Ready to Read Act Information
Supporting Students with Reading Difficulties
The Ready to Read Act of 2019, Students with Reading Difficulties, and The Code of Maryland Regulation, 13A.03.08, Students at Risk for Reading Difficulties, requires local education agencies (LEAs) to provide screening for all kindergarten students and identified first grade, second grade, and third grade students who may be at risk for reading difficulties. It includes a provision of supplemental reading instruction for identified students; progress monitoring; annual reporting requirements; and evaluation of the screening program. This information, as well as additional information from MSDE can be found here.
All WCPS primary grade students are screened at least annually to identify potential risks to reading achievement. In addition, increasingly intensive interventions and support are provided per grade. Upon enrollment, a Home Language Survey is conducted to determine whether a student needs English Language Support Services.
For a printable version of the information below about Early Warning signs of Reading Difficulties and Dyslexia by Age, click here.
Checklist of Early Warning signs of Reading Difficulties and Dyslexia
| Language | Reading | Writing | Emotional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Does the student have difficulty: | Does the student have difficulty: | Does the student have difficulty: | Does the student have difficulty: |
| - Learning the alphabet | - Naming letters | - Learning to write and copy at an age-appropriate level | - Poor self-confidence |
| - Rhyming words | - Matching letters to sounds | - Writing letters in correct order | - Low self-esteem |
| - Repeating what has been said | - Learning to read at expected age | - Writing numbers in correct order | - Poor social skills |
| - Staying focused | - Remembering printed words | - Spelling correctly and consistently | - Making & keeping friends |
| - Learning to speak | - Remembering sight words | - Writing neatly | - Easily frustrated |
Supplemental Instruction
For a printable version of the information below about Supplemental Instruction available to support students who are at risk for reading difficulties, click here and see intervention descriptions below.
| Grade Level | Screener | Fall: At Risk and Require Supplemental Instruction | Winter: At Risk and Require Supplemental Instruction | Spring: At Risk and Require Supplemental Instruction | Recommended Supplemental Instruction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K | DIBELS 8 | Below Composite 280 | Below Composite 356 | Below Composite 406 |
|
| 1 | DIBELS 8 | Below Composite 321 | Below Composite 377 | Below Composite 427 |
|
| 2 | DIBELS 8 | Below Composite 316 | Below Composite 373 | Below Composite 421 |
|
| 3 | DIBELS 8 | Below Composite 314 | Below Composite 377 | Below Composite 424 |
|
| Supplemental Reading Instruction | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Targeted Instruction | Pre-K - 12 | Research shows 60% of students benefit from a structured literacy approach that includes: explicit, systematic, and sequential instruction. |
| Stepping Stones | K-1 | Stepping Stones to Literacy (25 lessons) is an effective, research-based program for early learners who have been identified as at risk for reading failure. |
| Sound Partners | K-2 | Sound Partners is a phonics-based tutoring program that provides individual explicit instruction in early reading skills to students who need it most. |
| Fundations | K-3 | Fundations® is a multisensory and systematic phonics, spelling, and handwriting program. |
| Wilson | 2-12 | An intensive Tier 3 program for students with word-level deficits who are not making sufficient progress through their current intervention; have been unable to learn with other teaching strategies and require multisensory language instruction; or who require more intensive structured literacy instruction due to a language-based learning disability, such as dyslexia. |
| Just Words | 4-12 | Just Words® is a highly explicit, multisensory decoding and spelling program which has mild to moderate gaps in their decoding and spelling proficiency but does not require intensive intervention. The program is designed for students with below-average decoding and spelling scores and should be combined with other literature-rich programs. |
| Lexia Core 5 | K-5 | Lexia® Core5® Reading is an adaptive blended learning program that accelerates the development of literacy skills for students of all abilities, helping them make that critical shift from learning to read to reading to learn. |
| Benchmark Phonics Intervention | 1-5 |
This intensive phonics intervention program is designed for students two or more years below grade level expectations. Lessons are designed to be delivered one-on-one or in small groups by an intervention specialist or resource teacher. It is built on the Science of Reading research and aligns to the tenets of Structured Literacy, shown to be beneficial for students with dyslexia. |
| Focused Reading Intervention | 3-5 | Research-based reading intervention program that addresses key reading and literacy skills with exposure to a wide range of fiction and nonfiction texts and opportunities to use multiple strategies to process complex text. Students who struggle will strengthen their foundational reading skills and comprehension of informational text and literature. |