It’s scary to look at today’s nationwide numbers for students in the fourth grade that aren’t able to read at grade level.  What’s worse is that the numbers are much worse for the most at risk students – the economically disadvantaged (Title 1) and the immigrant populations (Title 3), two thirds of which struggle academically.  Lack of fundamental reading and math skills at an early age is a great predictor of academic failure in middle and high school.

Research has proven that one answer to helping the most at risk students is the use of individualized instruction that focuses on filling each student’s learning gaps.  The only way to do that is to first figure out what they need.  The education system has always struggled with that, because it is difficult, at best, to assess students on a large scale.  Administering a paper and pencil test to a student requires a remarkable amount of resources and the results are usually not available for weeks or months later.

Automated testing systems are the answer. Online assessments are now available for elementary level reading and math skills that will allow for hundreds of students to be assessed at the same time. What’s even better is that the results of the assessment are immediately produced and ready for educators to use for setting up differentiated instruction. Another plus that a computer based online assessment offers that paper and pencil test don’t is that they are adaptive. Online adaptive assessments move up or down in level of difficulty based on the student’s performance on the assessment and are by their very nature much more precise.

In addition to online assessments, there are also programs that offer automated online instruction. When the instruction program is set up based on the results of the assessment, the student will receive true differentiated instruction. If this is set up automatically, then the teacher can focus on a greater level of intervention when necessary.

Here’s how it works. If a fifth grader takes the online reading assessment and the results show a significant weakness in phonics skills, the automated instruction program will automatically provide phonics instruction at the appropriate level for that student. In most cases, the automated system will be the only way for that student to receive instruction in phonics because it is not offered in the fifth grade.

It is well known that the fundamental skills developed in elementary school are critical for future success. Automated systems implemented in elementary schools for reading and math can ensure that the fundamental skills are well developed and can greatly improve the academic outcomes of our students.