Students with Reading Difficulties
Diagnostic Testing
Various methods are used to identify students with reading difficulties: teacher observations, informal assessments (e.g., paper and pencil tests, inventories, questionnaires, reading records, surveys), progressive assessment (testing administered in complementary steps), and systematic documentation processes. Teacher assessments may include concepts about print tests, surveys of reading attitudes or strategies, and assessments of students’ ability to read sight words and passages orally. Diagnostic processes can be performed in a progressive manner through pre‑referral activities (e.g., teacher observation), referral to the school-based team for a consultation on possible classroom strategies and services, and extended assessments (e.g., psychoeducational, behavioral, speech and language, orientation, and mobility assessments). To facilitate the diagnostic process, some jurisdictions provide teachers with early screening and intervention tools (e.g., the Early Development Instrument or the Early Years Evaluation assessment tool implemented in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island).26,27 Diagnostic testing typically is explained in provincial/territorial manuals and guidelines.28,29
Instruction for Children with Reading Difficulties
Jurisdictions provide guidelines for parents and teachers to help children with reading difficulties. These documents provide information on topics such as identification and intervention, reading strategies, and the use of assistive technologies. Individualized education plans in literacy are implemented as required in most jurisdictions.30,31