Reading Assessment: Orton Gillingham and Phonics Based

The Phonics Assessment for Reading and Targeted Support (PARTS), previously known as The Good Sensory Learning Reading Assessment, is an indispensable tool for any Orton-Gillingham or phonics-based reading program. Created by Dr. Erica Warren, this assessment allows teachers, reading specialists, and parents to quickly pinpoint a student's reading strengths and areas that need improvement. Whether utilized before or after remedial interventions, it offers crucial insights into a student’s progress and identifies specific areas requiring further attention.

Why This Reading Assessment is Essential

Evaluating a student's reading skills is vital, even for those facing difficulties, as it establishes a baseline and highlights specific weaknesses. This focused evaluation ensures that remedial plans are customized and effective, preventing frustration and wasted time on material the student already knows. By identifying precise needs, our assessment enables personalized instruction that directly addresses each student’s challenges.

Key Features of PARTS

Comprehensive Subtests: PARTS covers a wide range of reading proficiency areas:

• Phonemic Awareness: Assess letter names, sounds, and the ability to blend sounds into words.
• Phonics Skills: Focuses on syllable divisions, word blending, and identifying beginning, middle, and ending sounds.
• Advanced Decoding: Tests the ability to decode nonsense words across various syllable types, such as closed, open, silent e, R-combination, and consonant LE syllables.
• Sight Words Recognition: Evaluates knowledge of sight words from 1st through 3rd grade.
• Word Construction: Includes blends, digraphs, trigraphs, ending blends, compound words, and multisyllabic words.
• Morphological Awareness: Tests understanding of prefixes and suffixes.

Utilization and Benefits

• Easy to Administer: Designed for simplicity, allowing educators and parents to efficiently assess students.
• Instructional Guidance: Provides results that help tailor reading interventions to meet the unique needs of each student.
• Progress Monitoring: Ideal for tracking improvements over time and adjusting teaching strategies as needed.

This thorough assessment is an invaluable resource for effectively supporting the development of reading skills. By offering detailed insights into a student’s reading abilities, PARTS is an essential tool for enhancing educational outcomes.

Reading Assessment Subtests

The PARTS includes the following subtests:

• Letter names and sounds
• Rhyming words
• Syllable divisions
• Word blending
• Beginning sounds
• Middle sounds
• Ending sounds
• Blending sounds to words
• Dropping the first sound
• Dropping the last sound
• 1st-grade sight words
• 2nd-grade sight words
• 3rd-grade sight words
• Nonsense closed syllables
• Nonsense open syllables
• Nonsense silent e syllables
• Nonsense R-combination syllables
• Nonsense consonant LE syllables
• Vowel combinations
• Syllabication
• Blends, digraphs, and trigraphs
• Ending blends
• Compound words
• Prefixes
• Suffixes
• Multisyllabic words

Enhance your reading program with the Phonics Assessment for Reading and Targeted Support and ensure your students achieve their full potential.