Free Reading
Assessment

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At-Home Reading Assessment Instructions

How to Adminster the LearnUp Reading Assessment


Administering the LearnUp Reading Assessment

In response to the concern that students are often over-tested, LearnUp has created a reading assessment system aimed at pinpointing students' specific reading challenges. Our assessments are concise and focused, intended to determine a student’s reading level and identify the steps necessary to achieve grade-level reading proficiency.

These assessments are quick, with the average home assessment lasting between 10-15 minutes. The duration of the assessment depends on the student’s reading ability; it may be shorter for those reading at a basic level and longer for students with advanced reading skills or for older students and adults.It's important to note that our assessments are not designed to diagnose dyslexia or other learning differences.

The Assessments
We utilize three primary reading assessments to gauge your student's reading capabilities:

1. Tattum Reading Survey

2. Letter Sounds Assessment

3. Spelling Test


Though these assessments do not provide a comprehensive evaluation of a student’s reading skills, they offer valuable insights into their reading level, ranging from non-reader to fluent reader. This helps us understand the fundamentals of the student's reading abilities.

The results include a summary of observations made during the assessment, realistic reading goals for the student, and an estimate of the instructional hours required for the student to achieve these reading goals.

Best practice for recording and accessing the assessment videos.


1. Video record each assessment section horizontally so we can see the face and the papers. Make sure we can see and hear your student. You will be posting your recordings to a cloud drive such as an Youtube (limited view), Google Drive, or iCloud account. Our staff will access the recordings to conduct the review.

2. Record each of the assessments separately. This will help with upload times. Try to do them in order.

3. Facilitate but don't help your student. Do not give your student the answers or responses. Yes, you can prompt or be encouraging, but even if you know they said something incorrectly, don't give them the answers. The student does not need to say the numbers and it is ok if they continue on through the test at their own pace.

4. This is a no tears exercise.  It is normal for students who cannot read well to get upset when asked to read out loud. If your student gets upset or super frustrated, it is okay to stop the assessment. Try to move onto the next one, but do not force them to do any more than they can.

5. Rename the video file. When you upload the files, make sure each file is titled with the student's name and name of the assessment. Example: Full Name of Student _Tattum Reading Survey_DATE.mov

6. Send links to the assessments:

To: learntoread@learnupcenters.org

Subject: Reading Assessment File for "Full Name of Student"

Assessments Instructions

0. Print Out Materials

1. Fill Out Student Information

Please be fill out the Typeform Student Registration Form below.

Information requested:

1. First and Last Name of the Student
2. Age
3. Grade (if over 18 years old, put 13)
4. Date of Birth
5. Name of current school or program
6. City
7. State
8. Zip Code
9. What prompted you to request a reading assessment?

If you are not the student's parent or guardian, please submit the full names of the student's Program Supervisor or educator/liaison

2. Read the Tattum Reading Survey

        Purpose: The goal of this assessment is to understand where on the reading spectrum your child falls and what entry point they are in our program. Essentially, we want to hear the student read. This is the first step in our assessment process, but one of the key indicators of where on the reading spectrum they are. 

        Instructions: Tattum Reading Survey

        A. Video her/him horizontally, from the front, at a desk, so we can see his face as he reads the paper. 

        Have your child find the number 1 on the print out Tattum Reading Survey.

        Ask her/him, "can you read that first word?" If he gets it (or gets close), praise him/her and ask him/her to read the next word (#2). Repeat across the first row. 

        If he struggles or doesn't get a word, give her/him praise and ask s/he can read the next one.

        B. After reading the first row of words, have him/her read the sentence under the first row. It is ok if s/he doesn't understand what it means. If s/he does, that is great.

        C. Continue on row by row. First reading the words in the row and then the sentences. Go until s/he flames out or struggles to read words in the row.

        Don’t force it. If they give up, that is ok.

        Stop where they break down. Keep going if they can/want to. 

        Remember, this should be a no tears exercise so if s/he gets frustrated stop administering the assessment. 

        3. Read the Letter Sounds

        Purpose: We want to understand how well they have mastered the phonics code. This simple assessments lets us know if they have mastered the sounds of the letters, which is the foundation of all reading.

        Materials needed: Tattum Phonics Board to Assess Students
        Instructions
        Have the student point to the row of letters starting with the number 1.

        "Starting with the letter /b/ say the SOUND of each of the letters in the row.

        Make sure the student is saying the sound (not the letter names) of each of the letters.

        If the student is struggling, you can point to the letter "b" and ask her/him, “What sound does that make?”

        Ask them to continue on through the row of letters.

        Have them try to read the letters and letter combinations in each of the remaining rows as best they can until they can no longer do it.

        4. Spelling Words Dictation

        Purpose: most students who have not mastered the foundational phonics are unable to apply the spelling rules to these words. They are tricky letter/sound combination that help add another clue to where they fall in the reading spectrum.

        Materials needed: Spelling Words

        If your child was able to read beyond word #5 (buzz) on the Tattum Reading Survey, dictate the spelling words and have your child write them on on piece of paper. Note: If the student could not read the top row of words on the Tattum Reading Survey, skip the spelling dictation.

        Record the student writing the spelling words. When they are done, take a picture of words they wrote. Send the image along with the rest of the assessments.

        Dictate the spelling words.
        Be sure to enunciate clearly.

        1. Batch
        2. Fudge
        3. Running
        4. Maker
        5. Useless
        6. Laugh

        5. Upload Each of the Assessment Recordings

        Upload the recordings to a cloud-based drive where LearnUp staff can access them (e.g. GoogleDrive, GooglePhotos, iCloud, BOX, etc.).

        Send the links to the uploaded files to learntoread@learnupcenters.org. In the subject line put the name of the student and which assessments are linked. For example: Full Name Tattum Reading Survey.

        Please cc: any staff member who is providing support.

        The 3 Reading Assessments
        1. Tattum Reading Survey.
        2. Letter Sounds.
        3. Spelling dictation (if applicable).

        6. Need Support?

        Please let us know if you have any questions.

        Our staff will review the assessments and send you a short summary of our observations of your student's reading and outline a program and reading goals we believe we can achieve in the amount of time estimated.
        Contact LearnUp at (415) 944-7323 or learntoread@learnupcenters.org

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