Croft, Gilmore, Reid, and Jackson, 1981
Age: 8 - 13

Buy PRETOS

The Proof-Reading Tests of Spelling are broad measures of a child's ability to discriminate between misspelt words and correctly spelt words, presented in the context of meaningful paragraphs. The tests provide a measure of spelling achievement within the context of a proof-reading task, as well as giving diagnostic information about individual pupil's spelling accomplishments. The abilities tapped by the PRETOS are broader than those associated with the traditional assessment of spelling.

A separate, non-overlapping test is provided for each class within the New Zealand range Year 4 to Year 8 inclusive. Each test is made up of three or four paragraphs consisting 12-14 lines of text, with two lines having no misspelt words.

The PRETOS have been standardised to provide norms covering the period March to November inclusive. Class percentile ranks are provided for both production and recognition scores. The production score is a measure of the child's ability to spell a word correctly after identifying it as an error, and to locate the error-free lines. The recognition score is a measure of the ability to recognise misspelt words.

In addition to the normative scores for production and recognition, the format of the tests provides specific information on:

(i)  misspelt words that are identified and re-spelt correctly
(ii)  misspelt words that are identified but not re-spelt correctly
(iii)  misspelt words that are not identified
(iv)  correctly spelt words that are identified as misspelt
(v)  words that are incorrect because of context, rather than because of "spelling".

Suitable for group use.
Timed: 30 minutes.

NZCER, 1981