The Phonological Awareness Test 2 is a standardized assessment of children's phonological awareness, phoneme-grapheme correspondences, and phonetic decoding skills. Test results help educators focus on those aspects of a child's oral language that may not be systematically targeted in classroom reading instruction.
Test Description
This test assesses a student's awareness of the oral language segments that comprise words (i.e., syllables and phonemes). The test is comprehensive and includes a wide variety of tasks; performance on each of these tasks has been correlated with success in early reading and spelling. The straightforward, developmental format lets you easily tease out specific skills and plan effective interventions.
Subtests
- Rhyming: Discrimination and Production—identify rhyming pairs and provide a rhyming word
- Segmentation: Sentences, Syllables, and Phonemes—dividing by words, syllables and phonemes
- Isolation: Initial, Final, Medial—identify sound position in words
- Deletion: Compound Words, Syllables, and Phonemes—manipulate root words, syllables, and phonemes in words
- Substitution With Manipulatives—isolate a phoneme in a word, then change it to another phoneme to form a new word
- Blending: Syllables and Phonemes—blend units of sound together to form words
- Graphemes—assess knowledge of sound/symbol correspondence for consonants, vowels, consonant blends, consonant digraphs, r-controlled vowels, vowel digraphs, and diphthongs
- Decoding—assess general knowledge of sound/symbol correspondence to blend sounds into nonsense words
- Invented Spelling (optional)—write words to dictation to show encoding ability
Test Procedures
- All subtests are administered (Invented Spelling is optional). There are no basals or ceilings.
- A demonstration item is given for each subtest.
- If it is apparent that a student is unable to perform a task, administration of that task is discontinued, and a score of 0 is given for items not administered in that task.
- Directions are read aloud to the student and are printed on the test form.
- Spiral bound stimuli booklets (included in the test) are used with the Graphemes Subtest and Decoding Subtest.
- Eight color cubes (included with the test) are used for the Substitution Subtest.
Scoring/Types of Scores
Each response receives a 1 for a correct response or a 0 for an incorrect response. Correct responses are listed on the test form. A pronunciation guide for nonsense words is on the test form.
The raw scores for each subtest, each section (phonological awareness and phoneme-grapheme correspondence) and the total test can be converted to:
- Age Equivalents
- Percentile Ranks
- Standard Scores
Discussion of Performance
The Discussion of Performance section in the Examiner's Manual helps you bridge from assessment to treatment. There are descriptions of how weaknesses are manifested in the classroom, guidelines for intervention, and frequently-asked questions about the test.
Statistical Test Results
The Phonological Awareness Test 2 was standardized on 1,582 subjects. These subjects represented the latest national census for race, gender, age, and educational placement.
Reliability—established by the use of the following for all subtests and the total test at all age levels:
- SEM
- Inter-Rater Reliability
- Test-Retest
- Reliability Based on Item Homogeneity (KR20)
Reliability tests were highly satisfactory for the total test at all age levels.
Validity—established by the use of content validity which reflects the necessary phonological awareness skills of elementary age students:
- Contrasted groups (t-values)
- Point Biserial Correlations
- Subtest Intercorrelations
- Correlations Between Subtests and Total Test
Contrasted Groups (t-values) comparisons show the test has a highly satisfactory ability to differentiate subjects requiring special reading services and those subjects developing reading skills normally. Combined subtest intercorrelations revealed acceptable levels across all age levels.
Race/Socioeconomic Group Difference Analyses—conducted at the item and subtest levels. The analyses show no significant differences when comparing race or SES on the PAT 2.
Tests included:
- z-tests
- Chi Square Analysis
- Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) F-tests
Count on the Phonological Awareness Test 2 to identify students who have weaknesses in phonological awareness skills, and to give you the reliable results you need to plan an individual treatment plan for each student. It is a test that quantifies the link between oral language development and phonological awareness. You'll discern how your students manipulate sounds, and identify their strengths and weaknesses in sound awareness skills. It's the most complete test of phonological awareness you'll find!
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