1. Education and the law In 2001, the Federal Government mandated that states attempt to close the academic achievement gap, also known as No Child Left Behind Act. Children with disabilities have scored among the low achiever for academic success when administered standardized tests. In order to bridge this gap, we must first look at the general education curriculum.(1) All children must be given the opportunity to develop skills required to be academically successful within the general education curriculum. Since reading is the foundation skill for all learning , it is essential that children with disabilities receive targeted and effective instruction that addresses their core weaknesses in reading (Lloyd, 2005). The Access Center improving Outcomes for All students k-8

2. The type of assessment that informs instruction does not necessarily need to be a formal reading test that was purchased from a publisher, although it certainly can be. Assessment can be a simple observation of a child's behavior when writing; it can be an observation of how well a child plays a word game; it can be an observation of a child's oral reading fluency. Every observation has the potential to be an assessment. It is a good idea, however, to combine teacher observations with more formal and objective assessment information -- the two complement each other, and give the teacher a much better informed picture.*( balanced reading.com)