Instruments to Assess Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
The Phonological Awareness Test
The Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation
The Phonological Awareness Assessment Instrument
The Phonological Awareness Test
The purpose of The Phonological Awareness Test is to serve as a tool to measure students' (second semester kindergarten through second grade) ability on five phonemic awareness tasks: segmentation, isolation, deletion, substitution, and blending. Additionally, the test measures sensitivity to rhyme, knowledge of graphemes, and decoding skills. There is also an optional spelling test. This test is administered individually.
The test was developed in response to the overwhelming research on the literacy development of young children that has concluded that there is a high correlation between a child's phonological and phonemic awareness and his/her success with beginning reading and spelling.
If diagnosed in a timely fashion and provided with explicit/systematic training in phonological and phonemic awareness, students can become competent in this area and improve their chances to experience success with beginning reading and spelling instruction.
In addition to assessing a students' phonological and phonemic awareness skills, The Phonological Awareness Test provides information on a student's knowledge of grapheme's and their corresponding sounds, decoding ability, and spelling competency.
To administer the test the complete Phonological Awareness Test kit is required. The kit contains:
- the examiner's manual
- student response sheets
-manipulatives (8 unifix cubes, 2 each of 4 different colors)
- student grapheme booklet
- student decoding booklet
The test should be administered in a quiet place so that the student will be free from distractions.
The examiner's manual suggests that the test be administered in one session that is approximately forty minutes long. My experience with the test is that it takes longer than the recommended 40 minutes to administer.
The test should be administered by a professional trained in phonological awareness, such as a speech and language pathologist, a special educator, or a certified reading specialist.
The Phonological Awareness Test (PAT) was developed by Carolyn Robertson and Wanda Salter. It was originally published in 1995. The test can be purchased from:
Lingui Systems
3100 4th Avenue
East Moline IL 61244-9700
Telephone: 1 (800) 776-4332
The cost of the test is $109.95. Shipping and handling is an additional $11.00.
The Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation
The Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation has proven to be a reliable measure of a student's phonemic awareness ability.
Designed to be used with English speaking kindergartners, this 22 item test is individually administered and requires about 5 - 10 minutes for each student. This test is designed to measure a students' ability to orally segment the phonemes in a word in their correct order. Immediately prior to the administration of the test, a student is trained with three practice items. Feedback is provided to the child in the form of praise, or in the case of an error, the correct answer is modeled. A correct response is one in which each phoneme in the target word is correctly articulated.
Students who obtain a perfect or nearly perfect score are those who are phonemically aware. Students who respond correctly to some of the items may be thought of as having emerging phonemic awareness skills. Low performing students are most likely to experience difficulty with reading and spelling unless immediate, intensive intervention is provided.
Analysis of the Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation indicates that it is a valid measure of phonemic awareness. This tool serves as a powerful predictor of possible reading and spelling difficulties. If used correctly and in a timely fashion, the information gained from this test can be used to identify students and plan intervention programs for "at-risk" readers and spellers.
To administer the Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation, all that is needed is the test page and a pencil.
The Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation was published in The Reading Teacher 49 (1), p. 22 (September, 1995). The author, Hallie K. Yopp of the California State University at Fullerton, has granted her permission for this test to be reproduced.
The Phonological Awareness Assessment Instrument
The Phonological Awareness Assessment Instrument is a group administered pencil and paper test that assesses students in six areas of phonological and phonemic awareness: Detecting Rhymes, Counting Syllables, Matching Initial Sounds, Counting Phonemes, Comparing Word Lengths, and Representing Phonemes with Letters. The possible maximum score is 5 points, yielding a total maximum score of 30 points.
To administer the test all that is needed is the student test booklet (easily reproduced with the permission of the authors), the teacher demonstration pages, and pencils.
The test administration takes about 30 minutes with kindergarten students. The authors recommend that the group size for first grade students not exceed 15 students and no more than 6 for groups of kindergartners. The authors also recommend that two teachers be involved in the administration of the test.
I find this instrument to be a useful screening device.
This assessment can be found in the book, Phonemic Awareness in Young Children, by Marilyn Jager Adams, Barbara R. Foorman, Ingvar Lundberg, and Terri Beeler. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company, Baltimore, MD (1989).