Phonics and Word Reading Survey 

PWRS Assessment

This test is untimed, but it should take about 5–10 minutes to administer.

The survey is a tool for identifying which correspondences and patterns the student has learned, and which ones the student needs to be taught. When patterns are “learned,” they can be read automatically, without guesswork. Tis survey can be used with students from the last half of kindergarten onward. The series of tasks is organized according to a progression of phonic elements and syllable types that increase in difficulty. The number of subtests given will depend on how far the student can go with at least some success. Closed syllables (with short vowels) are by far the most common in English and are assessed before long vowel syllable patterns. Open syllables and VCe are the long vowel patterns tested first because they are typically taught before other long vowel patterns. Te more complex, unusual, but regular vowel, consonant, syllable, and morpheme patterns follow. 

• First ask the student to read the single-syllable words and nonsense syllables in each section. If a student knows at least some of the one-syllable patterns, ask the student to try the two- and three-syllable words. 

• Discontinue if the student is having no success. If the student makes a mistake but immediately self-corrects, count the item as correct. Discontinue the survey when the word lists become too difficult for the student to read. 

• If the student makes an error, keep going without giving corrective feedback. Give neutral encouragement (e.g., “Nice job; you did just what I asked.”). 

• Write down the student’s response on the record sheet so that types of decoding errors can be analyzed later. Encourage the student to move on (e.g., “Try the next one.”) if he/she cannot respond to an item within about 3 seconds.