This summary of assessment and screening instruments was prepared to inform users of the growing pool of diagnostics appropriate for grades PreK-12 that meet psychometric standards. This chart is not a statement of endorsement but is designed to provide guidance information in the selection of tests for assessing for dyslexia. A separate table is provided specifically for Pre-K and Kindergarten assessment and screening instruments.
Commonly Used Standardized Measures/Screening Tests of Reading and Rate
Test | Age/Grade Range | Abilities Measured | Publisher | Administration Time |
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, 6th Edition (DIBELS-6) | PK-3 | Measures initial sound fluency, letter naming fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, nonsense word fluency, retell fluency, and oral reading fluency | University of Oregon | 10 minutes |
Fluency Formula | K-8 | Measures oral reading rate, accuracy, prosody | Scholastic | varies |
Gray Oral Reading Tests, 5th Edition (GORT-5) | 6-0 to 18-11 | Measures oral reading rate, accuracy, fluency, comprehension | PRO-ED | 20-30 minutes |
Gray Silent Reading Tests (GSRT) | 7-0 to 25-0 | Measures silent reading comprehension ability | PRO-ED | 15-30 minutes |
Gray Diagnostic Reading Tests, 2nd. Edition (GDRT-2) | 6-0 to 13-11 | Assesses students who have difficulty reading continuous print and who require an evaluation of specific abilities and weaknesses. Comprises four subtests: Letter/Word Identification, Phonetic Analysis, Reading Vocabulary, and Meaningful Reading | PRO-ED | 45-60 minutes |
Nelson-Denny Reading Test | HS to 4 year college | Measures vocabulary, comprehension, reading rate | PRO-ED | 35-56 minutes |
Qualitative Reading Inventory, 4th Edition (QRI-4) | K-12 | Measures oral reading, silent reading, listening comprehension | Pearson | varies |
Reading Fluency Indicator | K-12 | Assesses word recognition and comprehension | Pearson | 5-10 minutes |
Test of Irregular Word Reading Efficiency (TIWRE) | 3-0 to 94 | Assesses reading vocabulary by using the pronunciation of phonetically irregular words to measure reading comprehension | Academic Therapy Publications | 5 minutes |
Test of Silent Reading Efficiency and Comprehension (TOSREC) | Grades 1-12 | Assesses silent reading of connected text for comprehension | PRO-ED | 3 minutes |
Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency -2 (TOSWRF-2) | 6-3 to 24-11 | Measures a student's ability to recognize printed words (word recognition) accurately and efficiently | PRO-ED and Academic Therapy Publications | 3-10 minutes |
Test of Word Reading Efficiency-2 (TOWRE-2) | 6-0 to 24-11 | Assesses the number of printed real words and nonwords that can be accurately read in 45 second increments | PRO-ED
| 5-10 minutes |
WJ III Diagnostic Reading Battery (WDRB) | 2-0 to 80+ | Measures phonological awareness, phonics knowledge, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension | Riverside Publishing | 5-10 minutes per test |
Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests III (WRMT-III) | 4-6 to 75+ | An individual assessment of reading skills including phonological awareness, listening comprehension, letter identification, word identification, rapid automatic naming, oral reading fluency, word attack, word comprehension, and passage comprehension | Pearson | 15-45 minutes |
Test of Early Reading Ability, Third edition (TERA-3) | 3-6 to 8-6 | Measures the reading ability of young children. Assesses the knowledge of contextual meaning, alphabet, and conventions. | PRO-ED | varies |
Decoding Skills Test (DST) | Kindergarten through Adult | Measures ability to recognize words, decode words using letter-sound correspondence, effect of context on decoding skills, comprehension, reading rate, and error rate of children and adults reading at a 1st - 5th grade reading level. | Academic Therapy Publications | 15-30 minutes |
Test of Reading Comprehension-4 (TORC-4) | 7-0 to 17-11 | Assesses silent reading comprehension (vocabulary, syntax, paragraph reading, sentence sequencing) with five subtests: Relational Vocabulary, Sentence Completion, Paragraph Construction, Text Comprehension, and Contextual Fluency | Academic Therapy Publications | varies |
Commonly Used Standardized Measures of Orthographic Awareness
Test Name | Age/Grade Range | Abilities Tested | Publisher | Administration Time |
