Supplementary Spelling Assessments (SSpA)

Part 1: Achievment and Progress

Each test in Part 1 is made up of several subtests. The subtests are:

• Dictated words (Tests 1, 2, and 3) — Students write a list of 30 words dictated by the teacher using the word-sentence-word format. The words to be spelt by each year group cover a range from simple to complex, and represent many of the diverse spelling patterns typical of English. Performance on this subtest is linked back to five developmental stages of spelling (precommunicative, semiphonetics, phonetic, transitional, correct).
• Beginning sounds (Test 1) — Students write in the initial letters of a partly spelt word to name an illustration of a common noun. Twelve common initial sounds are included. This subtest measures competencies crucial to early spelling, more particularly for progress beyond semiphonetic forms.
• Dictated paragraph (Tests 2 and 3) — Students write 10 words into a “cloze-style” response sheet as the teacher reads out the full passage. The emphasis is on spelling common contractions in their shortened form, including correct use of the apostrophe.
• Recognising errors in words (Tests 1, 2, and 3) — Students identify the one word in a line of five words which is spelt incorrectly. Each word is considered singly, without the aid of supporting context. There are 10 lines of words for each year level. To do this task without recourse to guessing requires knowledge of the graphophonic patterns of the full 50 words making up the task.
• Recognising errors in sentences (Tests 1, 2, and 3) — Students identify the one word in a sentence which is either spelt or used incorrectly. There are 10 sentences at each year level.
• Recognising correct words (Tests 2 and 3 only) — Students identify 12 correctly spelt words within a group of 25 words. Formative information for individuals may be gained from the incorrect forms that are judged as correct, as these represent common misspellings by primary school students.

Part 2: Diagnostic Assessments

There are two packs of diagnostic assessments.

Diagnostic Assessments 1

Beginning sounds/Initial consonants — Part of this subtest is parallel to the Beginning Sounds section of Part 1, Year 4. Students write in the initial letters of a partly spelt word that names an illustration of a common noun. Fifteen common initial sounds are included.

Beginning sounds/Prefixes — Students write in the beginning sounds/prefixes to the stems of words written in the ______ move (remove) format. The teacher says the word and the students write in the missing letters. There are two sets of parallel words covering 20 initial sounds.

Ending sounds/Suffixes — Students write in the ending sounds/suffixes to the stems of words written in the pin ______ (pins) format. There are two sets of parallel words covering 16 ending sounds.

Diagnostic Assessments 2

Short and long vowel sounds — There are two tasks making up this subtest. For the first task, students choose, from among four written choices, the word that is read out by the teacher. The five vowel sounds in long and short forms are included.

Silent letters — There are three tasks in this subtest: recognising silent or unsounded letters in words; writing words with silent letters; and matching words containing silent letters with other words which represent the “silent sound”, using different letters.

Shortened words/Contractions — There are three tasks in this subtest: recognising correct contractions which range from “don’t” for “do not” to “I’ve” for “I have”; adding apostrophe to contractions; and writing contractions with the apostrophe.