End of Year Screening
It may seem logical to welcome students to a new school year and screen upon arrival. This will give you all of the data you need to identify at-risk students and plan interventions per student, right?
In theory, yes. Beginning-of-the-year screening is a necessity. However, without end-of-year screening, the school year begins with data derived from the last assessment period – typically conducted in January of the previous schoolyear. By adding end-of-year screening, you can begin the schoolyear based on the most recent information possible, allowing for more efficient one-on-one intervention planning.
A strong and efficient school year is strategically structured and planned ahead of time. Valid and predictable end-of-year screening significantly decreases holes in student performance data so you can be more strategic.
Beginning and End-of-Year Screening
Dr. Mark Shinn, President and Professor of School Psychology at National Louis University, reveals how end-of-year screening – from kindergarten to twelfth grade – sets each student up for success and enables proactive planning for educators.
Starting in kindergarten, screening all students for letter names and letter sounds can be done at the beginning of the year. If a student or a group of students are at risk, intervention can begin at this time rather than waiting until the first benchmark assessment. With this data from regular screenings, you can triage students for intervention planning sooner and more accurately: Which students need tier one intervention, which students need tier two intervention, and which students need tier three intervention?
Brief universal screening and universal progress monitoring can be done at the beginning of each subsequent year to ensure all students are developing within their intervention groups and making a smooth transition into each new grade.
But it is the end-of-year screening that sets a student up for success as he or she prepares for a new grade level.
End of Year Screening is Proactive
End-of-year screening allows a new school year to start with almost all student planning complete.
End-of-year screening data is commonly underused, relinquishing important time for intervention measures during the summer, and even the beginning of the school year. End-of-year benchmark data that is used proactively could help narrow or close a student’s learning gap.
If a student needs tier two or tier three intervention, end-of-year screening will communicate that to educators and provide time for them to adjust the intervention plan to meet individual learning needs before summer hits – not when a new school year starts and the student is farther behind.
You can get farther faster by implementing smarter screening practices. Be proactive in placing students into tiered interventions of suitable intensity at the end of the year.
View Dr. Mark Shinn’s in-depth webinar about the importance of end of year screening.