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Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties
Practical, effective, evidence-based reading interventions that change students' lives Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties is a practical, accessible, in-depth guide to reading assessment and intervention. It provides a detailed discussion of the nature and causes of reading difficulties, which will help develop the knowledge and confidence needed to accurately assess why a student is struggling. Readers will learn a framework for organizing testing results from current assessment batteries such as the WJ-IV, KTEA-3, and CTOPP-2. Case studies illustrate each of the concepts covered. A thorough discussion is provided on the assessment of phonics skills, phonological awareness, word recognition, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Formatted for easy reading as well as quick reference, the text includes bullet points, icons, callout boxes, and other design elements to call attention to important information.
Although a substantial amount of research has shown that most reading difficulties can be prevented or corrected, standard reading remediation efforts have proven largely ineffective. School psychologists are routinely called upon to evaluate students with reading difficulties and to make recommendations to address such difficulties. This book provides an overview of the best assessment and intervention techniques, backed by the most current research findings.
Bridge the gap between research and practice Accurately assess the reason(s) why a student struggles in reading Improve reading skills using the most highly effective evidence-based techniques Reading may well be the most important thing students are taught during their school careers. It is a skill they will use every day of their lives; one that will dictate, in part, later life success. Struggling students need help now, and Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties shows how to get these students on track.
Although a substantial amount of research has shown that most reading difficulties can be prevented or corrected, standard reading remediation efforts have proven largely ineffective. School psychologists are routinely called upon to evaluate students with reading difficulties and to make recommendations to address such difficulties. This book provides an overview of the best assessment and intervention techniques, backed by the most current research findings.
Bridge the gap between research and practice Accurately assess the reason(s) why a student struggles in reading Improve reading skills using the most highly effective evidence-based techniques Reading may well be the most important thing students are taught during their school careers. It is a skill they will use every day of their lives; one that will dictate, in part, later life success. Struggling students need help now, and Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties shows how to get these students on track.
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 10, 2015
154 people are currently reading
435 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 23, 2021
A long, in-depth read that stalled all my other books. More like reading a textbook than an informational no -fiction but the presentation of the research and information is great. Makes me frustrated at the current lack of research-based intervention I see in my schools
February 27, 2024
I’m not sure I could have made it through this if it was not required reading for a class because it is dense. But it shaped/shifted my thinking on multiple subjects, and I’m glad I read it. Kilpatrick wrote what I had been craving, nuanced and detailed summaries of research, in depth explanation of how components of reading contribute to the larger goal, and implications for reading instruction systems.
February 9, 2018
There was a lot of information to digest in this book, as the author explained many, many studies of reading. I thought his treatment of Orton-Gillingham methods for dyslexia was rather cavalier. In order to get his specifics for prevention/intervention, one needs to buy the follow-up book, Equipped for Reading Success. There is a link in this book to a couple of chapters of Equipped for Reading Success, and free access to his PAST screening test, so that's nice. If you want the background on the research, this is a good book for that. If you want the prevention/intervention plans, buy the other book, which also has a couple of chapters about his conclusion that advanced phonemic awareness is the key for many kinds of struggling readers.
December 30, 2019
Kilpatrick's research is a game changer for teachers who are looking for ways to reach all kids, especially those students who are tangled readers. These tangled readers might be students who are obviously behind, have just barely made benchmark across the school year to avoid further testing, or those who do not read with sufficient fluency to comprehend in higher grades. Kilpatrick's research might explain why you have a very bright sophomore, or fourth grader or second grader, etc., who struggles because she does not do her reading. It also explains how to help in a way that I have tried and seen help all of my students...more on that below.
Kilpatrick presents important concepts in an engaging and well-researched way that I have struggled in the past to know deeper. For example, he discusses the various approaches that are common in today's literacy instruction. He then goes on to describe the impact of findings from the research into the science of reading and their implications for how we teach kids to read.
His Essentials book (2015) is at its core a solid description of how phonological awareness impacts the way humans read at the foundational level. It also offers very clear ways to include phonological awareness instruction into you current approach to reading instruction. Solid phonological awareness is basically what readers tap into at the brain level as they are reading. It enables readers to apply their knowledge of letters and sounds, then phonics, word study and vocabulary to actually map new words into sight-word memory. This means that high-level approaches to teaching decoding through phonics like Orton-Gillingham now have the underlying neurological foundation to code new words into sight memory. Kilpatrick does a much better job of explaining this process called orthographic mapping than I.
