MTEL Reading Specialist (62) cheat sheet

Phonological awareness is the umbrella skill (syllables, onsets/rimes, rhymes); phonemic awareness is the narrowest level and concerns individual phonemes.

Phonemic awareness sequence: identify, blend, segment, delete, then manipulate phonemes; segmentation and blending are the strongest predictors of later decoding.

Alphabetic principle has two parts: letters map to sounds, and sounds are combined to read words; both must be taught explicitly.

Ehri's phases: pre-alphabetic, partial alphabetic, full alphabetic, consolidated alphabetic; sight-word reading grows as orthographic mapping increases.

Orthographic mapping is the process of bonding graphemes to phonemes in memory; it requires phonemic awareness plus letter-sound knowledge, not visual memorization.

Five language components: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics; reading difficulty can stem from any one of them.

Morphological awareness supports vocabulary and spelling: teach base words, inflections, derivational suffixes, and common Greek/Latin roots.

Print concepts (directionality, word boundaries, return sweep) are early predictors; assess them in kindergarten and early first grade.

Screening identifies students at risk; diagnostic assessment pinpoints skill gaps; progress monitoring measures response to intervention; outcome measures judge program effectiveness.

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) uses brief, timed, standardized passages; oral reading fluency benchmarks are often expressed as correct words per minute.

Informal reading inventory (IRI) yields independent, instructional, and frustration levels; instructional level is roughly 90-95% word accuracy with 75% or better comprehension.

Running records and miscue analysis classify errors as semantic, syntactic, or graphophonic; a high proportion of meaning-based miscues suggests over-reliance on context.

Reliability is consistency of scores; validity is whether a test measures what it claims; a test can be reliable without being valid.

Standard scores have a mean of 100 and SD of 15; percentile ranks are not equal-interval and must not be averaged.

Norm-referenced tests compare to a norm group; criterion-referenced tests compare to a standard and are better for instructional planning.

Discrepancy between listening comprehension and reading comprehension suggests a decoding or word-recognition problem rather than a language problem.

Explicit, systematic, sequential phonics instruction outperforms incidental or embedded phonics, especially for at-risk and dyslexic readers.

The gradual release model: modeled (I do), guided (we do), independent (you do); scaffolding is withdrawn as accuracy rises.

Text selection rule: independent reading is about 95%+ accuracy; guided instruction about 90-95%; below 90% is frustration level.

Fluency has three dimensions: accuracy, rate, and prosody; repeated reading with feedback and modeling improves all three.

Comprehension strategy instruction is most effective when taught explicitly, modeled with think-alouds, and practiced across multiple texts.

Reciprocal teaching uses four roles: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing; it builds self-regulated comprehension.

Vocabulary instruction should include direct teaching of tier-two words, context clues, morphology, and multiple exposures in varied contexts.

For struggling readers, intervention should be more explicit, more intensive, and more frequent than core instruction, with progress monitored every few weeks.

Disciplinary literacy differs from generic comprehension: each content area has its own text structures, vocabulary, and evidence conventions.

Expository text structures include description, sequence, comparison-contrast, cause-effect, and problem-solution; teaching signal words improves recall.

Text complexity has three dimensions: quantitative (readability), qualitative (levels of meaning, structure, knowledge demands), and reader-task considerations.

Academic language includes content-specific vocabulary plus general academic words (e.g., analyze, contrast); both need explicit instruction.

English learners benefit from comprehensible input, explicit vocabulary with visuals, and opportunities to use academic language orally before writing.

Sheltered instruction (e.g., SIOP) combines content objectives with language objectives and scaffolds such as visuals, graphic organizers, and sentence frames.

Culturally responsive instruction uses texts that reflect students' backgrounds and connects new content to prior knowledge and experience.

Students with dyslexia benefit from structured literacy: multisensory, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic instruction in phonology, morphology, and orthography.

A reading specialist's role includes coaching, modeling, co-planning, and data analysis, not only direct student instruction.

Professional development is most effective when sustained, job-embedded, collaborative, and focused on student data rather than one-time workshops.

MTSS/RTI has three tiers: universal core instruction, targeted small-group intervention, and intensive individualized support.

Data teams review screening and progress-monitoring data to make instructional decisions and adjust intervention groupings.

When selecting core programs, evaluate alignment with the science of reading, evidence base, and fit with the school's student population.

Family literacy partnerships should include clear communication about reading development and strategies families can use at home.

A schoolwide literacy plan should specify assessment schedule, intervention criteria, staff roles, and progress-monitoring procedures.

Ethical and legal considerations include confidentiality of assessment data and appropriate use of screening results for instructional decisions.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability with a neurobiological basis, characterized by difficulties in accurate and fluent word recognition and spelling.

Dyslexia is not a visual reversal problem; it reflects phonological processing deficits that affect decoding and spelling.

Dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia are distinct conditions; do not assume they co-occur with dyslexia.

Characteristics of dyslexia include slow, inaccurate reading, poor spelling, and difficulty with phonological awareness tasks.

Intervention for dyslexia should be explicit, systematic, multisensory, and cumulative, with frequent progress monitoring.

Students with ADHD may struggle with attention and working memory; instruction should include chunking, clear routines, and reduced distractions.

Students with intellectual disabilities benefit from functional sight-word instruction and repeated practice with meaningful, real-world texts.

English learners with reading difficulties need assessment in both languages to distinguish language difference from disability.

Comprehension is interactive: the reader, the text, and the activity all influence meaning construction (RAND model).

Levels of comprehension: literal (explicit), inferential (implied), and evaluative/critical (judging and analyzing).

Narrative text structure includes characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution; story maps support retelling and comprehension.

Cohesive devices (pronouns, connectives, substitutions) link sentences; teaching them improves comprehension of complex texts.

Tier-one words are basic conversational words; tier-two are high-frequency academic words; tier-three are domain-specific terms.

Context clues types include definition, example, contrast, and inference; teach students to identify the type before guessing meaning.

Question-answer relationships (QAR) distinguish right-there, think-and-search, author-and-me, and on-my-own questions.

Close reading involves repeated readings with text-dependent questions focused on evidence, structure, and author's purpose.

Writing and reading share cognitive processes; instruction in spelling and writing supports reading development.

Spelling stages: pre-phonemic, phonemic, transitional, and conventional; errors reveal the child's current understanding of orthography.

English orthography is morphophonemic: spelling reflects both sound and meaning (e.g., sign/signal, heal/health).

The writing process includes planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing; instruction should make each stage explicit.

Sentence combining and grammar instruction are most effective when embedded in authentic writing tasks.

Handwriting fluency and keyboarding are foundational writing skills that affect composition quality.

Rubrics for writing should address ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions.

Assessing spelling through dictation and error analysis provides more diagnostic information than multiple-choice tests.