The optional Phonemic Awareness Test is an individually administered test that includes eight subtests with a total of 40 test items. With the exception of the first subtest, the student is not shown the response sheet nor does the student do any marking on the response sheet. You will record all of the student’s responses. The sub-test topics are: Voice to Print Matching, Word Identification, Rhyming Words, Beginning Sounds, Ending Sounds, Blending Sounds, Sound Deletion, Segmenting Sounds.

Students who have difficulty recognizing sounds and manipulating them within words are likely to have difficulty learning to read. It is recommended that beginning readers first take the Beginning Reader Test, and those who do not score highly then be administered the Phonemic Awareness test. If a student performs well on the Beginning Reader Test or the Grade 1 or Grade 2 Evaluation or Diagnostic Test, it is likely that he or she is already proficient in phonemic awareness. Because phonemic awareness is the building block for matching sounds and letters, it is reasonable to conclude that a student who can match sounds and letters already is aware of the separate sounds that make up spoken words. However, because phonemic awareness is so fundamental to beginning reading, you might want to test all students in the early grades to assure yourself that these building blocks are in place. The following two links provide specific directions for administering the Phonemic Awareness Test, and the test itself:

See the Teacher’s User’s Guide or Technical FAQ Help Desk link for information on entering Phonemic Awareness Test results and generating Phonemic Awareness Test reports in READS.