Language and Reading Evaluations in Pre-K and K

Sometimes, I am lucky enough to hear from parents with children in PK, K, or first grade who have reading 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.

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 sometimes when schools use a discrepancy method.  This means that the school is looking for a large gap between intellectual ability and academic progress. It is sometimes difficult be identified in schools at a young age when this is the model being used. Additionally, on some tests, young for children 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 time and resources on an evaluation and all you walk away with is a computer generated score sheet. When all you get are score numbers, you often don't receive the following information

• 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?
• 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 an evaluation and go straight to tutoring?  

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 find information about the specific skills that need support. 

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 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.  

Summer Therapy or Summer Break?

Every year at about this time I hear the same question - "Should I keep coming to therapy during the summer or take a break?" I get it.  By the time we roll around to the end of the school year and are experiencing the end-of-year May activities, a break sounds really good.  Here are some things to think about.

• Do I need a break from everything, or just a break from the daily routine?  

While you take a break from school can you still continue to devote a few hours a week to language or reading therapy?  Chances are that your child isn't tired of learning.  They're more tired of the daily grind.  If you are taking a much needed break from the schooling routine, consider whether you can still squeeze in an hour or two of therapy.

• Can we take a small break and feel refreshed, or do we need the extended break?

If you want to take a break, consider taking two weeks off instead of the entire summer.  I know that by the end of the second week of winter break, my kids are already bored and ready to go back to school.  Consider taking just two weeks off when you end schooling and then possibly another week off before you start the schooling routine again.  

• Consider breaking up the regular routine

If your therapist is flexible you may be able to do some block therapy.  This might consist of two weeks of therapy followed by a week break, then two more weeks of therapy and a week break.  In this scenario it is much easier to schedule some of those one week summer camps and family vacations, but still keep moving forward with the learning.

• What if summer therapy is where the fun is at and you're missing out?

Summer can be extra fun because you can take the learning outside. During the regular school year we often find ourselves stuck inside due to the colder temperatures.  Now that the weather has warmed up, outdoor learning is something kids always enjoy.  In the summer kids can practice their writing with sidewalk chalk on the porch.  They can count syllables in words and blow bubbles for every syllable. They can fish for alphabet letters in a mini pool.  The summer can be so much more exciting for learning.  It's amazing how the fresh air can boost our learning motivation and enjoyment!  So before you decide to call a halt to therapy for the summer, think about your options.  It doesn't have to be all or nothing.  Talk with your child's therapist and see if you can change things up a bit in the summer without stopping the learning momentum.  

• What can you lose if you take a summer break?

It depends.  If you continue daily review of homework tasks you have been given and read with your child on a daily basis, then it is sometimes possible to maintain the progress you have made over the year.  However, if you abandon all learning tasks during the three month break it is very likely that you will lose a lot of the skills your child worked so hard to learn.  It is important to ask yourself if you can stick to a schedule of frequent and methodical review over the summer.  If not, it might be beneficial to find an option that allows you to continue therapy for reading and language during the summer months.  

Categorizing with Word Clouds

One of the important skills we teach children is categorization.  Many people don't realize how necessary categorization is to everyday life.  Think about when you go to the grocery store.  How do you know where to look for flour?  The thought process might go something like this:

What do we do with flour?
We use it for baking.
So, the flour might be located with other baking items.
Therefore, head to the aisle with all the cake mixes to find the flour.

Bet you didn't realize all that thinking went into grocery shopping!  Now what about when you get home to unpack those groceries?  You probably have a place where every item goes.  Maybe you store the poptarts next to the cereal in the cabinet because they both are breakfast items.  Or the apples and oranges you bought maybe go in the same refrigerator drawer with other fruit items.  You are more organized than you think because you are able to categorize, or sort items that go together.

Sometimes children who struggle with language concepts have difficulty learning to categorize.  Teaching them how to figure out where to find items in the grocery store is a great way to help them with this skill.  Then letting them help you unpack those items at home is extra practice!

