The principal for a Title I school informs the school psychologist that instead of trying to identify children at risk for reading problems in kindergarten, she wants to focus on first-grade students who may be at risk. What is the most likely explanation for why the principal wants to identify students in the first grade?

The principal for a Title I school informs the school psychologist that instead of trying to identify children at risk for reading problems in kindergarten, she wants to focus on first-grade students who may be at risk. What is the most likely explanation for why the principal wants to identify students in the first grade?

• A. Kindergarten screening is more costly
• B. First grade has more resources
• C. First grade is when all reading problems emerge
• D. The effects of family literacy practices may diminish with formal kindergarten instruction

Answer: (D)

The key idea is that home literacy experiences strongly shape early reading skills, but once children receive formal instruction in kindergarten, the influence of those home factors tends to fade. By first grade, however, the demands of decoding and word recognition are higher, so children who continue to struggle despite a year of instruction are more likely to have a persistent risk for reading problems rather than a delay that can be overcome with family support. Screening in first grade helps identify those students whose difficulties persist beyond the initial instructional impact, signaling a true need for targeted intervention or further evaluation. The other options don’t fit as well. Kindergarten screening isn’t primarily about cost, and the principal’s goal isn’t about resource availability. It’s not that all reading problems emerge only in first grade, and we don’t rely on the idea that problems only appear later; rather, the rationale is that transient gaps due to limited home literacy are less likely to be the cause once formal literacy instruction has begun, so persistent trouble in first grade points to more enduring risk.

The key idea is that home literacy experiences strongly shape early reading skills, but once children receive formal instruction in kindergarten, the influence of those home factors tends to fade. By first grade, however, the demands of decoding and word recognition are higher, so children who continue to struggle despite a year of instruction are more likely to have a persistent risk for reading problems rather than a delay that can be overcome with family support. Screening in first grade helps identify those students whose difficulties persist beyond the initial instructional impact, signaling a true need for targeted intervention or further evaluation.

The other options don’t fit as well. Kindergarten screening isn’t primarily about cost, and the principal’s goal isn’t about resource availability. It’s not that all reading problems emerge only in first grade, and we don’t rely on the idea that problems only appear later; rather, the rationale is that transient gaps due to limited home literacy are less likely to be the cause once formal literacy instruction has begun, so persistent trouble in first grade points to more enduring risk.