Virginia’s Early Intervention READING Initiative
The Early Intervention Reading Initiative, which has served either kindergarten or first grade students, was established by the 1997 Virginia Acts of Assembly, Chapter 924, Item 140. In January 2000, Governor Gilmore proposed and the General Assembly approved funding to expand the Early Intervention Reading Initiative to students in first, second, and third grades.
The purpose of the initiative is to provide early reading intervention services to students in kindergarten through the third grade who demonstrate reading deficiencies reflected in each student's performance on the PALS (Phonological and Literacy Screening) assessment. As the result of the intervention services, the essential reading skills of the identified students will be monitored and improved by the end of each grade level, kindergarten through third grade. This initiative will assist school divisions in their ongoing efforts to have all children reading well and on grade level by the third grade.
Through a grant awarded to the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, the Initiative funds a statewide literacy screening instrument, PALS (Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening) and a PALS Web site. The PALS web site is designed as a teacher-friendly means of entering PALS scores. For teachers, the PALS site includes: 1) a section where teachers return their class scores to UVA and receive an immediate summary report, 2) a page where principals and district representatives can receive summaries of their schools' PALS scores, and 3) over a hundred instructional suggestions, based on PALS screening sections. For additional information on PALS see the link to the PALS web site listed below.
The Initiative also furnishes incentive funds for school divisions to provide identified students with additional reading instruction.
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Phonological Awareness Activities