Screen all students for potential reading problems in the beginning and middle of the year.

Effective RtI begins with universal student screenings. Research shows that teachers can use beginning- and middle-of-the-year screenings in the primary grades to accurately predict future reading performance. Accurate identification of at-risk students requires efficient, reliable, and valid measures of appropriate grade-level reading skills. Setting cut-point scores allows schools to identify an initial pool of students who may require interventions. Because no single assessment is perfectly reliable, schools should engage regular progress monitoring to track at-risk students' achievement. A building-level intervention team can help coordinate the staff and resources needed to implement a schoolwide screening process.