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Early identification of learning difficulties is a critical component of the Response to Intervention (RtI) model. In kindergarten, the screening of foundational reading skills can provide a data-based guideline for identifying students requiring a more intensive response-based intervention before starting elementary school. This study examines the classification accuracy and best predictors of a set of Spanish curriculum-based measures administered during kindergarten. The study’s sample included 189 students tested in the fall, winter, and spring. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted. The composite score of the curriculum-based measurement (CBM) revealed area under the ROC curve (AUC) values of 0.83, 0.97, and 0.94 in the fall, winter, and spring, respectively. Phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge were the only isolated measures that demonstrated excellent AUC values throughout kindergarten. Logistic regression models showed that, when entered simultaneously, all measures were significant predictors of reading risk at some moment of the school year.

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The main objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a Tier 2 intervention within the context of the Response to Intervention (RtI) model implemented by Spanish first- to second-grade primary school teachers to improve at-risk students’ transcription skills. Teachers were instructed in the administration of a writing curriculum-based measure composed of 5 isolates measures (allographs, dictated words with arbitrary spelling or non-ruled, dictated words with rule-based spelling, dictated nonsense words, and dictated sentences) to identify at-risk students and to monitor their progress; and in the implementation of a systematic and explicit instructional program to improve transcription skills in at-risk students. A total of 164 at-risk students from 12 schools from the Canary Islands participated in the study. Teachers were provided with a support system that included a web-based training program for writing. Implementation fidelity was analyzed using direct observations and self-reports. All students were assessed three times during the academic year. In a hierarchical linear growth modeling procedure, differences in growth rates of transcription skills were compared between students who received the intervention, those who did not, and their typically achieving peers. Additionally, the effects of the intervention in the experimental at-risk group were also analyzed, differentiating between those who left the risk status and those who remained at-risk. Children at-risk in the intervention condition appeared to benefit more in handwriting skills than at-risk children in the control condition, but to a lesser extent in spelling accuracy. Nevertheless, improvements in both transcription skills had only been made in the experimental risk group that had left the risk situation.

The present study evaluated the effects of web-based training on Spanish pre-service and in-service teacher knowledge and implicit beliefs on learning to write. A sample of pre-service teachers and in-service teachers from Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, and Spain participated in the online course. Findings suggest that teachers may improve their knowledge of transcription skills (i.e., handwriting/typing, spelling), text production, and strategies for composing as necessary components of quality writing instruction. Effects were also found on the teachers' implicit beliefs. Finally, both pre-service and in-service teachers positively rated the online course received.