Approximately twenty percent of all children experience some kind of difficulty learning to read. Should all of these children receive special education services to remedy their problems learning to read? Probably not.
In actuality less than half of all children that experience reading difficulties will require special education services to correct their reading problems. Some children will experience troubles learning to read because of insufficient background knowledge and literacy experiences; inadequate reading practice; or a mismatch between their skill level and the curriculum in the classroom. Children who experience reading problems that are largely experiential in origin should not be classified as having a reading disability, and thus are not eligible for special education services.
So what can be done when a child experiences persistent problems learning to read? One step is to refer the child for formal diagnostic testing to evaluate whether he or she is eligible for special education services. Prior to referring a student for special education evaluation however, most schools activate a process commonly known as pre-referral intervention.
In pre-referral intervention, school teams are established to make suggestions about educational procedures and practices that can be implemented by teachers within regular education classrooms. If the teacher uses the suggested procedures and they are successful, the child does not need to be referred for special education or go through formal diagnostic testing.
Stage 1: Initial Concern
Teachers or other adults who work with very young children may develop some concerns about a child's abilities or progress in reading. Certain warning signs may signal a possible reading disability.
Stage 2: Information Gathering
It is important for the classroom teacher to collect relevant information that will help the team to understand specifics regarding why the child is not benefiting from classroom reading instruction. Information regarding the child should be collected from a diverse set of sources.
Informal reading assessments are used to understand the nature, extent, and severity of the child's reading difficulties. It is important that the teacher assess or estimate the child's skill level in various component reading skills. This information will facilitate the discussion of possible intervention strategies and will help to clarify the kind and intensity of the classroom intervention implemented.
Stage 3: Information Sharing and Team Discussion
Members of the pre-referral team may include the general education teacher, parents, school psychologist, school counselor, reading specialist, a health professional, and other grade level teachers. The following guidelines may be helpful during the decision making process:
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Team members understand that their purpose is to recommend and support effective interventions in general education and not to operate as a special education eligibility or placement team
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Discussions always begin by listing the child's strengths
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Target areas of concern are identified and prioritized
Stage 4: Discussion of Strategy Options
During this stage, team members brainstorm to generate a list of possible interventions to use with the child. One or more interventions are then selected for each area of concern.
Intervention strategies vary depending on the specific needs of the student, but may include modifications in classroom environment, classroom management, instructional procedures, or the curriculum.
Stage 5: Implementation and Monitoring of Strategy
During this stage, the intensity and duration of the intervention is agreed upon by the team. In addition, a monitoring system that assesses the student's progress over time is developed. Finally a person responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the intervention is selected.
The person responsible for implementing and monitoring the student's progress is often the general education teacher. Many teachers have found that a relatively fast, easy, and effective means of monitoring student progress is through the use of Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM).
Stage 6: Evaluation and Decision Making
During this stage, the team comes back together to review information on the effectiveness of the strategy used. The team decides whether the strategy should be continued, modified, or whether based on the information that the child should go from pre-referral into formal referral for special education.
Adapted with permission from The IRIS Center for Faculty Enhancement’s Star Legacy Module: “See Jane Read: Teaching Reading to young children of varying disabilities – Resource – Pre-referral.
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Reprinted with the permission of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. © 1999-2009 National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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