Test of Orthographic Competence (TOC) | 6-0 to 17-11 | Assesses aspects of the writing system that are integral to proficient reading and writing including letters, spelling, punctuation, abbreviations, and special symbols | PRO-ED | 30-45 minutes |
Diagnostic Assessments of Reading, Second Edition (DAR-2) | 5-0 through adult | Assesses reading achievement in nine skill areas including print awareness, phonological awareness, letters and sounds, word recognition, word analysis, oral reading (accuracy/fluency), silent reading (comprehension), spelling, and word meaning | Academic Therapy Publications | 30 minutes |
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, Sixth Edition (DIBELS-6) | PreK-3 | Oral reading fluency subtest | University of Oregon | 5 minutes |
Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, Third edition (ITPA-3) | 5-0 to 12-11 | Assesses oral language, writing, reading, and spelling | PRO-ED | 45-60 minutes |
Process Assessment of the Learner II: Test Battery for Reading and Writing (PAL II) | K-6 | Assists in diagnosis of dysgraphia, dyslexia, oral and written language disability | Pearson | varies |
Star Early Literacy Computer - Adaptive Diagnostic Assessment | PreK-3 | Assesses early literacy skills including print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, fluency, vocabulary acquisition and use | Renaissance Learning | varies |
Test of Irregular Word Reading Efficiency (TIWRE) | 3-0 to 94 | Assesses reading vocabulary by using the pronunciation of phonetically irregular words to measure reading comprehension | Academic Therapy Publications | 5 minutes |
Commonly Used Standardized Measures of Language: Spoken and Written
Test | Age/Grade Range | Abilities Measured | Publisher | Administration Time |
Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 (CELF-4) | 5 to 21 | Measures receptive and expressive language abilities and provides composite scores for Language Structure, Language Content, Language Content and Memory, and Working Memory. | Pearson | 30-60 minutes |
Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) | 3 to 21 | Fifteen tests measure language processing skills (comprehension, expression, and retrieval) in four language structure categories including Lexical/Semantic, Syntactic, Supralinguistic, and Pragmatic skills | Pearson | 30-45 minutes |
Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language-3 (TACL-3) | 3.0 to 9.11 | Measures receptive spoken grammar and syntax skills through an auditory comprehension task. Assesses auditory comprehension of word classes, word relations, grammatical morphemes, and elaborated sentence constructions | PRO-ED | 10-15 minutes |
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- Fourth edition (PPVT-4) | 2.6 to 90+ | Measures receptive single-word vocabulary | Pearson | 10-15 minutes |
Expressive Vocabulary Test- Second edition (EVT-2) | 2.6 to 90+ | Measures expressive single-word vocabulary and word retrieval skills | Pearson | 10-20 minutes |
Oral and Written Language Scales-II: Written Expression (OWLS-II Written Expression) | 5.0 to 21.11 | Measures use of conventions, linguistic forms, and the ability to communicate meaningfully in writing | Pearson | 10-40 minutes |
Test of Auditory Processing Skills - 3rd edition(TAPS-3) | 4.0 to 18.11 | Measures phonological, auditory memory, auditory cohesion skills | Academic Therapy Publications | 60 minutes |
Test of Early Written Language 2 (TEWL 2) | 3 to 10 | Measures emerging (basic and contextual) written language skills | Pearson | 30-45 minutes |
Test of Written Language, Third Edition (TOWL-3) | 7-0 to 17-11 | Uses essay analysis and traditional test formats to assess various aspects of written language | PRO-ED | 90 minutes |
Test of Written Spelling, Fifth Edition (TWS-5) | 6 to 18 | Assesses student's ability to spell words whose spellings are readily predictable in sound-letter patterns, words whose spellings are less predictable, and both types of words considered together | PRO-ED | 20 minutes |
Test of Adolescent and Adult Language (TOAL) | 12.0 to 24.11 | Ten composites yield scores in listening, speaking, reading, writing, spoken language, written, language, receptive/expressive language, vocabulary, and grammar | PRO-ED | 60-180 minutes |
Word and Spelling Test (WIST) | 7-0 to 18-11 | Measures word identification, spelling, and sound-symbol knowledge. Identifies students who are struggling with reading and spelling. Includes an elementary version (Grades 2-5) and a secondary version (Grades 6-12) | PRO-ED | 40 minutes |
