This Project serves several purposes. The first is identification of supplement intervention activates in attempt to treat reading difficulties. The second is the creation of a Kindergarten Diagnostic Toolkit (KDT) as a means for early detection of learning difficulties. Upon completion of beginning of the year assessments and the use of the KDT checklist, instructional suggestions for remediation were made with a focus on explicit/systematic alphabetic, phonemic, and decoding skills. The need for such specific diagnosis assessment of early reading skills is further required with such high stakes testing requirements. Strategies specific to early literacy skills are connected to Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) probes and Consortium on Reading Excellence (CORE) assessment areas, as means for instruction. Teachers and Intervention Specialists may use this toolkit to help form and modify small group instructional decisions. Research supporting the need for early reading intervention was utilized to support instructional suggestions. 

Committee Chair: Lee Plourde.