Building language in natural conversations

If you have noticed that your child isn't speaking with as many words as other children of the same age, you might be looking for ways to help them build their language skills.  You might look at google or visit the pediatrician and get some great advice like "name objects for your child."  Don't doubt it, that's good advice.  Kids need to learn the names for things, but here's the catch.  You can't start walking around naming things that your child's attention wasn't drawn to in the first place.  It won't help and you will make yourself nuts trying to do that all day.  So let's talk about how to naturally work on language skills during the day.  It's easy.  Just follow your child's lead.

Instead of thinking up ways to create a scenario that will get them talking, use the opportunities that are already presenting themselves.  For instance, you take your child to the bathroom to wash their hands after a splendid dinner of spaghettio's where more spaghetti is on your kid than in your kid.  You turn the water on and your child sticks their hand in the water and says, "hot!"  Now's your chance!  This is an opportunity to expand their language by modeling the word they already know and using it in a sentence for them.  So you might say, "Yes, the water is hot.  Too hot.  Ouch!" Then you can adjust the water temperature and say "Is it hot?"  Let your child test the water.  They might say "No" and you can test the water too and expand their language by saying "No, it's not hot."  As you wash hands, you can repeat the phrase "it's not hot, not hot, not hot" or some variation of that to the tune of your favorite song.  I know that part sounds ridiculous, but really, you will be surprised when they start singing the song to you next time you wash their hands.  Kids remember stuff like that you know?  When your child says a word, just add to it.  At the store and your child sees an apple and says "apple?"  You say, "A red apple.  Apples are yummy.  Do you want an apple?" The lesson here is to use what you are doing and what your child is already saying to build on their skills.  

Besides expanding language by adding to what they have said, you can also model for your child during playtime with parallel talk.  This is when you simply say what you are doing as you are doing it. Putting socks and shoes on your toddler?  Talk about it.  As you are putting the socks on you might say in a long drawn out voice, "One sock, twooooooooo socks.  One shoe, twoooooo shoes."  Now you have demonstrated for your child counting skills and plural nouns (sock/socks, shoe/shoes).  You have also tied the vocabulary words (socks, shoes) to the activity it matches (getting dressed).  Having a tea party with the dolls?  Instead of just passing out the dinnerware, talk it out as you set the table.  "You get a plate, and you get a plate, and you get a plate.  Now you get a fork, and you get a fork, and you get a fork.  And you get a cup, and you get a cup, and you get a cup."  Get the idea?  You are modeling the vocabulary (forks, plates, cups) in sentences (You get a cup.) during a natural activity when those words will be used over and over again in life.  Then next time you play tea party, prompt your child by starting to pass out things (you get a cup, etc) and see if they will say it with you this time. As your child gets the hang of it and can do it with you, see if she can then do it by herself.  

The lesson here is to use what you have.  You aren't a school teacher and you don't have to sit up at night planning lessons on building language.  You also shouldn't stress or feel guilty about not setting aside 20 minutes each night to think up and teach a new SAT word.  You are a loving parent who is busy building a life with your family.  It's busy and crazy and messy.  No one needs to add extra work to that.  Use what you are already doing as a springboard for life lessons in language at the grocery store, the zoo, McDonalds, or the minivan.  The nice thing about language is that it happens everywhere all the time and it's free.  

Expanding Vocabulary in Daily Conversations

Learning new words is a big, important deal.  Teaching them doesn't have to be.  After a long day at school for kids and a busy day full of adult responsibilities for parents, the last thing anyone wants at the end of the day is a structured lesson on word usage.  Parents often ask how they can help their kids at home, and get answers like timed readings, memorizing spelling words, and monotonous practice activities.  Supporting your child's vocabulary learning doesn't have to be this way.  Relax.  It's a lot easier than you think.

Why is vocabulary so important?  Based on lots of dazzling research by big researcher names (Ehri, Justice, Rosenthal, Beck, McKeown, etc) we know that good vocabulary leads to good comprehension and to be a good learner, you need to be able to understand, right?  The better your child's vocabulary is in preschool, the more likely they are to be awesome readers and comprehenders later on.  Starting early is key.  Basically, a good vocabulary is the foundation for literacy which leads to all sorts of success!  

