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We investigated the technical characteristics of a brief early numeracy screening battery for both English learners (ELs) and English proficient students (EPs). Results indicated there were differences in performance of ELs and EPs. Further, we found reasonable overall accuracy of the screener predicting student outcomes. Similar overall accuracy results were found for ELs and EPs, as well as for predicting academic performance. We discuss study results related to sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive power as they relate to implications for practice, including screening for risk for ELs and the challenge of false positives in screening systems. We conclude by proposing future avenues of research.

This article describes key findings from contemporary research on screening for early primary grade students in the area of mathematics. Existing studies were used to illustrate the constructs most worth measuring and the diverse strategies that researchers used to study potential measures. The authors discussed the strengths and weaknesses of assessing a few key proficiencies (as is often done in early reading) versus a more full-scale battery, and described the importance of going beyond merely reporting predictive validity correlation coefficients to examining the classification accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of screening measures. [This article was published in "Exceptional Children," (EJ970689).]

Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI) is recommended both as an essential step before identifying learning disabilities (LD) and as a mechanism for preventing learning difficulties. The use of evidence-based multi-tiered interventions is of critical importance when implementing RtI. This article presents the results of a study that examined the effects of Tier 2 intervention on the performance of first-grade students who were identified as at risk for mathematics difficulties. Participants included 161 (Tier 2, N = 42) first graders. Tier 2 students received 20-minute intervention booster lessons in number and operation skills and concepts for 23 weeks. Results showed a significant intervention effect on the Texas Early Mathematics Inventories-Progress Monitoring (TEMI-PM, University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency) total standard score. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)

A critical review of the literature indicates that overselective attention: (1) is not limited to autistic children, (2) may be only one of several developmental lags these children display, and (3) may or may not be strongly correlated with children's language abilities and general intellectual abilities. (Author)

Participation over five years by 12 moderately/severely retarded six to 10- year-olds in a Distar Language and Reading Program, which emphasizes direct instruction and general case strategies, resulted in statistically significant IQ gain and improvements in language competency. (CL)

The article cites a study that investigated the validity of the Trainee Performance Sample (TPS), an instrument designed to assess vocationally relevant skills of severely mentally retarded persons. TPS employs brief benchwork tasks as content and uses a learning potential or an instruction during testing format. As demonstrated by the results, TPS scores appear to be valid.