The S2i Report: From Data Collection to Interpretation and Implementation

Educators do a great job of collecting student learning data. But how can they make sure the data is correctly interpreted and then translated into effective instruction? And how can they answer the “Now, what?” question in a way that is both efficient and accurate? 

FastBridge answers that question with the Group Screening to Intervention (S2i) Report in both reading and mathematics. The S2i report is a powerful, time-saving resource because it allows teachers to quickly identify which interventions are needed. In this blog, we'll dive specifically into how educators can use this report for reading.

What Information Does This Report Provide?

The S2i report user interface was redesigned in the summer of 2018 based on user feedback, for easier navigation and instructional decision-making. It is designed to help districts make decisions about individual, school, and district-level instructional support.

This report provides recommendations for:

• Classwide, small group, and individual instructional needs
• Locally available instructional programs/intervention strategies to use (if those have been added by the District/School Manager)
• Progress monitoring tools to use
• General equivalency to other reading programs/measures (e.g., Fountas & Pinnell, Lexile, etc.)

On the individual level, the report rates the student, based on the benchmarks, in terms of accuracy, automaticity and broad skills. It also provides a recommendation about which area should be addressed through instruction. Further, if progress monitoring data have been collected, those will be displayed.

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What Data Are Used For the S2I Reading Report?

At least two reading screening data sources are needed to fully populate this report: the Computer-Adaptive Test (CAT), aReading,™ and a Curriculum-Based Measure (CBM) such as earlyReading™ or CBMreading.™ These data will provide information about student reading skills in terms of accuracy, automaticity, and broad reading:

The accuracy (ACC) and automaticity (AUTO) ratings are derived from the Composite earlyReading™ score for grades K-1, or from the CBMreading™ score for grades 2-8.

Accuracy is computed from the percent of items or words correct. Automaticity is based on how many items or words the student completed correctly in 1 minute.

Finally, the broad rating (BROAD) is derived from the aReading score. The broad rating takes into account the student’s performance on questions covering phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.   

What Questions Does the S2I Reading Report Answer?

FastBridge is organized around a five-step, research-based problem-solving model. The S2i report answers several mission-critical questions for:

• Problem Identification (Is there a discrepancy between what is expected and what is occurring?)
• Problem Analysis (Why is the problem occurring?), and 
• Plan Development (What is the goal? What is the intervention plan? How will progress be monitored?).  

Most specifically, this report assists teams with Problem Analysis by identifying the most likely reason for the student’s difficulties. Then the S2i report displays the specific instructional strategy or program most likely to fix the identified skill deficit--and what progress monitoring tool will best align to that skill for determining student response to instruction.

Problem-Solving Questions Answered by the S2i Reading Report

Problem Identification

1. For what percentage of students is core instruction effective for reading accuracy, automaticity, and broad reading?
2. What percentage of students are not on track to meet the end of year spring benchmark targets for their grade level for accuracy, automaticity, and broad reading?

Problem Analysis

1. Is the reason for the reading problem accuracy, automaticity, or broad reading?
2. Does the team need to collect or bring in any additional data?

Plan Development

1. Which intervention strategy is most likely to fix the problem?
2. Which progress monitoring tool is best for ongoing evaluation of skill growth?

What Data Are Needed?

The S2i for reading requires the administration of aReading, plus the administration of either earlyReading for grades K-1 or CBMreading for grades 2-12.  

If the lab measure AUTOreading is used instead of CBMreading (e.g., grades 9-12) these data will also populate in the report. Note that this tool is in lab status and is not recommended for use as a stand-alone reading assessment.

The S2I report can be generated with one data source (e.g., only CBM data), within a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework. But more than one data source is needed to inform instructional decisions. 

Further, the Class Skill Recommendation for targeting Tier 1 core reading instruction will not populate until at least 70% of the student data are available (e.g., the Class Skill Recommendation).

How to Use this Report to Make Instructional Decisions

The example screenshot below displays the landing page for the S2i Report for reading with winter CBMreading English™  and aReading™ data from a second-grade classroom.

Report Use for Tier 1

First, classroom teachers can do a quick, visual comparison of student reading performance across multiple reading measures, and determine if they are reliable (i.e., consistent with what would be expected in terms of student performance).

Further, the classroom teacher can identify if there is a skill area for focusing core instruction based on whole group instructional needs.

In this example, the Whole Group Instruction tab of the report is open and shaded dark blue. The report shows:

• 78% of the students scored in the low-risk range on CBMreading™ accuracy,
• 39% on CBMreading™ automaticity, and
• 47% on aReading™ for Broad reading skills.

Based on these data, the Class Skill Recommendation as the focus for Tier 1 core reading instruction is Automaticity.

By either clicking on “Learn how to adjust your instruction” or scrolling to the bottom of the report, definitions are found for each skill that includes the desired achievement goal for each skill, the rationale for the goal, and optimal instructional strategies and practices that will address student learning of this skill.  

Here is an example:

Teachers may then plan how they will incorporate additional, explicit teaching and practice of the skill for all students in the class.  

Another option is to sort the data by Instructional Need showing which students in the class specifically need extra attention on this skill.  This can help teachers decide which students need additional whole group intervention during core instruction.

Report Use for Tier 2

This report makes it easy for classroom teachers or grade-level teams to identify potential groups of students for additional Tier 2 intervention. And, to see quickly what instructional skill areas should be targetted. For most efficient viewing, teams would open the Small Group Instruction Tab at the top of the S2i report and sort the data by Instructional Need. If the district has customized the list of available interventions, these will display on the report.

In the following example, the S2i Report shows that Read Naturally is the recommended instructional program to use to fix this problem. Finally, the recommended progress monitoring tool is provided; In this case,  CBMreading was recommended.  

Overall, the S2i Report for Reading provides teachers and educator teams a powerful tool to answer the ever-present, “Now, what?” question after screening. This report uses scores from two reading assessments to identify each student’s current instructional need as well as what interventions and progress measures are most likely best suited to address these needs.