Now, how to squeeze vocabulary learning in between dinner, bath time, and bed?  There are lots of different ways to teach vocabulary and I am going to add just one way to your skill set today.  It's as easy as synonyms.  So, let's pretend you are at the grocery store with your 6 year old.  I know, but don't panic, it's just an example.  Instead of saying, "Jimmy, go get a cart for mom," you might say "Jimmy, get a cart, you know, a basket, for mom."  There, was that so awful?  You have now connected two words together for your child and started down the path of growing their vocabulary.  Here's another..."put that pan in the cabinet" might turn into "put that pan, that skillet, in the cabinet."  Easy!  How about when your kids have turned the upstairs into a battleground and they are shouting at the top of their lungs at each other?  Yep, even breaking up sibling rivalries can be a vocabulary opportunity with words like "stop," "halt," and "cease your bickering, your arguing!"  See what I did there?  Not only did I use words for stop, but also taught them some synonyms for argue.  

Adding a few synonyms for common words your child already knows can make a big difference in the long run.  By connecting a new word (skillet) to an already familiar word (pan) you are building connections in the brain, multiple pathways to expressing meaning in an interesting way.  By using these synonym pairs often (like connecting cart and basket every time you shop) you build those words into their permanent vocabulary.  Your child might not start using these words all the time, but they will be there and ready when writing instruction begins in school and a large emphasis in writing instruction is on using "spicy" or interesting words instead of using boring, tired words.  

So, go get started, begin, commence with the synonyms!

Nicole Power is a speech-language pathologist and reading specialist in Edmond, OK.  If you suspect your child may have a language or literacy disorder and would like to seek an evaluation, you can contact her at educationalinspiration.com

Language/Literacy screenings vs. evaluations

I hear the two terms 'screenings' and 'evaluations' used interchangeably all the time.  It leads to a lot of confusion about what has and hasn't been done for a child.

First, let's discuss screenings.  A screening is a quick snapshot of language or literacy skills.  These screens take about 5-15 minutes.  They look at key concepts and whether your child does or does not exhibit risk factors for those skills.  A screening is a fast way to determine if a child appears to be developing typically when compared with peers.  Screens do NOT diagnose.  They can't be used to determine whether a child is eligible for special education services.  Screenings don't look at every skill, just a few important ones and because of this, screenings can sometimes miss kids who actually do have language or literacy problems.

If you have concerns about your child, tell the speech-language pathologist about them so she can consider those concerns while she does the screen.  Your concerns may change the type of screening that is provided for your child.  A screening just tells us whether we should investigate things further using an evaluation.

Now, let's talk evaluations.  Evaluations are lengthier and comprehensive.  They look at many specific skills related to language and literacy.  Your child may be given formal standardized tests, informal tests, and even be observed during their play or classroom time.  The speech language pathologist may also want to look at examples of work, like writing or drawings, completed independently by your child.  An evaluation may also include a family history.  At the end of an evaluation you will be told either that your child's skills are typical or you will receive a diagnosis.  We use a diagnosis to help us explain the patterns of strengths and weaknesses found in the testing.  An evaluation is sometimes used to help determine eligibility for services in schools.  The information gathered will then be used as the basis for a treatment plan that is developed with you to help your child succeed.  

If you have concerns, it is possible to obtain screenings and basic evaluations for your child at your local public school free of charge.  If you prefer a private and comprehensive language-literacy evaluation, you can contact Educational Inspiration at educationalinspiration.com.

When RTI goes wrong

Response to Intervention (RTI) has been a hot topic in Oklahoma since about 2005, when the first schools began utilizing this method. If your child has been identified as requiring an intervention through RTI, you may have done some googling and found some rather unpleasant things written about RTI by other parents.  Now you are wondering if this is something you should let the school continue doing with your child or whether you should insist on the good old fashioned evaluation that used to be done when a child was suspected of having a disability.  The answer?  It depends.

The theory of RTI is based on a medical model and has excellent research behind it.  The idea is that if a child is showing signs of difficulty, we want to try to find what level of support he needs to be successful.  So, your child may struggle, but may not require a self-contained classroom setting with other special education children.  Maybe they just need a little help, not the whole enchilada.  So RTI begins with the least restrictive amount of help, say 15 minutes twice a week.  The teachers take data on whether this amount of help is successful.  If it is, then your child may continue to get that amount of help and catch up to peers. Success story, over and out.

