WBTT Screenings

A screening is a brief method of determining whether or not a student is potentially at risk for future school difficulties. It is quick, easy to administer and score, and can be reported and/or documented by the classroom teacher. A screening tool is used to decide whether or not to take specific actions, such as specific instructional activities and/or further assessment.

The Web Based Teaching Tool program employs several carefully selected screening tools that measure learning and school readiness, phonological awareness and math competence.

Teachers using the WBTT program can use the following screening tools with all of their students:

Junior Kindergarten teachers can use the

TSRI (Teacher's School Readiness Inventory)
WBTT Math Screen

Senior Kindergarten teachers can use the

TSRI,
Rosner Auditory Analysis Test (a phonological awareness screen), and the
WBTT Math Screen

Grade One teachers can use the

TSRI,
Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation (a phonemic awareness screen), and the
WBTT Math screen

Grade Two teachers can use the following two probes to screen for alphabetic principle, accuracy, fluency and comprehension:

the DIBELS™ Nonsense Word Fluency probe and
the DIBELS™ Oral Reading Fluency probe

Screening all students helps to ensure that those students requiring additional support are not overlooked.

All of the screening tools used on the WBTT have been developed by university researchers and reflect criteria that have been consistently shown to predict later school difficulties. Students who fall below age specific cut-offs are determined to have risk factors that require additional support.

The WBTT program allows teachers to determine the extent of a student's learning difficulties within the classroom by,

Comparing an individual to same age peers on various global and predictive measures of academic progress, and/or
Determining whether he or she meets age-appropriate "benchmarks" or milestones.

How the WBTT Program Works for Teachers

Teachers login to the Web Based Teaching Tool (WBTT) site at www.access.wbtt.ldao.ca to access their grade-specific screening tools. These screening tools will be used to screen all students in the class in three different areas:

School readiness
Early literacy
Numeracy

Once all students have been screened, the WBTT system will generate a report showing which students were ‘flagged’ (or achieved below age-appropriate benchmarks) on each of the screening tools. Teachers will also use the WBTT site over the course of a school year to:

Develop student and class learning profiles
Access a searchable database of interventions and teaching strategies for supporting student achievement
Track student progress over the year through the use of Observation Checklists
Generate a variety of reports (individual or group) to monitor progress and programming. These reports can help facilitate transition planning and programming decisions throughout the course of a student’s education.

When a student is flagged, WBTT’s “Next Steps” feature automatically suggests several interventions and Observation Checklists based on the students’ specific areas of need. In addition, by using the student's screening results as an initial guideline, the teacher can search the extensive WBTT database for other appropriate interventions. The WBTT’s database of interventions includes teaching strategies, teaching materials, ‘take home’ strategies for parents, and strategies for behaviour and classroom management. WBTT’s Observation Checklists allow teachers to track student's progress and response to interventions, therefore further developing the student's learning profile and a better understanding of where their strengths and needs lie. If the student does not make the expected gains, additional/different interventions can be used. The result is a dynamic process in which the student is continuously supported and monitored. Information about this process is shared with parents, so that they can support their children at home with the targeted learning areas.

[top]

Warning: include(../nav.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/ldao/public_html/WBTT/screenings.php on line 163

Warning: include(../nav.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/ldao/public_html/WBTT/screenings.php on line 163

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '../nav.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/ldao/public_html/WBTT/screenings.php on line 163