Small-group interventions allow for tailored instruction for students with learning difficulties. A crucial first step is the accurate identification of students who need such an intervention. This study investigated how teachers decide whether their students need a remedial reading intervention. To this end, 64 teachers of 697 third-grade students from Germany were asked to rate whether a reading intervention for their students was "not necessary," "potentially necessary," or "definitely necessary." Independent experimenters tested the students' reading and spelling abilities with standardized tests, and a subsample of 370 children participated in standardized tests of phonological awareness and vocabulary. Findings show that teachers' decisions with regard to students' needing a reading intervention overlapped more with results from standardized spelling assessments than from reading assessments. Hierarchical linear models indicated that students' spelling abilities, along with phonological awareness and vocabulary, explained variance in teachers' ratings over and above students' reading skills. Teachers, thus, relied on proximal cues such as spelling skills to reach their decision. These findings are discussed in relation to clinical standards and educational contexts. Findings indicate that the teachers' assignment of children to interventions might be underspecified, and starting points for specific teacher training programs are outlined.

中文翻译：

---

小学教师使用哪些数据来确定学生的阅读困难？

小组干预可以为有学习困难的学生提供量身定制的指导。关键的第一步是准确识别需要此类干预的学生。这项研究调查了教师如何决定他们的学生是否需要辅导阅读干预。为此，来自德国的 697 名三年级学生的 64 名教师被要求对学生的阅读干预“没有必要”、“可能有必要”还是“绝对有必要”进行评分。独立实验者通过标准化测试测试学生的阅读和拼写能力，370名儿童的子样本参加了语音意识和词汇的标准化测试。研究结果表明，教师对学生的决定 需要阅读干预与标准化拼写评估结果的重叠程度高于阅读评估结果。分层线性模型表明，学生的拼写能力，连同语音意识和词汇，解释了教师评分的差异，而不是学生的阅读技能。因此，教师依靠诸如拼写技能等最接近的线索来做出决定。这些发现将结合临床标准和教育背景进行讨论。调查结果表明，教师对儿童进行干预的分配可能没有具体说明，并概述了具体教师培训计划的起点。拼写能力，连同语音意识和词汇，解释了教师对学生阅读技能的评分差异。因此，教师依靠诸如拼写技能等最接近的线索来做出决定。这些发现将结合临床标准和教育背景进行讨论。调查结果表明，教师对儿童进行干预的分配可能没有具体说明，并概述了具体教师培训计划的起点。拼写能力，连同语音意识和词汇，解释了教师对学生阅读技能的评分差异。因此，教师依靠诸如拼写技能等最接近的线索来做出决定。这些发现将结合临床标准和教育背景进行讨论。调查结果表明，教师对儿童进行干预的分配可能没有具体说明，并概述了具体教师培训计划的起点。