{"id":1439,"date":"2021-03-11T19:01:17","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T19:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.wilsonlanguage.com\/knowledge-library\/success-story\/just-words-or-wilson-reading-system\/"},"modified":"2024-08-28T19:04:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T19:04:10","slug":"just-words-or-wilson-reading-system","status":"publish","type":"success_stories","link":"https:\/\/dev.wilsonlanguage.com\/knowledge-library\/success-story\/just-words-or-wilson-reading-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Words\u00ae\u00a0or Wilson Reading System\u00ae?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You might be wondering if your struggling reader is a candidate for Just Words\u00ae<\/sup> or the Wilson Reading System\u00ae<\/sup> (WRS). If so, you\u2019re not alone\u2014many teachers face the same question. That\u2019s why Wilson provides straightforward guidance to help with student identification, a critical first step in intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructor-led workshops and courses, teacher manuals, and online support resources provide guidelines for placing students in the appropriate Wilson program. The guidelines, however, aren\u2019t absolute, so it\u2019s important that student placement is informed by a Student Support\/Response to Intervention (RtI) team and\/or Individualized Education Program (IEP) team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReading deficits fall on a continuum from mild to moderate to severe, but nevertheless impact a student\u2019s performance and potential,\u201d shared Wilson\u00ae<\/sup> Credentialed Trainer (W.C.T.) Jeanne Morgan, Teaching Assistant Principal at Waterford Public Schools in Connecticut, and President of the Dyslexia Society of Connecticut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAppropriate identification and analysis of a student\u2019s strengths and challenges helps develop an individualized literacy plan that is most effective and efficient while maintaining core academic instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the key differences between Just Words and WRS and the important steps and measures that come into play when selecting the appropriate intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Just Words the Right Fit?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developed as a Tier 2 intervention, Just Words is a highly explicit program for students in grades 4-12 and adults who have mild to moderate gaps in their decoding and spelling proficiency, but who do not have a significant language learning disability such as dyslexia. The program\u2019s name reflects that it\u2019s just the word study<\/em> component of the WRS curriculum at an accelerated pace. As such, it moves quickly through word structure instruction and can be completed in one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The targeted, high-quality literacy instruction provided in a Just Words class helps students build the word-level skills they need to achieve academic success in English Language Arts (ELA) and other subject areas. In the current educational climate, Just Words may prove especially helpful for educators looking to close learning gaps caused by COVID-19 related instructional disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a successful Just Words class, proper student placement and grouping is key. This means groups should consist of no more than 15 students who are similar in age, grade, and cognitive ability. Additionally, grouped students should share similar scores on word identification and spelling measures. On a related note, it\u2019s important for teachers to use more than total reading scores and comprehension scores to determine class placement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another grouping tip to keep in mind concerns the pretesting or screening of students. Whenever possible, this should happen in the spring semester prior to the start of instruction. The benefits of this are twofold: it allows time to properly set up Just Words classes and reduces the risk of inappropriate grouping due to scheduling issues.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who should be pretested\/screened? All at-risk students who have district reading scores or standardized reading scores below the 50th percentile should be tested or screened in advance. If appropriate, class performance and other underlying factors should also be considered when determining which students to screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency-2 (TOSWRF-2) and spelling subtests from the Word Identification and Spelling Test (WIST) are examples of screening measures that can be administered to provide an assessment of word reading fluency and spelling. Students who score between the 16th and 50th percentiles in either subtest should be considered for a more detailed diagnostic assessment. This will help determine if placement in a Just Words class is appropriate, and if so, guide the grouping of students according to their percentile scores and areas of deficit. The WIST Word Identification and Sound-Symbol Knowledge subtests can be used for this purpose also, as they will provide a student\u2019s Fundamental Literacy Ability Index. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students with a Fundamental Literacy Ability Index score between the 16th and 50th percentiles are likely to be selected as Just Words candidates. However, some students who fall into this range, particularly students who score between the 16th and 30th percentiles, may need a more intensive reading intervention. These individuals, along with students who score at or below the 15th percentile, should be further assessed for placement in WRS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Wilson Reading System the Right Fit?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WRS, the foundation of all other Wilson programs, is an intensive Tier 3 curriculum for students in grades 2-12 and adults with a language-based learning disability, such as dyslexia. Highly explicit, systematic, and cumulative, it\u2019s suited for students who aren\u2019t making sufficient progress with their current intervention or have been unable to learn with other teaching strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, WRS candidates often exhibit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n