Test of Language Development (Primary) - 4th Edition (TOLDP4) | 4-0 to 8-11 | Assess spoken language providing composite scores for semantics and grammar, listening, organizing, speaking, and overall language ability | Academic Therapy Publications | 60 minutes |
Test of Language Development (Intermediate)-4th Edition (TOLD-I-4) | 8-0 through 17-11 | Measures spoken language skills including semantics, grammar, listening, organizing and speaking | Academic Therapy Publications | 30-60 minutes |
Commonly Used Standardized Measures/Screening Tests of Phonological Awareness
Test | Age/Grade Range | Abilities Measured | Publisher | Administration Time |
Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing , 2nd edition (CTOPP2) | 5-0 to 24-11 | Measures phonological awareness (elision, blending words, sound matching), phonological memory (memory for digits, nonword repetition), and rapid naming | PRO-ED | 30 minutes |
Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA-II) | 4-6 to 90+ | Measures phonological awareness, associational fluency, naming facility | Pearson | varies |
Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test, 3rd. edition (LAC-3; 2004) | 5-0 to 18-11 | Measures ability to perceive and conceptualize speech sounds using a visual medium | PRO-ED | 20-30 minutes |
Phonemic Awareness Skills Screening (PASS; 2000) | 1 to 2 grades | Measures phonological skills including rhyming, sentence segmentation, blending, syllable segmentation, deletion, phoneme isolation, phoneme segmentation, and substitution | PRO-ED | 15 minutes |
Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS Pre-K; 2004) | 3-0 to 5-0 | Measures name writing, alphabet knowledge, and print word awareness | University of Virginia | 20 minutes |
Pre-Reading Inventory of Phonological Awareness (PIPA; 2003) | 4-0 to 6-11 | Measures a child's phonological awareness skills with six subtests including rhyme awareness, syllable segmentation, alliteration awareness, sound isolation, sound segmentation, and letter-sound knowledge | Pearson | 25-35 minutes |
Test of Phonological Awareness, 2nd edition; PLUS (TOPA-2+; 2004) | 5-0 to 8-0 | Measures phonological awareness. The test has two versions-a Kindergarten version and an Early Elementary version-that measure young children's ability to (a) isolate individual phonemes in spoken words and (b) understand the relationships between letters and phonemes in English. | PRO-ED | Kindergarten 30-45 minutes Early Elementary 15-30 minutes |
Test of Phonological Awareness in Spanish (TPAS; 2004) | 4-0 to 10-11 | A standardized assessment that measures phonological awareness in Spanish-speaking children. Subtests measure the child's ability to determine initial sounds, final sounds, rhyming words, and sound/syllable deletion. | PRO-ED | 15-30 minutes |
Test of Phonological Awareness Skills (TOPAS; 2003) | 5-0 to 10-11 | Comprises four subtests (Rhyming, Incomplete Words, Sound Sequencing, and Sound Deletion) that measure three areas of phonological awareness: sound comparison, phoneme blending, and phoneme segmentation. | PRO-ED | 15-30 minutes |
Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities | 2-0 to 90+ | Blending, auditory attention, incomplete words, auditory memory, phonemic awareness, rapid naming | Riverside Publishing | varies |
Commonly Used Standardized Measures of Rapid Automatized Naming
Test | Age/Grade Range | Abilities Measured | Publisher | Administration Time |
Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) | 5-0 to 24-0 | Phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rapid naming | PRO-ED | 30 minutes |
Dyslexia Early Screening Test, 2nd edition | 4-6 to 6-5 | Phonological awareness, rapid naming | Pearson | 30 minutes |
Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA-II) | 4-6 to 25-0 | Measures phonological awareness, associational fluency, naming facility | Pearson | 30-80 minutes |
Rapid Automatized Naming and Rapid Alternating Stimulus Tests (RAN/RAS) | 5-0 to 18-11 | Measures rapid naming skills including naming letters, colors, numbers, or objects Measures processing speed in alternating tasks including letters, numbers, and colors | PRO-ED | 5-10 minutes |
Process Assessment of the Learner: Test Battery for Reading and Writing | Grades K-6 | Measures phonological awareness, rapid naming, orthographic awareness | Pearson | varies |
Woodcock-Johnson III Normative Update Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III NU) | 2-0 to 90+ | Measures rapid naming of simple pictures | Riverside Publishing | varies |