If this small amount of help doesn't give us the results we want, we may increase the amount of extra help to more times a week.  We will add something more and continue to take data until we find the amount of help that your child needs.  Often, a child is successful with minimal extra help and the needs certainly don't rise to the level of needing special education.  Hooray and everyone is happy.

This is a grand idea in theory, but there are many variables that can make it very unsuccessful in schools.

Sometimes there is a lack of training for teachers and administrators regarding how RTI is supposed to work.  If you don't know why you are doing something, how do you know you are doing it right?  This is a problem.  Find out who on the staff was trained in the tenets of RTI.  If the teachers were trained on site that is a good way to get everyone up to speed, but at least a handful of teachers or administrators should have had in-depth training from a reputable person who is an expert in RTI.  There are many opportunities for RTI training in Oklahoma through the SDE.  If this hasn't happened at your child's school, this could be a sign that it is an unsuccessful RTI program setup.

Another problem is the belief that tutoring is the same as RTI.  Tutoring provides repetitive practice in order to gain proficiency.  Information may be presented in the same way it was presented in the classroom.  In contrast, RTI is supposed to use assessment to find the missing pieces a child doesn't have, zero in on them, and provide a specific, tailored intervention to fill in the missing pieces.  If the belief in your school is that RTI is the same as tutoring, this is a sign that it is not the program for your child.  RTI is an investigation into your child's needs.  It helps them while determining what methods are required for success and which ones don't work well.

Next, there should be good research supporting the methods used to help your child.  I see lots of use of Guided Reading and Leveled Literacy kits.  These are grounded in the Whole Language approach to reading.  They support the idea that exposure will teach them to read instead of explicit instruction in the rules of reading.  Teachers are often taught to use guided reading at their university programs, but it is not useful for struggling students.  Additionally, schools have fallen prey to the big companies peddling a shiny "reading cure in a box."  They plastered a sticker on it that says, "Great for RTI!" and the schools bought it because the sticker said it was what they needed and the teachers didn't receive the training to differentiate good help from not-so-good help.  If you speak to your child's teacher and they utter the words "guided reading," this is a sign that your child may not be getting instruction that is helpful for struggling readers. 

Another problem is trying to RTI an entire school.  This happens when the screening reveals that the majority of students aren't reading at grade level. If a school does not have at least 80% of their students reading on grade level, the problem is not the kids. The problem is the curriculum and methods being used.  Find out what percentage of the students are not at grade level.  If more than 20% are not at grade level, this is a problem.  It is a sign that curriculum in place at that school is not meeting the needs of most of the students.  This is a problem.

Finally, we have a problem with personnel chosen to provide interventions.  In schools with limited funds and/or staff, administrators sometimes turn to paraprofessionals or teacher aides for help.  Paraprofessionals and aides can be enormous support, but providing interventions should not be one of their duties.  If your child is struggling to read when provided with instruction from a certified teacher, how is providing more help from someone less qualified supposed to make things better?  The children struggling the most should be receiving help from the most highly qualified people in the building.  If your child is not receiving interventions from a certified teacher or specialist, request a change.

RTI is an excellent theory.  I have seen good schools make excellent strides in helping children when provided the right supports from administration and continued training over the years.  I have also seen what happens when training and administration support are not in place.  RTI quickly devolves into a tutoring program helping some, but not usually the children with the most significant difficulties.  The point of all of this is that RTI is a good idea and if done right, can be a great tool for helping your child.  Give it a chance.  Investigate the program the school has, asking the questions and checking into the points outlined in this article.  If the RTI program that your child is getting does not check out, make a written request outlining your concerns and asking that your child receive an in-depth evaluation for a reading disability.  The schools in Oklahoma are required to respond to your request in some manner within 10 school days.

Nicole Power received RTI training from a university professor in Oklahoma who has researched and published on the topic of RTI.  She has presented trainings in RTI across the state for many school districts and for the State Department of Education.  Ms. Power was an elementary RTI Coordinator in a public school for ten years.