Universal screening is much like a benchmark. Students will be reading passages of text and answering questions. One primary difference between a universal screening and a benchmark is that the universal screening is timed. The results of the universal screening are not reviewed with students. This same instrument will be used again in January to determine if students are making “measurable progress.” The passages are selected to be challenging to the students, yet at the same time they must have questions that are research-based (questions that have already been field-tested for error).

Log on to www.rtinetwork.org for more information about universal screening. They define this as a process of reviewing student performance through formal and/or informal assessment measures to determine progress in relation to student benchmarks; related directly to student learning standards.