So, do I recommend Essentials (2015) for busy parents and teachers who are looking to significantly improve their approach to literacy instruction? Yes...well, sort of...
I actually recommend that you first read Kilpatrick's book, Equipped for Reading Success (2016, spiral bound) and then buy the Essentials (2015) book if you want to go deeper.
Let me explain. I found out about Kilpatrick's work from some other reading and specialist teachers, whom I consider to be highly-skilled teachers, during an Orton-Gillingham training over last summer. I bought Kilpatrick's Essentials (2015) book first because it was cheaper and the Colorado Department of Ed offers a free online course on it through Colorado's efforts to comply with its READ Act legislation. Essentials (2015) is a great read and has very useful research with instructional implications.
I liked Essentials (2015) so much that I bought his phonological awareness program, which is the one I mentioned at the start of this paragraph above, Equipped for Reading Success (2016 spiral version). Equipped for Reading Success (2016 spiral version) by Kilpatrick contains concise articles that present the same information as the Essentials book but also includes the actual assessments, instructional how-to explanations and materials to use with kids. It is also published in a spiral format, which I appreciate because it lies flat so I could read the articles in short periods of time over breakfast and quickly access during class time throughout my day at school. I have also used the articles from the spiral 2016 version during PD for both staff and parents.
I have used this 2016 spiral version alongside the Lucy Calkins Units of Study in reading, phonics and writing, in addition to what I have learned through training in the Orton-Gillingham approach. Shifting my approach through what I learned in Kilpatrick's work has had a substantially positive impact on my first grade students over a very short time. I had over 76% of my students far-below grade level on the first grade fall DIBELS benchmark assessment. I now have 70% at or above grade level on the mid-year DIBELS. I have not seen that level of progress in reading over my 13 year career teaching. I believe this improvement is directly due to the explicit instruction in phonological awareness that Kilpatrick's program provides.
Pre Kilpatrick, I often felt that the kids who paid attention progressed and the kids who needed instruction continued spacing out. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that way. Such phonological development has led to noticeably higher engagement, especially among those very interested in shoe laces. The kids seem to better integrate others lessons during phonics and reading lessons in a way that I had not yet experienced as a teacher. The phonological instruction becomes quick with practice and has multisensory steps so that the new learning actually sticks. Next, I want to see how this approach might identify and support kids who are stuck compensating with poor phonological development as readers at higher grades.
Kilpatrick's research was unsettling at first because what I thought I knew about reading development needed a significant shift. After all, I have spent so much free time researching and taking classes on the reading process from other literacy writers like Burins and Yaris, Calkins, Clay, Richardson, Routman, Serravallo, Fountas and Pinnell, and Scanlon. Lately, I've spent some serious time and money to learn about the Orton-Gillingham approach and Luisa Moats' research, which is another layer that seems to be where current best practices are heading in reading instruction. Yet, Kilpatrick's books stand out because they actually describe how the brain reads. I realized after a few months of trying to integrate his approach to phonological instruction that all of those other authors now make more sense regarding when and how to use their respective approaches. I am thrilled by the possibilities that have opened as a result of shifting my instruction to include Kilpatrick's research.
Kilpatrick presents important concepts in an engaging and well-researched way that I have struggled in the past to know deeper. For example, he discusses the various approaches that are common in today's literacy instruction. He then goes on to describe the impact of findings from the research into the science of reading and their implications for how we teach kids to read.
His Essentials book (2015) is at its core a solid description of how phonological awareness impacts the way humans read at the foundational level. It also offers very clear ways to include phonological awareness instruction into you current approach to reading instruction. Solid phonological awareness is basically what readers tap into at the brain level as they are reading. It enables readers to apply their knowledge of letters and sounds, then phonics, word study and vocabulary to actually map new words into sight-word memory. This means that high-level approaches to teaching decoding through phonics like Orton-Gillingham now have the underlying neurological foundation to code new words into sight memory. Kilpatrick does a much better job of explaining this process called orthographic mapping than I.
So, do I recommend Essentials (2015) for busy parents and teachers who are looking to significantly improve their approach to literacy instruction? Yes...well, sort of...
I actually recommend that you first read Kilpatrick's book, Equipped for Reading Success (2016, spiral bound) and then buy the Essentials (2015) book if you want to go deeper.
