Curriculum-Based Early Literacy Assessment and Differentiated Instruction with High-Risk Preschoolers

Early childhood educators working within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework are concerned with monitoring children's progress to make appropriate adjustments to their teaching to promote language and literacy development. A curriculum-based approach can be effective in helping teachers to maximize the quality of universal instruction for all students and to provide differentiated support for individual children. This article describes the application of curriculum-based, progress-monitoring procedures and multitiered instruction in classrooms serving low-income preschoolers. Preliminary data document the benefits of utilizing curriculum-based, progress-monitoring data and providing teachers with training and support to differentiate instruction to improve early literacy outcomes.