Next STEPS in Literacy Instruction: Connecting Assessments to Effective Interventions

What happens after a formative literacy assessment like DIBELS, TPRI, FAIR, or AIMSweb? How can educators translate the results into targeted interventions and improved reading outcomes? This reader-friendly teaching guide makes the next steps of literacy instruction clear and easy for K–6 educators. Developed by highly respected experts Smartt and Glaser, this book gives readers a specific breakdown of the indicators on today's most popular reading assessments and matches those items with interventions that make a real difference.

Next STEPS is everything educators want:

• designed for use with response to intervention—gives explicit instructions on designing Tier II and Tier III small-group instruction and monitoring student progress
• extensively field tested during the nationwide trainings the authors have conducted
• organized by the "big five" ideas identified by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
• packed with practice activities directly linked to each big idea
• shows teachers how to integrate all five big ideas during instruction, so lessons are well-rounded and comprehensive
• based on the latest, most reliable research and best practices
• shows educators both how to teach and what to teach to make students better readers

All of the suggested interventions are quick and creative, get real results with minimal planning, use materials most teachers already have, and effectively target the specific "trouble spots" that literacy assessments have identified. And with the classroom vignettes and sample teacher-student dialogues, educators will have adaptable models for their own classroom interactions.

A must for every education professional who wants to do more with the valuable information they get from literacy assessments, this guidebook takes the guesswork out of intervention and helps transform struggling students into skillful readers.

Susan M. Smartt, Ph.D. As a senior research associate at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Smartt engaged in research, writing, and teaching focused on improving teacher preparation in reading. Previously, she was a national literacy consultant with state departments, teacher preparation programs, and local school districts. Her work focused on facilitating school reform, implementing, reading intervention for low-performing schools, using data to inform practice, developing Response to Intervention initiatives, and implementing scientifically based literacy programs.

Dr. Smartt owned and directed a reading clinic for more than 20 years in which she provided comprehensive psychoeducational assessments, dyslexia evaluations, and tutoring services. She has been a classroom teacher, a reading coach, a reading specialist, and a principal. She was an early contributor to the development of LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) (Moats & Tolman, 2017) and past president of the Tennessee branch of the International Dyslexia Association. Her publications include journal articles, edited volumes, and books on research-based reading intervention and policy initiatives, including Next STEPS in Literacy Instruction: Connecting Assessments to Effective Interventions (Smartt & Glaser, 2010). Currently, Dr. Smartt tutors and provides advocacy services for students with dyslexia.

Deborah M. Glaser, Ed.D., is a national education consultant, trainer, and author based in Boise, Idaho.