From the abstract: "Spanish speakers in the United States are a steadily increasing population, up by 233% since 1980. Given the growing population of dual language learners (DLLs) and the large numbers of Spanish-speaking children enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs, addressing the educational needs of preschool-aged DLLs has become a national imperative. Specifically, the intersection of this growing population and the dearth of appropriate assessment tools to evaluate DLLs early language and literacy skills creates a need for assessments that accurately measure preschool performance. This manuscript reports on the iterative design process of a measure of Spanish phonological awareness for preschool-aged DLLs: Spanish Individual Growth and Development Indicators (S-IGDI) Primeros Sonidos. We employed measure design framework to develop the measure and tested item function within a study of 970, 4-5 year old DLLs. Results, including item level analyses and evidence regarding construct and criterion validity are reported."Citation: Wackerle-Hollman, A., Durán, L., Brunner, S., Palma, J., Kohlmeier, T., & Rodriguez, M. C. (2019). Developing a measure of Spanish phonological awareness for preschool age children: Spanish Individual Growth and Development Indicators. Educational Assessment, 24(1), 33-56. The research study is available online: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED595878.pdf>.

From the abstract: "Response to Intervention (RTI) or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is beginning to be implemented in preschool programs to improve outcomes and to reduce the need for special education services. The proportions of children in programs identified as struggling learners through universal screening have important implications for the feasibility of these approaches as well as for the way programs might allocate resources and staff implementing tiered models of intervention. The expected proportions of children who might be identified for higher tiers of instructional support in pre-kindergarten settings are relatively unknown. The proportions of children who would have been identified for higher tiers of instructional language/literacy support when using three different universal screening measures are described. Participants were 659 children participating in the Center for Response to Intervention in Early Childhood (CRTIEC) Tier 1 Study. Results indicated that the proportions of children at Tier 2 and Tier 3 performance levels were higher for children in low-income eligibility programs and varied by program-level characteristics including numbers of English language learners and children with special needs, as well as the universal screening measure used. Implications of these findings suggest the importance of increased focus on early literacy and language in Tier 1 instruction in programs serving high proportions of children at risk as a means of preventing reading failure in future years." Citation: Carta, J. J., Greenwood, C. R., Atwater, J., McConnell, S. R., Goldstein, H., & Kaminski, R. A. (2014). Identifying preschool children for higher tiers of language and early literacy instruction within a response to intervention framework. Journal of Early Intervention, 36(4), 281-291.The research study is available online: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275243333_Identifying_Preschool_Children_for_Higher_Tiers_of_Language_and_Early_Literacy_Instruction_Within_a_Response_to_Intervention_Framework>.