Commonly Used Standard Measures of Cognitive Functioning
Test | Age/GradeRange | Abilities Measured | Publisher | Administration Time |
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition Integrated | 6-0 to 16-11 | verbal, perceptual, working memory, processing speed | Pearson | varies |
Woodcock-Johnson III Normative Update Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III NU) | 2 to 90+ | measures general intellectual abilities and specific cognitive abilities including general knowledge, reasoning, memory and retrieval, speed, auditory processing, and visual-spatial thinking | Riverside Publishing | 55-65 minutes |
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale V | PreK to Adult | Measures fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory | Riverside Publishing | 5 minutes per subtest |
Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS) | 3 to 94 | Measures verbal and nonverbal intelligence and memory | Psychological Assessment Resources | 30-35 minutes |
Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second edition (KABC-II) | 3 to 18 | Measures processing and cognitive abilities | Pearson | 35-70 minutes |
Test of Nonverbal Intelligence, Fourth edition (TONI-4) | 6-0 through 89 | Non-verbal measure of intelligence; ideal for those with language, hearing, or motor impairments | Academic Therapy Publications | 10-15 minutes |
Commonly Used Standardized Measures of Achievement
Test | Age/Grade Range | Abilities | Publisher | Administration Time |
Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second edition (KTEA-II) | 4-6 to 25-0 | Measures academic achievement in reading, mathematics, written language, oral language | Pearson | 30 to 90 minutes |
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Third edition (WIAT-III) | 4-0 to 50-11 | Measures academic achievement in reading, mathematics, written language, and oral language | Pearson | varies |
Woodcock Johnson-III Tests of Achievement (WJ III ACH) | 2 to 90+ | Measures academic achievement in reading, mathematics, written language, and general knowledge | Riverside | 5 minutes per test |
Diagnostic Achievement Battery, 3rd edition | 6-0 to 14-11 | Measures academic achievement and provides composite scores for Total Achievement, Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Spoken Language, Written Language | PRO-ED | 90-120 minutes |
Diagnostic Achievement Battery - Intermediate (DAB-I) | 13-0 to 17-11 | Measures academic achievement in spoken language, reading, writing, mathematics, and basic academic skills | PRO-ED | 60-90 minutes |
Commonly Used Standardized Measures/Screening Tests for Preschool and Kindergarten
Test | Age/Grade Range | Abilities measured | Publisher | Administration Time |
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth edition (PPVT-4) | 2.6 to 90+ | Measures receptive single-word vocabulary | Pearson | 10-15 minutes |
Expressive Vocabulary Test- Second edition (EVT-2) | 2.6 to 90+ | Measures expressive single-word vocabulary and word retrieval skills | Pearson | 10-20 minutes |
Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 (CELF-4) | 5 to 21 | Measures receptive and expressive language abilities and provides composite scores for Language Structure, Language Content, Language Content and Memory, and Working Memory. | Pearson or Psychological? | 30-60 minutes |
Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) | 3 to 21 | Fifteen tests measure language processing skills (comprehension, expression, and retrieval) in four language structure categories including Lexical/Semantic, Syntactic, Supralinguistic, and Pragmatic skills | Pearson | 30-45 minutes |
Test of Language Development (Primary) - 4th Edition (TOLDP4) | 4-0 to 8-11 | Assess spoken language providing composite scores for semantics and grammar, listening, organizing, speaking, and overall language ability | Academic Therapy Publications | 60 minutes |
Oral and Written Language Scales-II: Written Expression (OWLS-II Written Expression) | 5.0 to 21.11 | Measures use of conventions, linguistic forms, and the ability to communicate meaningfully in writing | Pearson | 10-40 minutes |
Test of Early Written Language 2 (TEWL 2) | 3 to 10 | Measures emerging (basic and contextual) written language skills | Pearson | 30-45 minutes |
Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, 2nd edition (CTOPP2) | 5-0 to 24-11 | Measures phonological awareness (elision, blending words, sound matching), phonological memory (memory for digits, nonword repetition), and rapid naming | PRO-ED | 30 minutes |
Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS Pre-K; 2004) | 3-0 to 5-0 | Measures name writing, alphabet knowledge, and print word awareness | University of Virginia | 20 minutes |
Pre-Reading Inventory of Phonological Awareness (PIPA; 2003) | 4-0 to 6-11 | Measures a child's phonological awareness skills with six subtests including rhyme awareness, syllable segmentation, alliteration awareness, sound isolation, sound segmentation, and letter-sound knowledge | Pearson | 25-35 minutes |
Dyslexia Early Screening Test, 2nd edition | 4-6 to 6-5 | Phonological awareness, rapid naming | Pearson | 30 minutes |
Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test, 3rd. edition (LAC-3; 2004) | 5-0 to 18-11 | Measures ability to perceive and conceptualize speech sounds using a visual medium | PRO-ED | 20-30 minutes |
Early Reading Diagnostic Assessment (ERDA) | K-3 | Measures early reading skills including phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension | Pearson | 45-90 minutes |
Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, 4th edition (GMRT-4) | PreK-12 | Measures literary concepts, phonological awareness, letters and letter/sound correspondence, and listening comprehension | Riverside | 75-100 minutes |
Group Reading Assessment & Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE) | PreK-3 | Assesses phonological awareness and phonics skills including vocabulary, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension | Pearson | 50-90 minutes |
WJ III Diagnostic Reading Battery (WDRB) | 2-0 to 80+ | Measures phonological awareness, phonics knowledge, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension | Riverside Publishing | 5-10 minutes per test |
Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests III (WRMT-III) | 4-6 to 75+ | Measures phonological awareness, listening comprehension, letter identification, word identification, rapid automatic naming, oral reading fluency, word attack, word comprehension, and passage comprehension | Pearson | 15-45 minutes |
Diagnostic Assessments of Reading, Second Edition (DAR-2) | 5-0 through adult | Assesses reading achievement in nine skill areas including print awareness, phonological awareness, letters and sounds, word recognition, word analysis, oral reading (accuracy/fluency), silent reading (comprehension), spelling, and word meaning | Academic Therapy Publications | 30 minutes |
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, 6th Edition (DIBELS-6) | PK-3 | Measures initial sound fluency, letter naming fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, nonsense word fluency, retell fluency, and oral reading fluency | University of Oregon | 10 minutes |
Test of Early Reading Ability, Third edition (TERA-3) | 3-6 to 8-6 | Measures the reading ability of young children. Assesses the knowledge of contextual meaning, alphabet, and conventions. | PRO-ED | varies |
Woodcock-Johnson III Normative Update Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III NU) | 2 to 90+ | measures general intellectual abilities and specific cognitive abilities including general knowledge, reasoning, memory and retrieval, speed, auditory processing, and visual-spatial thinking | Riverside Publishing | 55-65 minutes |
Resources:
Gunning, T.G. (2010). Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties, Fourth Edition. USA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Lonigan, C.J., Keller, K.D., Phillips, B.M. (2004). Standardized Assessment of Children’s Emergent Literacy Skills. Handbook on family literacy: Research and services. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Mather, N., Wendling, B.J., (2012) Essentials of Dyslexia Assessment and Intervention. NJ: John Wiley & Sons
Shaywitz, S. (2003) Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level. New York: Alfred A. Knopf
Concord Special Education Parent Advisory Committee. www.concordspedpac.org
DyslexiaHelp at the University of Michigan. www.dyslexiahelp.umich.edu
Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). www.fcrr.org
Reading Assessment Database - Early Reading Assessments for PreK-3. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. www.sedl.org/reading
Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia. www.mtsu.edu/dyslexia
compiled by Wendy Stacy, M.S., CCC-SLP, CALT, QI, LDT
ReadWrite Language and Literacy Center www.readwritecenter.com