Post by Admin on Jan 21, 2014 0:06:45 GMT -6
How many school psychologists consider the inclusion of orthographic processing into their test batteries when assessing literacy skills?
In my school division, we have five tests available for assessing orthographic processing: the Process Assessment of the Learner (PAL-II) by Virginia Berninger, the Symbol Imagery Test (SI) by Nanci Bell, and the Test of Orthographic Competence (TOC) by Nancy Mather, the Woodcock-Johnson - Fourth Ed. (WJ-IV), and the Feifer Assessment of Reading (FAR) by Steven Feifer.
1. The PAL-II has two subtests that measure two different aspects of orthographic processing in working memory: Receptive Coding (input) and Expressive Coding (orthographic loop output). The Receptive Coding subtest has more to do with sight word reading and spelling, whereas the Expressive Coding subtest (i.e., the orthographic loop) pertains to spelling only. It can be used with students in grades 1 through 6.
2. The SI includes 5 sections, although there is only one composite score. In Section A, the student sees and recalls unconnected letters. In Section B, the student sees and recalls letters in nonsense words. In Section C, the student hears and spells words. In Section D, the student sees and manipulates one-syllable nonsense words. Finally in Section E, the student sees and manipulates multisyllable nonsense words. This test can be used with students from 6 to 17 years of age. The composite score can be represented by a standard score, a percentile rank, and an age-equivalent. This test was designed based on the Dual Code Theory of reading, and it can be used as a pre and post measure when using the Seeing Stars remedial program.
3. The TOC is more a test of orthographic knowledge than orthographic processing in working memory, but it is useful when assessing orthographic skills. There is a version for primary students (6-7 years), one for elementary students (8-12 years), and a version for adolescents (13-17 years), but we mostly use the latter. There are 9 subtests: Signs & Symbols, Grapheme Matching, Homophone Choice, Punctuation, Abbreviations, Letter Choice, Word Scramble, Sight Spelling, and Word Choice. I think Letter Choice (b/d, p/q) and Word Scramble are better for assessing orthographic processing. When used with the SI test or the PAL-II, you would obtain a very thorough understanding of a student's orthographic problems in reading and spelling.
4. We also have the new Woodcock-Johnson IV. It has a new subtest that measures speed of orthographic recognition called the Letter-Pattern Matching subtest. This likely measures the Visual Word Form Area's ability to quickly recognize graphemes and sight words based on prior learning. Of course, this is not the same as the PAL-II or SI Test, which measure aspects of orthographic working memory. It is a measure of perceptual processing speed with orthographic stimuli. It is good to observe whether or not the student makes discrimination errors for b/d, and p/q, since this information may tell you about the fusiform gyrus' amenability to become remodelled via neuroplasticity after a normal amount of instruction. It is the site where we unlearn mirror imaging when learning to read letters. Of course, you should first make sure the student does not have a phonemic processing discrimination problem for /b/ and /d/, which could confound interpretation. If a student is still making mirror imaging errors in grade 4+, and gets a Below Average score, with no /b/ and /d/ phoneme discrimination errors, there is definitely an orthographic processing problem.
5. I like the FAR Orthographical Processing subtest because it is similar to the PAL-II Receptive Coding subtest, except that it has a multiple-choice format, unlike the Yes-No format on the PAL-II. There is less of a chance for inflated scores based on guessing using the FAR.
In my school division, we have five tests available for assessing orthographic processing: the Process Assessment of the Learner (PAL-II) by Virginia Berninger, the Symbol Imagery Test (SI) by Nanci Bell, and the Test of Orthographic Competence (TOC) by Nancy Mather, the Woodcock-Johnson - Fourth Ed. (WJ-IV), and the Feifer Assessment of Reading (FAR) by Steven Feifer.
1. The PAL-II has two subtests that measure two different aspects of orthographic processing in working memory: Receptive Coding (input) and Expressive Coding (orthographic loop output). The Receptive Coding subtest has more to do with sight word reading and spelling, whereas the Expressive Coding subtest (i.e., the orthographic loop) pertains to spelling only. It can be used with students in grades 1 through 6.
2. The SI includes 5 sections, although there is only one composite score. In Section A, the student sees and recalls unconnected letters. In Section B, the student sees and recalls letters in nonsense words. In Section C, the student hears and spells words. In Section D, the student sees and manipulates one-syllable nonsense words. Finally in Section E, the student sees and manipulates multisyllable nonsense words. This test can be used with students from 6 to 17 years of age. The composite score can be represented by a standard score, a percentile rank, and an age-equivalent. This test was designed based on the Dual Code Theory of reading, and it can be used as a pre and post measure when using the Seeing Stars remedial program.
3. The TOC is more a test of orthographic knowledge than orthographic processing in working memory, but it is useful when assessing orthographic skills. There is a version for primary students (6-7 years), one for elementary students (8-12 years), and a version for adolescents (13-17 years), but we mostly use the latter. There are 9 subtests: Signs & Symbols, Grapheme Matching, Homophone Choice, Punctuation, Abbreviations, Letter Choice, Word Scramble, Sight Spelling, and Word Choice. I think Letter Choice (b/d, p/q) and Word Scramble are better for assessing orthographic processing. When used with the SI test or the PAL-II, you would obtain a very thorough understanding of a student's orthographic problems in reading and spelling.
4. We also have the new Woodcock-Johnson IV. It has a new subtest that measures speed of orthographic recognition called the Letter-Pattern Matching subtest. This likely measures the Visual Word Form Area's ability to quickly recognize graphemes and sight words based on prior learning. Of course, this is not the same as the PAL-II or SI Test, which measure aspects of orthographic working memory. It is a measure of perceptual processing speed with orthographic stimuli. It is good to observe whether or not the student makes discrimination errors for b/d, and p/q, since this information may tell you about the fusiform gyrus' amenability to become remodelled via neuroplasticity after a normal amount of instruction. It is the site where we unlearn mirror imaging when learning to read letters. Of course, you should first make sure the student does not have a phonemic processing discrimination problem for /b/ and /d/, which could confound interpretation. If a student is still making mirror imaging errors in grade 4+, and gets a Below Average score, with no /b/ and /d/ phoneme discrimination errors, there is definitely an orthographic processing problem.
5. I like the FAR Orthographical Processing subtest because it is similar to the PAL-II Receptive Coding subtest, except that it has a multiple-choice format, unlike the Yes-No format on the PAL-II. There is less of a chance for inflated scores based on guessing using the FAR.