PALS Blog: You Have Literacy Data, Now What?
A Look at the Literacy Data
The PALS Office continues to be amazed at the tenacity and dedication of teachers across the state.
The fall data collection term was a success and mid-year testing is well underway with approximately 26,500 Kindergarten assessments completed. Despite the challenges of schooling under less than ideal circumstances, educators across the state continue to focus on bringing young children’s early literacy skills, and learning needs, to the forefront.
As you consider how to use the data to create supports for your students, we want to offer a few tips and remind you of some resources that are available on the PALS website.
1. Children who are in need of literacy support fall on a continuum
Now more than ever it is important to remember that children who are in need of literacy support fall on a continuum. Research from our office shows that children who score below the PALS Summed Score Benchmark are at high-risk for future reading difficulties in the absence of intervention. However, our work also shows that there is a group of children at, or slightly above, the PALS Summed Score Benchmark who are at moderate-risk for future difficulties in the absence of a supportive instructional environment (we call this the “yellow zone” of students). Supporting both groups of students requires a close look at your PALS data, with a focus on looking beyond the benchmark to individual skills.
2. Supporting students is a shared responsibility
Supporting both groups of students also requires a focus on creating a continuum of instructional support across classroom instruction, targeted small groups, and intervention. The responsibility for instruction and growth is shared among a team of educators by collaboratively reviewing data, planning instruction, delivering instruction, and monitoring progress.
PALS Professional Learning Modules
We are actively working to help bring resources to you to offer this continuum of support to students. Currently we offer a professional learning module, Using Your PALS Data More Fully across the Year, to help you identify which students fall into this “vulnerable, but above the PALS benchmark” group. This module can be accessed within your PALS account using the following steps:
- Select Professional Learning tab
- Select Modules from the Dropdown
- Click anywhere in the “Using PALS Data More Fully across the Year” blue box
- Select Kindergarten level for Module 1 and/or 2 (Module 3 coming soon!)
We will also soon be releasing resources on how to think about best practices as you consider targeting and designing instructional supports to your students who are at-risk (i.e., below benchmark) and your students who are at moderate risk, or more vulnerable.
As always, thank you for your commitment to the students in Virginia. As you continue to work to meet the needs of all students within your classroom, we will continue to work on professional learning opportunities and resources to support you in your efforts.
Please feel free to reach out to the PALS Office by phone, chat or email. We’re here to support you!
Phone:888.882.7257 pals@virginia.edu Website:https://pals.virginia.edu
