Very few studies (18 of 127) provide validity data for screening tools used in tier assignment, and none test whether screening itself improves achievement¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Of 127 eligible studies, only 18 provided convergent validity data (correlations, sensitivity, specificity), and no study examined the effect of screening itself on academic outcomes. → Keles 2025

Evidence¶

Keles 2025¶

Keles, S., ten Braak, D., Hagen, Å. M., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2025). Validity of Early-Grade Screening Tools in the Three Tier (RTI/MTSS) Model: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Literacy, Language, and Mathematics. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10077-5

q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r?

Systematic search of seven databases yielding 14,165 items; after two-stage screening with overall agreement rates of 95.3% (title/abstract) and 87.5% (full text), 127 studies were included. The review states "No study was detected on the effect of screening itself (RQ3)", and the preregistered RQ3 was dropped because eligible studies lacked outcome data.

"While 109 of these studies provided information only on the tools used as part of tier assignment (answering RQ1), 18 of them provided some screening validity data (i.e., bivariate correlations, sensitivity, and specificity) to synthesize (answering both RQ1 and RQ2). No study was detected on the effect of screening itself (RQ3)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• DIBELS is the most frequently used screening tool for tier assignment, and literacy is the most assessed domain — related
• Screening domain is a significant moderator of validity: literacy-literacy correlations (r = .55) exceed language-literacy (r = .38) and mathematics/literacy-achievement (r = .27) — related
• Screening tools in the Three Tier model show a moderate pooled correlation with academic achievement outcomes (r = .51), with very high heterogeneity — related
• Sensitivity and specificity of Three Tier screening tools vary widely, and no studies report language-domain-only accuracy — related