Screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic assessment are essential in instructional planning and literacy teaching. What is their primary purpose?

• A. Identify students who may require additional support, monitor progress over time, and inform targeted instruction
• B. Determine teacher workload
• C. Evaluate school funding
• D. Grade students on behavior

Answer: (A)

Screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic assessment are used to inform instruction by first identifying students who may need extra help, then watching how they grow over time, and finally pinpointing exact skill gaps to tailor targeted teaching. Screening acts as a quick check to flag students at risk in literacy. Progress monitoring tracks progress regularly to see if strategies and interventions are effective. Diagnostic assessment digs deeper into specific areas of difficulty (like decoding, fluency, or comprehension) so you can design precise instruction that addresses those weaknesses. Together, these tools shape what you teach, how you group students, and what supports you provide.

The other options miss this instructional planning focus: they relate to workload, funding, or behavior grading rather than guiding literacy instruction and intervention.