information you may read.  Ask a lot of questions!

A young child in PK, K, or 1st will need an in-depth language and literacy assessment.  Here are some sample questions to consider 

• How many evaluations for children in PK-1st do you provide each year for concerns similar to the ones I have for my child?
• What kind of training have you received in normal and disordered language development?
• What is your understanding of how language is related to reading skills?
• Do you provide informal, dynamic assessments as part of the evaluation?
• Will I receive more than an automatic, computer-generated report?
• Will you provide an analysis of my child's narrative skills?
• Will you take a writing sample and provide an analysis?
• Will you thoroughly explain how my child responded to specific skills tasks in the report?

These are only a few possible questions to ask.  It is important that you are comfortable with the professional you choose and that you find someone you trust to help identify the needs of your child. Your child can be tested in Pre-K and K for early reading difficulties.  Testing to identify these issues includes assessment of both language and reading skills.  Depending on the kind of testing you have done, your child may require additional assessment before beginning treatment.  You can find more information at the following websites.

Here's some more information on the topic of early assessment:

https://www.smartspeechtherapy.com/how-early-can-dyslexia-be-diagnosed-in-children/

Here's more information on reading being language based:

https://lshss.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=1780145