Activity 5

We provided a brief overview of how Literacy Link South Central carried out the research project and decided which screening tools to review.

We asked you to tell us which criteria are most important when choosing screening tools and why. Here's what you told us:

• Writing samples are helpful.
• They must be non-threatening.
• They must be simple and short - for both the learner and the practitioner.
• There must be clear indications of "next steps".
• They should identify whether the potential learning disability is visual, auditory, organizational, etc.
• Knowing what the learner's goal is can be helpful when deciding what tool to use.
• They need to address the special needs of the learner (e.g. deaf community).
• They must be culturally appropriate (e.g. Native content)
• The organization should be able to provide strategies to respond to the disabilities they are trying to identify.