Decoding placement test specifics

The process is:

• The tester needs a stopwatch.
• All students are tested individually and in a quiet place. They should be tested away from other students who will be tested later.
• The tester fills in the top of the test form with student information. This is the form the tester will record on. The tester gives the student a clean copy of the test.
• Part 1 is a story that students read aloud. It is timed and the tester records errors.
• Omitting a word, adding a word, misidentifying a word, not responding within three seconds and self-correcting all count as errors. If a student sounds out a word but does not say it at a normal speaking rate, the tester asks, ‘What word?’ If student does not identify it, the tester counts it as an error.
• After each word-identification error, the tester tells the student the correct word.
• Refer to the placement schedule for Part I to determine placement or whether to administer another part of the test.
• Part II is a series of sentences that students read aloud. Part II is not timed. The tester records errors.
• Refer to the placement schedule for Part II to determine placement.
• Part III and IV are passages that are read aloud by the student and timed.
• Errors are recorded as specified for Part I.
• Refer to the placement schedule for Part III to determine placement or whether to administer Part IV of the test.
• If Part IV is given, refer to the placement schedule to determine placement.