Phonemic Awareness: Part 5: Assessment Strategies

Directions: Look at the directions for administering the Yopp-Singer and the DIBELS assessments. Read them carefully so you are comfortable with them. What are they designed to assess? How do you score them? To make sure you are comfortable using them, find a child to assess. What were the results of your assessment? What would you recommend as next steps for that child based upon the results of the assessments?

The Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation:

According to Bulletin 1967. Louisiana K-3 Reading and Math Initiative, students who are reading "below level" as indicated on the Developmental Reading Assessment must be given the Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation. Students who are able to segment only a few items, or none at all, lack appropriate levels of phonemic awareness. Without intervention, those students scoring very low on the test are likely to experience difficulty with reading and spelling. These students should be referred to the School Building Level Committee for further screening.

Directions for Administering the Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation:
1. Have one test sheet for each student in the class that is to be assessed. THIS TEST IS STRICTLY ORAL. The child should not see the words on the list.
2. Assess students individually in a quiet place.
3. Keep the assessment playful and game-like.
4. Explain the game to the student exactly as the directions specify.
5. Model for the student what he or she needs to do with each of the practice words. Have them break apart each word with you.

Students are given the following directions upon administration of the test:

"Today we're going to play a word game. I'm going to say a word and I want you to break the word apart. You are going to say the word slowly, and then tell me each sound in the word in order. For example, if I say 'old: you should say `/o/-/l/-/d/'. (The teacher says the sound, not the letters.) Let's try a few words together. "

The practice items are ride, go, and man. The teacher should help the student with each sample item, segmenting the item for the student if necessary and encouraging the student to repeat the segmented word. The student is then given the 22 item test. If the child responds correctly, the teacher says, "That's right " If the student gives an incorrect response, he or she is corrected. The teacher provides the appropriate response. The teacher circles the numbers of all correct answers.

The student's score is the number of items correctly segmented into all constituent phonemes. No partial credit is given. For instance, if a student says "/c/-/at/" instead of "/c/-/a/-/t/," the response may be noted on the blank line following the items but is considered incorrect for the purposes of scoring. Correct responses are only those that involve articulation of each phoneme in the target word.

Teachers may gently provide the correct answer to the child after incorrect response. For example:

If the child responds with a partial segmentation ("/d/-/og/"), the teacher should record the response as given, then say something like: "That's close, but you only separated some of the sounds. Please separate all of them like this: dog is /d//o//g/".

If a child restates the word, encourage separation of sounds saying, " Yes, the word is "dog. " Can you tell me all the sounds you hear in the word 'dog'? " If the child continues to restate the word, record that response.

If the child responds by spelling the word, say "Wow! You spelled that word! Very good, but what I am asking you to do is tell me all of the sounds, not the letters in the word. " Let the child try again and record that response.

If a child shrugs, restate the item and encourage a response. Then, if no response is obtained, provide the correct response before moving to the next item.

Some children have phonological delays; their articulation is not fully developed. It is not uncommon to see a kindergartner or first grader who has difficulty with the /s/ and/or /r/ sounds. A child may pronounce "sat," for example, as "that." If a child responds "/th/ -/a/ - /t/" for "sat," score the response as correct, but note the articulation problem.

Students who segment all or nearly all of the items correctly (17-22 items correct) may be considered phonemically aware. Students who correctly segment some items (7-16 correct) are displaying emerging phonemic awareness. Students who are able to segment only a few items or none at all (0-6 items correct) lack appropriate levels of phonemic awareness. Without intervention, those students scoring very low on the test are likely to experience difficulty with reading and spelling. These students should be provided with considerable linguistic stimulation that focuses on the sound structure of their spoken language in conjunction with their reading programs.

See file: Yopp_Singer.doc

DIBELS Assessment:
The DIBELS assessment is also excellent for early literacy. Access these materials free of charge at: http://dibels.uoregon.edu/.

Self-Evaluation of Module:
Go back to the pretest. Did you get more correct this time?

How will you incorporate the essentials of teaching phonemic awareness into your teaching?