Let me explain. I found out about Kilpatrick's work from some other reading and specialist teachers, whom I consider to be highly-skilled teachers, during an Orton-Gillingham training over last summer. I bought Kilpatrick's Essentials (2015) book first because it was cheaper and the Colorado Department of Ed offers a free online course on it through Colorado's efforts to comply with its READ Act legislation. Essentials (2015) is a great read and has very useful research with instructional implications.
I liked Essentials (2015) so much that I bought his phonological awareness program, which is the one I mentioned at the start of this paragraph above, Equipped for Reading Success (2016 spiral version). Equipped for Reading Success (2016 spiral version) by Kilpatrick contains concise articles that present the same information as the Essentials book but also includes the actual assessments, instructional how-to explanations and materials to use with kids. It is also published in a spiral format, which I appreciate because it lies flat so I could read the articles in short periods of time over breakfast and quickly access during class time throughout my day at school. I have also used the articles from the spiral 2016 version during PD for both staff and parents.
I have used this 2016 spiral version alongside the Lucy Calkins Units of Study in reading, phonics and writing, in addition to what I have learned through training in the Orton-Gillingham approach. Shifting my approach through what I learned in Kilpatrick's work has had a substantially positive impact on my first grade students over a very short time. I had over 76% of my students far-below grade level on the first grade fall DIBELS benchmark assessment. I now have 70% at or above grade level on the mid-year DIBELS. I have not seen that level of progress in reading over my 13 year career teaching. I believe this improvement is directly due to the explicit instruction in phonological awareness that Kilpatrick's program provides.
Pre Kilpatrick, I often felt that the kids who paid attention progressed and the kids who needed instruction continued spacing out. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that way. Such phonological development has led to noticeably higher engagement, especially among those very interested in shoe laces. The kids seem to better integrate others lessons during phonics and reading lessons in a way that I had not yet experienced as a teacher. The phonological instruction becomes quick with practice and has multisensory steps so that the new learning actually sticks. Next, I want to see how this approach might identify and support kids who are stuck compensating with poor phonological development as readers at higher grades.
Kilpatrick's research was unsettling at first because what I thought I knew about reading development needed a significant shift. After all, I have spent so much free time researching and taking classes on the reading process from other literacy writers like Burins and Yaris, Calkins, Clay, Richardson, Routman, Serravallo, Fountas and Pinnell, and Scanlon. Lately, I've spent some serious time and money to learn about the Orton-Gillingham approach and Luisa Moats' research, which is another layer that seems to be where current best practices are heading in reading instruction. Yet, Kilpatrick's books stand out because they actually describe how the brain reads. I realized after a few months of trying to integrate his approach to phonological instruction that all of those other authors now make more sense regarding when and how to use their respective approaches. I am thrilled by the possibilities that have opened as a result of shifting my instruction to include Kilpatrick's research.
July 30, 2018
LOTS of information in this book backed by sound research. As a dyslexia teacher, this was a very thought-provoking and important read. I wish all reading teachers/specialists, diagnosticians, special education teachers, and administrators were required to read this.
Read
August 5, 2020This book is a must-read for anyone who is trying to teach reading well. It's an easy read and I found the information to be applicable to all age groups. It's vital for all primary school administrations to know this information and if I were a wealthy philanthropist, I'd be donating copies to all my local schools. For most teachers, this is probably too much information and not practical enough and you might be better off going straight to the manual (Equipped for Reading Success) but if you're trying to learn more about how reading works, how to remediate reading difficulties, how to reform your literacy program or transform your classroom teaching, then this book is worth a read. I highly recommend it. I will also say, it makes a great companion read to Reading in the Brain, because everything the books say is entirely consistent and just makes so much sense. Nevertheless, I found my mind being blown by some of the research presented in this book because even after quite some time following reading research and trying to improve my literacy teaching/support, there was still new information here in Kilpatrick's work that surprised and delighted me.
November 10, 2024
A must-read for all teachers, especially K-3 teachers, English teachers, and Inclusive Learning/Special Ed. teachers. I look forward to reading Kilpatrick's Equipped for Reading Success and learning how to translate the research presented in this book into practice. 6 stars out of 5.
July 29, 2020
If you are in a position to make big decisions in your district, work with K-5, or have lots of funds, this is definitely a 5/5.
