RMSE 4–5 Placement Test Specifics

RMSE 4–5 Placement Test Specifics

Students are ‘placement tested’ before beginning instruction to determine their rate-accuracy and comprehension performance.

The placement test has two parts. In Part One, each student reads a passage aloud as the teacher counts decoding errors. In Part Two, students answer comprehension questions about the passage.

Teaching Tips

• Administer Part One of the test to individual students. Students waiting to be tested should not overhear the testing.
• Give the student a copy of the placement test.
• Time the student and keep track of errors. Students have two minutes to read the passage.
• After students have finished Part One, Part Two can be administered to the entire group.
• Give each student a copy of the placement test.
• Students are instructed to read the passage again silently, then answer the questions in Part Two. Students have seven minutes to complete the questions.
• Consult the Teacher’s Guides for what counts as an error during decoding and for placement guidelines.

Practice giving the placement test to a partner. Placement test for RMSE 4 is located in the Teacher’s Guide on pages 39–40 and the placement test for RMSE 5 is located in the Teacher’s Guide on pages 47–50.