A Guide to Quick Phonics Screeners and Assessments

Learn about the 4 different types of assessments and when to use them. Then get details about my K-2 quick phonics screeners that can help guide your reading instruction and ensure you are meeting the needs of all your students. 

Lately, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with teachers about small group instruction and its importance in the K-2 classroom.  As we chat, there seems to be one question that keeps popping up and that is, “How do I know what to teach my students during small group instruction?” My answer is always “through screening and assessment.”

Today I want to share more about the important role phonics screeners and assessments play in helping children learn to read. In this post, I share information about the 4 different types of assessments and explain when to use each one.  Then, I leave you with details about my K-2 quick phonics screeners that can help guide your instruction and ensure you are meeting the needs of all your students. 

What are the 4 Types of Reading Assessments? 

There are four types of reading assessments. They are universal screeners, diagnostic assessments, progress monitoring tools, and summative assessments.

Each of these assessments plays a unique and important role in helping us to plan our instruction, identify who needs extra support, monitor student growth, and evaluate our instructional program.  

It is important to note that while screeners and assessments both provide information about a student’s interests, strengths, and needs, they aren’t the same thing.

Phonics screeners are quick and offer a snapshot of reading development. They identify children who may be at risk for reading challenges.

Assessment is an ongoing process that includes observation and provides information about development over time. Assessments can inform your curriculum planning, teaching, and individualized instruction.

Let’s now take a closer look at each of these phonics screeners and assessments and learn when to use each one…. 

What is a Universal Screener? 

Universal screeners provide information about your core curriculum / Tier 1 instruction and offer a quick indicator of students’ skills.  They help you determine which students are expected to meet grade level benchmarks and those who may be at risk for reading difficulties. 

Universal screeners are typically administered during benchmark windows three times a year. 

Universal screeners’ common measures: 

–First Sound Fluency (FSF): the health in basic phonemic awareness (first sound isolation) “What is the first sound in “pan” /p/. 

–Phoneme Segmentation Fluency:  Can a student segment a word?  “Tell me the sounds you hear in the word “cat”.   /c/ /a/ /t/. 

–Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF): indicates the health in basic phonics including letter sound correspondences and the ability to read words as wholes.

–Oral Reading Fluency (ORF): The student reads a passage for 1 minute and gets scored on it in three different ways. The accuracy indicates health in advanced decoding. Words Correct Per Minute indicates health in fluency and comprehension. Retell score indicates the health in reading comprehension.

After administering a universal screener, you can group your students into two groups.  You will have students who meet or exceed the benchmark standards and another group of students who fall below benchmark standards and need more support.  For students who fall below benchmark standards, you must dig deeper using a diagnostic assessment to identify their specific needs. 

What is a Diagnostic Assessment? 

A diagnostic assessment helps you identify students’ specific skill strengths and deficits.  Diagnostic assessments are longer and more in-depth than quick phonics screeners. 

Data from diagnostic assessments allow you to group your students based on shared deficits, differentiate your instruction, and plan small-group instruction.   They give you the information you need to ensure your instruction is specific and intentional, and that your students get exactly what they need to progress as readers.

What is Progress Monitoring? 

Progress monitoring tools measure a student’s progress throughout instruction and intervention. They are given more frequently -weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depending on the intensity of the intervention and the needs of the student. Progress monitoring measures student’s growth in reading and helps you determine if your intervention is effective for the child. 

If you find a student’s performance on the measurement does not meet your expectations, then you must change your instruction for this child. You may decide to change the instructional method being used, the amount of instructional time, or maybe adjust the grouping arrangement. 

What is a Summative Assessment? 

Summative assessments evaluate student performance at the end of an instructional period or school year. It evaluates cumulative learning. Summative tests measure a student’s overall reading performance and the effectiveness of an instructional program.  

Quick Phonics Screeners for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade

To ensure your reading instruction meets the needs of your students, you must have access to quality phonics assessments.  If your school does not provide you with assessments I recommend these quick Phonics Screeners bundle for Kindergarten 1st and 2nd grade.  This resource includes a variety of phonics screeners and assessments. It has everything you need to assess and group students working at a Kindergarten, first, or second-grade level.

This bundle of K-2 assessments includes quick phonics screeners for:

• Phonemic Awareness Screener (for K and 1st grade)
• Letter & Grapheme Identification
• Reading Survey
• Spelling Survey
• Autofill Student Data Trackers and MORE!!

The Phonemic Awareness, Letter & Grapheme Identification, and Reading Survey are intended for individual student assessment. The Spelling Survey can be used as a whole class or individual assessment.

The Letter ID & Grapheme/ Phoneme Correspondence Assessments pinpoint the grapheme/phoneme correspondences the student has mastered and where they need more support. Only students do not yet demonstrate mastery of letter identification and phoneme/grapheme correspondence will need this assessment.

The Reading Survey is used to gather data on mastered phonics skills. This diagnostic tool helps identify where to focus your phonics instruction in the scope and sequence.

The Spelling Survey is an assessment used to gather data on mastered spelling skills. This assessment helps you determine where to begin a student in their word study instruction.

In addition to helping you group students, these screeners can be used as a diagnostic tool at reading benchmark periods (BOY, MOY, EOY), for report cards, or as a pre-assessment and post-assessment to measure student growth.

Finally, the resource also includes a helpful Instructional Decision Guide for teachers. This guide explains when to use each assessment, how to use them, and helps you determine when to stop using one with a student.

Click here for a closer look at everything included in the K-2 Phonics Screeners Bundle!

As teachers, we must make the most of every instructional minute.  I hope the information and resources I’ve shared today help you identify the exact needs of your students so you can provide them with the targeted instruction they need to become skilled readers.  

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