At the beginning of the year, all students are assessed using the Fountas and Pinnell early literacy binder. These assessments include: letter identification, sound identification, high frequency word knowledge, rhyming, initial sounds, segmenting, and blending. These skills are assessed again as needed each trimester. If a student has mastered an assessment they will not need to repeat it. Students should be secure in most, if not all, of these skills before being given leveled texts.

Once students are secure in their letter sounds and can fluently read at least 10 high frequency words they are assessed using the Fountas and Pinnell leveling kit. This typically turns out to be about 2-3 times per year. For the assessment, students read a text and answer comprehension questions. They are scored on their accuracy, errors, self corrections, and comprehension. The goal is to find what level the child is reading at independently with few errors. These levels help determine reading groups and further instruction.

Every trimester students are graded on a rubric that is shared with parents and on report cards.