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Wisconsin ’ s Literacy Screener

Wisconsin ’ s Literacy Screener. An introduction to the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) in Wisconsin. PALS Background.

dean-jordan
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Wisconsin ’ s Literacy Screener

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  1. Wisconsin’s Literacy Screener An introduction to the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) in Wisconsin

  2. PALS Background Wisconsin Statute 118.016(1) now requires that an early literacy screener be administered to all 4 year old kindergarten thru first grade students beginning in 2013-14 and expanding to second grade beginning in 2014-15 DPI was charged with selecting a screener that met these criteria: • Is valid and reliable • Assesses phonemic awareness and letter sound knowledge PALS was selected to provide educators with helpful information to guide instruction

  3. What is PALS? Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) provides research-based assessments with strong technical adequacy. It is a criterion referenced assessment used as a screening, diagnostic, and progress monitoring tool for measuring the fundamental components of literacy.

  4. The History of PALS • PALS was developed in 1997 by Marcia Invernizzi, Ph.D. and colleagues at the University of Virginia (Commonwealth of Virginia’s Early Reading Initiative) • Adopted as the universal screening tool for Virginia Public Schools in 2000 • PALS mandated as the state-wide literacy screener in Wisconsin for 4K through second grades. • Used extensively across all 50 states and in several foreign countries

  5. PALS Assessments provide: • Screening - to identify students who may be at risk for later developing reading difficulties • Diagnostic – to plan differentiated instruction and targeted intervention • Progress monitoring - to measure student growth and adjust instruction and intervention to better meet students’ needs Administer in Fall, Mid-Year, and Spring

  6. Additional Features of PALS • PALS Online Score Entry & Reporting System • Online Resources • Progress Monitoring • Electronic Lesson Plans • Hundreds of Downloadable Activities • Strategies and Activities for Parents • Online Tutorials • Comprehensive professional development • Ongoing phone and email customer support

  7. Instructional Planning with PALS Assessments • Each PALS task measures a fundamental component of literacy, giving you instructionally useful data that you can immediately use to plan targeted instruction. • PALS is administered in individual and group settings by the classroom teacher. • PALS tasks model good reading instruction while the teacher is learning about their student’s literacy needs at the same time the student is acquiring literacy knowledge.

  8. Administration Windows • Fall window for 1st grade • September 16 --- October 11 (data due Oct. 25) • Fall window for 4K and 5K • October 14 --- November 8 (data due Nov. 20) • Winter window for all grades (optional) • January 6 --- February 28 (data due Feb. 28) • Spring window for all grades • April 28 --- May 23 (data due June 6)

  9. PALS Connections to Wisconsin Initiatives • Common Core Standards in English Language Arts and Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards • Response to Intervention

  10. PALS Connections to the Standards • The PALS subtests are representative of the understandings, knowledge and skills identified in the: • Reading Foundational Skills – Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts (CCSS) • Early Literacy Standards - Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS)

  11. PALS Connections to Response to Intervention (RtI) • PALS meets the definition of a universal screener within an RtI framework: • A screener is an assessment given as one part of the screening process to establish a baseline from which students are beginning and to align the instructional starting point to student need. • Universal screening data can be examined to determine if a change in core curriculum and instruction is needed. • Data from the universal screening process are used to make decisions about interventions and additional challenges.

  12. PALS and Response to Intervention • Collaboration • High Quality Instruction • Balanced Assessment • Culturally Responsive Practices

  13. PALS Implications for School Literacy Teams and Data Teams Review data as a team (principals, classroom teachers, reading specialists and reading teachers, special education teachers, ELL teachers, school psychologists, speech and language teachers) following the fall and spring administration Develop a plan for progress monitoring for students with areas of deficit or strength Share PALS assessment information regularly

  14. Think-Pair-Share Discuss with a partner how you see PALS fitting into your current instruction and assessment plan.

  15. Parent Communication • One-page parent brochure available on PALS Wisconsin website for districts to copy and distribute in the fall • http://www.palswisconsin.info/parents.shtml

  16. Other Parent Communication Hints • Plan to share results from the fall administration at parent-teacher conferences • On-line course that will assist teachers with interpreting student results

  17. Other PALS ResourcesPALS Quick Checks • Used to monitor student progress on targeted literacy skill acquisition areas and gauge response to instruction and/or intervention • Available in the areas of: • Alphabet Recognition • Letter Sounds • Beginning Sound Production • Concept of Word • Spelling K, 1-3 • Pseudo-word Decoding • Oral Reading in Context • Word Recognition in Isolation

  18. PALS Quick Checks • Recommended to be administered only once every two weeks • Available as PDF files through the Online Score Entry and Reporting System account

  19. Additional PALS Professional Development and Support • Using PALS Data to Drive Instruction - course • Progress Monitoring with PALS - course • Electronic Lesson Plan - tutorial • Concept of Word in Text - course • Online instructional strategies and lesson plans

  20. PALS SummaryThings to Remember • View the professional development modules by September 6 for 1st grade and by October 1 for 4K and 5K • Share the Parent brochure prior to the fall administration • Administer PALS in the fall and spring ***choose a consecutive two week window within these administration windows.

  21. PALS Resources and Support • PALS Wisconsin Resource Center http://www.palswisconsin.info/ • PALS Toll-Free Hotline for District Assessment Coordinators: (888) 728-7257 • PALS E-Mail Hotline for all teachers and District Assessment Coordinators: support@palshelp.com • DPI PALS Contact Duane Dorn (608) 267-1069 duane.dorn@dpi.wi.gov

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