One type of assessment is a full formal evaluation and can indicate the presence of a  Specific Learning Disability (SLD), such as dyslexia or LBLD, or another diagnosis. It involves formal testing ”to identify an individual’s learning strengths and weaknesses and likely source of academic problems—and to determine if the profile fits the definition of a learning disorder (diagnosis)” (“Testing and Evaluation”, n.d.). Although parents and teachers provide important and anecdotal information, the tests administered in a full formal evaluation are typically given by testing professionals, such as school psychologists, neuropsychologists, and speech-language pathologists. Teachers may conduct the academic portion of a school-based formal evaluation, particularly special education teachers or specialists; however, general education teachers don’t typically administer these tests (“Testing and Evaluation”, n.d.). 

Why are formal evaluations important?

A full formal evaluation may be necessary to determine the student’s set of strengths and weaknesses. If the formal evaluation determines the presence of a Specific Learning Disability (SLD), such as dyslexia or LBLD, documentation for special education services may follow and an appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) may be devised to ensure the implementation of effective accommodations and/or modifications (“Testing and Evaluation”, n.d.). There are many formal assessments that can be administered to quantify a student’s abilities. 

Intelligence

Why is it important to test intelligence? 

It is important to test intelligence because the results from intelligence tests and subtests can provide insight into why a student might struggle with an aspect of reading. For example, if a student scored low on the memory related subtests of an intelligence test, it could be concluded that those deficits are contributing to the students’ reading difficulties. 

Although much weight is put on the results of intelligence testing, it is not the final predictor of success for students as there are many factors that contribute to one’s ability to achieve their individual goals. It is also important to understand that intelligence tests contain bias and thus it is important to mitigate possible bias by using many types of assessments and data, not just a single test to measure intelligence/cognitive ability

What is included in an intelligence test? 

Tests of intelligence typically include measures to show someone’s ability to use logic or reasoning to solve problems. They also test memory, comprehension, spatial reasoning, and the executive functions. 

Oral Language Skills

Why is it important to test oral language skills?

Although assessing oral language skills may seem counterintuitive to measuring reading skills, it is important to draw a comparison between a student’s oral language skills (such as listening comprehension) and reading comprehension skills because a discrepancy between the two can reveal some information about why a student might be struggling with reading comprehension. In regards to oral language skills, Lowell states that “Performance on these measures can give insight into vocabulary knowledge and verbal reasoning and does not require any reading.” (Lowell, 2014, p. 47).  More importantly, though, it is through oral language that often the first signs of language difficulty are apparent (Kilpatrick, p. 233). These skills are typically assessed in an evaluation administered by an SLP.

What is included in an oral language test?

Tests that measure oral language may include an assessment of students’:

• Vocabulary- a student’s word knowledge and use 
• Grammar – a student’s ability to compose oral sentences that follow language conventions
• Syntax – a student’s ability to correctly compose oral sentences that follow language rules and convention 
• Morphology – correct pronunciation of words
• Higher-order thinking – abstract thinking about the meaning of language
  • Finding the main idea
  • Drawing inferences
  • Summarizing
  • Finding the relationship between two concepts

Word identification

Why is it important to test word identification?

Testing word identification is essential in any battery of tests to measure literacy as the ability to recognize words is often an area of weakness for individuals with dyslexia (Lowell, 2014, p. 40). 

What is included in a word identification test?

For the specific reading task of word identification, assessments need to measure how accurately and fluently words can be read. Students will typically be asked to read lists of words that correlate to their age or grade level, and then their performance is compared to what is expected for students of that age or grade level. Sight vocabulary, or words that are recognized instantly, are also important to measure when assessing word recognition (Kilpatrick, 2015, p. 200).  Because sight word vocabulary is the end game of word recognition and an essential building block in the reading process, Kilpatrick encourages evaluators to look to examine if the test is timed or untimed. A timed test where a student performs well can be a good indicator that many of the words on the test are sight words, as a “reader’s verbal response to a familiar word typically begins in less than a second. If a student requires a longer initial response time, such as a full second or longer to correctly identify a word, it suggests that the word is not in the student’s sight-word vocabulary”  (p.203). 

Decoding/Phonics Skills 

Why is it important to test decoding and phonics skills?

Phonics allows students to associate speech sounds with letters, and decoding allows students to connect sound-symbol relationships to read words. These skills are important to assess because they are essential for reading; effective readers know the code of the letter system, and thus they can decode a word whether it is real or nonsense. Similar to word identification, 

different information can be gained from the assessment depending on whether it is timed or not because timed tests can show how quickly students recognize common letter patterns. 

What is included in a decoding/phonics test:

Decoding and phonics tests typically ask students to read a list of nonsense words that have letter combinations that are permissible in English. 

Spelling

Why is it important to test spelling? 

Spelling is important to test as it is a skill that is closely tied to reading; intact phonemic awareness skills and phonics skills are crucial in the ability to spell words correctly, as is knowledge of morphology (i.e., smallest meaningful parts of words like prefixes, suffixes, and word roots).  Poor spelling can usually indicate an issue with some aspects of reading. Assessing spelling skills can also show a student’s orthographic and phonics skills (Lowell, 2014, p.40). 

What is included in a spelling test?