I put 3 stars for any classroom teachers, especially if you teach older students, who are questioning if they should read this. The research is brilliant and thorough. Outside of that, I didn’t find a lot of directions for high school teachers. Furthermore, many of the desirable reading results depend on purchasing programs. You’ll want to purchase them after reading this—it’s not a catalogue—but who among us has that power? So, basically, classroom teachers: don’t read cover to cover. People who make the big bucks: read the whole thing.
I put 3 stars for any classroom teachers, especially if you teach older students, who are questioning if they should read this. The research is brilliant and thorough. Outside of that, I didn’t find a lot of directions for high school teachers. Furthermore, many of the desirable reading results depend on purchasing programs. You’ll want to purchase them after reading this—it’s not a catalogue—but who among us has that power? So, basically, classroom teachers: don’t read cover to cover. People who make the big bucks: read the whole thing.
May 26, 2022
I’m such a Kirkpatrick fan!! He brings light to the importance of phonological awareness in reading difficulties and also lays out Ehri’s orthographic mapping theory in a detailed way. This volume gets into the weeds of research quite a bit, with a lot of detail on a LOT of reading studies. But I feel like it’s a great bit of background as we hopefully move education more in to the “science of reading.” For a more practical approach to his findings you might try his book “Equipped for Reading Success.”
May 1, 2023
This was an intense read but so amazing. It went into detail about WHY students struggle to read. It described the different profiles of struggling readers. It really advocated for advanced phonological awareness training. I’ve shared so many things that I learned from this book with the teachers that I coach. It’s def not an easy read but so worth it! For any science of reading fan who wants to get really into the statistics and technical terms!
October 17, 2018
This is a well cited book regarding the current research on how students learn to read and what’s been missing in Tier 1 Instruction that could prevent reading difficulties from developing. I’ve also purchased Equipped for Reading Success and am working with teachers at my school to implement his program. Very important read for Diagnosticians, Reading Specialists and Special Education Teachers.
February 7, 2025
I read this book several years ago, but it had been one of the most profound books that shifted my thinking around literacy instruction and intervention. While there is some updated research that can feel contradictory to Kipatrick’s claims, this revolutionized the way I lead literacy instruction and still holds firm as an excellent source to guide educators.
February 5, 2020
Very dense and scientific book with a history of reading instruction theories and research-based solutions; incredibly informative. The next book, Equipped for Reading Success, includes a step-by-step program for developing phonemic awareness and fluent word recognition.
May 3, 2021
A MUST read for anyone who truly wants the best for all children. Kilpatrick eloquently combines the research into useable and understandable chunks. It is truly a mind blowing experience being educated on the Theory of Orthographic Mapping.
March 22, 2019
An excellent resource for anyone interested in delving into the reasons that our students struggle to learn to read.
May 15, 2019
A must read for educators and all teachers of reading along with the companion book Equipped for Reading Success.
August 19, 2019
Kilpatrick presents reading difficulties and the steps we can take to fix them, in a very reader friendly manner. This book is useful for anyone working with struggling readers!
June 27, 2021
Must read for every teacher ,especially JK -K3 division.
June 29, 2021
Excellent resource
November 18, 2021
This book is dense! I skimmed the chapters on assessments because they were over my head. Would love to revisit this book as I continue learning about the science of reading.
November 24, 2021
An excellent resource for reading interventionists and the like.
June 7, 2022
This has great information about the application of the science of reading and has some clear directions about what to do with students and assessments available.
February 21, 2023
This was an essential book for me to read. It will be a frequent reference book for me!
April 28, 2023
High praises for a book that successfully packs current theory and research into one volume. A text that can be referenced again and again. Should be required reading for graduate students.
December 15, 2023
Excellent content and examples but quite dense.
July 14, 2025
Still an excellent book. I would love to see an updated and revised edition!
December 1, 2025
It definitely has a textbook feel, but the information inside is incredibly helpful!
April 1, 2021
This book should be required reading for educators. As a Reading Specialist working with K-3rd graders, it was essential reading; but it would have also served me well to have read several chapters of it when I was a high school English teacher.
July 11, 2020
A very promising guide to addressing reading difficulties. Nonetheless, very redundant and a little bit misleading ('don't skip ahead!'). More of a resource than a reader. I think with a few select chapters most educator needs could be addressed.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews