Diagnosing Struggling Form 1 Readers for the New School Year - An Introduction

Many teachers are concerned about the low assessment scores of students entering form one in September 2010. They fear and anticipate problems since many content area teachers are not equipped to teach students with reading difficulties.

For schools who are privileged to have Reading Specialists in training, it may be best to perform a diagnostic test in reading to ascertain each student level of reading so necessary remediation can begin as soon as possible. A group of teachers can be trained to conduct the test.

An ideal assessment tool which can be used is an Informal Reading Inventory (IRI). Note however, there are several of these assessment tools available. To help other members of staff see how it can be done I have located an interesting ICT tool - a series of Videos that can assist with the process.

Victoria Cunningham