Reading Assessments

Helping you make informed decisions for improved reading.

Elementary •  Middle School   •   High School

Reading Assessments – The Process

The assessments you decide to schedule with your child’s tutor are built into the first few sessions, so we’ll work at your child’s pace! No rush, no stress, we like to say “just try your best!” When your child completes the predetermined assessments, the tutor will take some time to thoroughly go over the information they’ve been able to collect. 

We’ll make sure to write up a report that summarizes how your student performed on each assessment so you have a copy in writing. We do our very best to leave out the technical jargon and break it down into simple terminology so that you have a thorough understanding of how your child is performing. If you still have questions, that’s fine too! Our tutors are happy to sit down for a meeting to explain any lingering questions you may have about the assessments and scoring. 

This way, you are able to make informed decisions based on data collected by experienced educators. By working to fill the gaps in the skills that are identified, you will be laying a solid foundation for your child so that they can achieve academic greatness–and feel proud and empowered while doing it!

Cost:

$250

What’s Included:
  • 2 hours of one-on-one assessment 
    • can be broken up into 2 sessions
  • ½ hour conference to discuss the findings
  • 1 page write-up with results 
A full reading assessment will include each of the following:

What are Sight Words?
Sight words are high-frequency words that show up often in printed text. Although some of the words in the Dolch word list can be sounded out using phonics knowledge, Dolch words are often referred to as “Sight Words” because they should be recognized automatically in order to promote fluency.

Recommended For
Lower elementary grades.

How We Help

  • We will assess your student’s recognition of the words on the Dolch word list.
  • We identify which words your student needs more practice with and what grade levels they have mastered.

Why Dolch?
There are different sight word lists depending on the researcher who developed them. The Dolch word list is one of the most widely used. Edward William Dolch, PhD, researched children’s books to determine which words were most frequently used. The purpose of learning this list of 220 common words is to speed the development of reading fluency in children who are learning to read.

What is Spelling Inventory?
Spelling inventories assess your child’s ability to apply phonics skills when spelling words.  The scoring of this assessment will identify any gaps in phonics knowledge recall.

Recommended For
Lower elementary grades up to high school level.

How We Help

  • We identify the gaps in your child’s memory of spelling patterns and phonics knowledge.
  • We work to fill these gaps to lay a solid foundation for spelling and reading success!

More Details
There are different spelling word lists for students of varying abilities. Each list contains words that represent a variety of spelling features. The words on each list are ordered by difficulty, gradually getting more difficult.

The scoring sheet for this assessment allows the instructor to note which spelling features have been mastered and where there may still be gaps in students’ phonics knowledge. This will narrow down the stage of spelling development your child is in and provide a road map to improvement.

What is Phonics and Decoding ?
Phonics and decoding is all about knowing the relationships between letters, or groups of letters, and the sounds they represent. This is the key to learning how to sound out or “decode” words when learning to read.

Recommended For
Lower elementary grades.

Why Choose Phonics & Decoding

  • If your child is struggling to read, this is one of the most informative assessments as far as their phonics knowledge and ability to sound out words.
  • This assessment will help determine if a specially trained reading instructor might be needed.

More Details
The phonics assessment we generally use is based on the Orton-Gillingham, research-based, scientific approach to reading and writing instruction. Students will start by naming letter names and identifying letter sounds. Then, students will be asked to decode (sound out) a series of words that are grouped by similar phonics features. The complexity of the words will gradually get harder.

Areas where the instructor finds decoding difficult for the students will then help identify the gaps and provide data the tutor can use to better customize tutoring to your child’s needs.

What is Guided Reading Level?
Knowing what reading level appropriately challenges your child can help you make better-informed decisions regarding reading materials. When a book is the ”right level” it means it’s easy enough to understand and enjoy, but challenging enough to allow them to grow as a reader.

Recommended For
Lower elementary grades through high school.

Why Choose Reading Level Assessment

  • To better assess how your child is performing in reading for their grade level and compare to grade-level standards.
  • While schools may provide a similar assessment at the start of a school year, having “in season” assessments can make sure your student is on the right track.

How It Works
Using an online assessment tool, your child will read a passage selected by the tutor, answer five comprehension questions about what they read, and then do a quick retelling of the important details of the story.

During the assessment, your child may have to read more than one passage, and it may also need to be done in more than one sitting. The tutor will take some time to score the accuracy of your child’s reading and will record the session to be able to re-review and provide you with the most thorough feedback possible.

The end goal is for you to know what level your child is able to read with good comprehension and also reasonable accuracy. We will also let you know how that level compares to grade-level expectations.

Are You A Parent Looking For Help?

Are you a parent or caregiver seeking assistance with how best to help your student? Check out our parent support page.

Request a Reading Assessment

Please fill out this multi-step form to begin your reading assessment request!
Have a more general question? Click here.

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