The California School Psychologist Provides Valuable Information to Promote Reading Success Among Students

Abstract

This volume of The California School Psychologist provides valuable information to promote the reading success of students, as well as many other informative articles addressing response-to-intervention; the education of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning (LGBTQ) students; and school-based interventions for students with autism. Each of these articles provides valuable information for school psychologists and other professionals working in the schools, and also contributes to the literature and scholarship that aims to promote the educational success of all students. Previous articles published in The California School Psychologist, including the recent volumes addressing a) school engagement, b) strength-based assessment, c) response to intervention (RTI), d) autism, and e) students with emotional or behavioral disorders, are available on-line at www.education.ucsb.edu/school-psychology and at www.casponline.org (CASP members only). The first article (Christo & Davis, 2008), shares the results of a study that examined the relationships between the cognitive processes of rapid naming, phonological processing and various literacy skills, using data from 65 students in grades two through five. This study used multiple measures, including; phonological processing, rapid naming, reading comprehension, isolated and nonsense word reading, and spelling. Regression analyses revealed that rapid naming was a stronger predictor of word reading, reading comprehension and spelling, relative to phonological processing. Decoding skills were found to account for the largest amount of variance in word reading and spelling. The authors discuss the importance of considering these results when assessing and designing interventions with reading disabled children. Based on the results of this study, the authors emphasize that psychologists should assess underlying processes of rapid naming and phonological processing to better understand the student’s skills, and inform intervention strategies. A guide for school psychologists to use in the consultation process when working with teachers to address students’ reading difficulties is provided in the second article (Lilles, Griffiths, Lee, Cardenas, Chacko, & Jimerson, 2008). This article details important facets of instructional consultation and important considerations to take into account including: a) entering the consultation relationship, b) effectively identifying the problem and underlying cause, c) identification of the appropriate intervention, monitoring implementation integrity, and d) the termination of the consultation relationship. This article also provides information regarding possible effective intervention strategies, resources to obtain additional information, and a valuable checklist for school psychologists. The authors encourage school psychologists to use a consultation process to contribute resources and support to teachers to improve student reading ability, and prevent negative outcomes associated with poor reading skills. The third article (Huang, Nelson, & Nelson, 2008) reports the results of a study designed to investigate increases in reading fluency following a research-based tutoring method using repeated reading, which was implemented with two second-grade students. This study involved two high school students who trained to be the tutors to provide the directed repeated reading experience. In addition, one parent and one