Typically, spelling is assessed by, “asking students to spell a variety of types of words with varying phonics patterns, words containing the six syllable types in English, words illustrating common spelling rules and patterns, and words with irregular spelling patterns” (Lowell, 2014, p.40). 

Phonological Processing

Why is it important to test phonological processing?

Phonological processing skills may include phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonological memory. Research suggests that phonological processing deficits are at the root of most reading difficulties. Therefore, identifying deficits in phonological processing can explain many difficulties with reading (Lowell, 2014, p.40). 

What is included in a test of phonological processing?

Phonological processing is measured by asking students to rhyme, segment, isolate, and categorize sounds within words (Kilpatrick, 2015, p.155). A thorough assessment will measure three phonological processing skills. Click on each skill to learn more. 

• Phonological Awareness: This is measured by segmenting speech into words, syllables and sounds.

• Phonemic Awareness: This is measured by asking students to repeat or manipulate the sounds that they hear in words. 

• Phonological Memory: This is measured by testing students’ ability to hold sounds in their head long enough to be able to read and is typically tested by having students repeat strings of numbers or unfamiliar nonsense words. 

Fluency Skills  

Why is it important to assess fluency skills? 

To complete a task fluently implies that the task was done accurately, efficiently, and without much effort. In terms of reading, fluency is the gateway to comprehension and without fluent automatic recognition of words and passages, students can experience negative consequences in reading comprehension (Kilpatrick, 2015, p. 199). 

To understand a student’s issues with fluency, there needs to be an understanding of where the reading breakdown exists, as sometimes poor fluency can be masked by other skills.  For example, a student may read accurately and quickly but their voice may lack phrasing and intonation. Other times, students may read accurately and at an appropriate rate, but are unable to comprehend what they read. Kilpatrick (2015) elaborates, “Compensating students can sometimes mimic fluent reading but at the cost of compromising their reading comprehension.  Without displaying the great effort involved, they can combine their limited sight vocabulary with phonic decoding and typically strong set for variability to produce what sounds like a fairly normal level of fluency” (p. 217). Whatever the core issue is, educators and families must follow up and examine and understand the reasons for poor fluency scores on an assessment. 

What is included in a test of automaticity or fluency?

Students will typically read passages that are leveled according to grade-level expectations.   

Reading Comprehension

Why test reading comprehension?

It is widely noted that reading comprehension is the end game of reading and is the goal of all reading instruction and remediation (Lowell, 2014, p.45). To make progress in academics, to move from learning to read to reading to learn, students need to be able to understand what they read. Comprehension of text is complex and layered, and it requires the activation of many different reading skills. It is important to note that comprehension tests themselves cannot pinpoint where a student might be struggling with reading; however, the results can give an indication that there is a breakdown. Additionally, when assessing student performance on a reading comprehension measure, it is important to understand what has influenced the tests and what the test is designed to measure (Kilpatrick, 2015, p. 244). For example, Kilpatrick (2015) cautions about the use of comprehension questions in an assessment that can be answered correctly by relying on background knowledge, rather than reading and understanding the passage (p. 240).  

What is included in a test of reading comprehension?

When students’ reading comprehension is assessed, their ability to understand what they read is measured.  Students’ understanding of text should be tested at the sentence level, paragraph level, and beyond. Also, students can be assessed on their silent or oral reading. Oftentimes,  students are asked to answer in multiple-choice format or orally. Older students are often asked to write answers which combine the suite of literacy skills: writing, spelling, and reading. Kilpatrick (2015) states in regard to reading comprehension assessment, “Best practice reading comprehension tests will involve multiple subtests and the assessment of key skills that underlie reading comprehension and general language comprehension” (p. 229).  

References: 

How do we select an effective screening tool? (2019, March 6). National Center on Improving Literacy. https://improvingliteracy.org/ask-an-expert/how-do-we-select-effective-screening-tool 

Intelligent intelligence testing. (n.d.). Https://Www.Apa.Org. Retrieved November 3, 2020, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/feb03/intelligent 

Kern, A. M., & Hosp, M. K. (2018). The status of decoding tests in instructional decision-making. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 44(1), 32–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534508417749874

Kilpatrick, D. A. (2015). Essentials of assessing, preventing, and overcoming reading difficulties. Wiley.

Lowell, S. C., Felton, R. H., & Hook, P. (2014). Basic facts about assessment of dyslexia: Testing for teaching. The International Dyslexia Association, Inc.

Lyon, G. R., Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (2003). Defining dyslexia, comorbidity, teachers’ knowledge of language and reading: A definition of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 53: 1-14.

Petscher, Y., Fien, H., Stanley, C., Gearin, B., Gaab, N., Fletcher, J.M., & Johnson, E. (2019). Screening for dyslexia. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center on Improving Literacy. Retrieved from improvingliteracy.org.

Science of reading: The podcast. (n.d.). Amplify. https://amplify.com/science-of-reading-the-podcast/ 

Testing and evaluation. (n.d.). International Dyslexia Association.https://dyslexiaida.org/testing-and-evaluation/ 

Universal screening: K–2 reading. (n.d.). International Dyslexia Association. https://dyslexiaida.org/universal-screening-k-2-reading-2/

Understanding screening: Classification accuracy. (2019, December 13). National Center on Improving Literacy. https://improvingliteracy.org/brief/understanding-screening-classification-accuracy