Salisbury Township schools are using data to identify struggling readers early and personalize lessons to target skills they may lack, in hopes that helping students catch up quickly will minimize the number who later need special education services.
The new protocols analyze how much progress students make in response to daily reading lessons to identify which ones might need new practice methods and who might be dealing with a learning disability.
“Our motivation came from a desire to improve outcomes for all students. As we engaged in professional development and reviewed our reading data, we realized our current approach wasn’t meeting all students’ needs,” Assistant Superintendent Kelly Pauling said. “We weren’t satisfied with the results and believed we could do better.”
Compared with the typical system, which relies on data from universal screening assessments conducted three times a school year, the district’s data-gathering approach allows it to quickly find gaps in reading skills and tailor instruction accordingly.
“We’re trying to intervene as early as possible,” Pauling said.
Each elementary school student in the district receives 30 minutes of daily reading instruction, during which teachers and reading specialists work with small groups of students to support foundational skills development for delayed readers and provide enrichment for advanced students.
Groups might be focused on vowel teams or blending sounds, reading specialist Heather Cumello said in an email.
“This is a big shift from our previous model, where support was mostly focused on students already struggling, and we met less often to review data,” Cumello said. “Today, all students — regardless of ability — receive targeted reading support during a dedicated block of time. This ensures strong readers continue to grow, while others get timely support before falling behind.”
The hope is that catching reading difficulties early will allow teachers to successfully support students in closing skill gaps, ultimately reducing the number of students who need special education services. That will provide the district with significant cost savings, Pauling said.
“In some cases, this approach is more proactive than the discrepancy model, which is waiting for a student to have a large enough gap between their ability and achievement to qualify for special education services,” Pauling said. “Our hope is that our school psychologist will have fewer students to test and have more time to collaborate with teachers to design interventions, model strategies, and track progress that benefits entire classrooms.”
While the full program hasn’t taken effect until this school year, the district is already seeing success in its early transition.
Last spring, a review from the regional coordinating agency, Intermediate Unit 21, found that Salisbury Township is below the state and county average for the percent of students identified with a specific learning disability. The district average is 35.4%, while the Lehigh County average is 38.76% and the state average is 37.6%.
“By following a consistent system of screening, assessing, and adjusting instruction, we can respond more quickly to students’ needs and ensure no one falls through the cracks,” Cumello said. “It also helps us move more efficiently through the process of identifying students with learning disabilities, ensuring they receive the services they need sooner.”
The school psychologist is able to utilize data from these lessons to see how quickly students improve and identify those who might need additional evaluation.
The psychologist will now be more involved in shaping instructional strategies, which will capitalize on her expertise and allow her to spend less time administering assessments, Pauling said.
The protocols are a “preventative approach that support a large number of students,” school psychologist Dana Kosman said in an email, adding that the system allows the district to “support more students overall as well as to increase the level of support for our struggling students.”
Salisbury Elementary School Principal Zac Brem echoed those comments, saying the approach “strengthens our ability to proactively and inclusively support students with diverse learning needs.”
Forming the new protocol and receiving approval from the state Department of Education took several years, Pauling said, and the district is excited to roll out its updated system this fall.
“We’re going to be learning a lot this year,” Pauling said.
“Receiving state approval to use response to intervention for determining specific learning disabilities in reading at Salisbury Elementary School is both an honor and a testament to the dedication of our team, led by our Assistant Superintendent Kelly Pauling,” Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten said in an email. “As the first district in the eastern region to achieve this designation, we are proud to serve as a model for others, and most importantly, we are seeing real results in student growth and success.”
