Which assessment tool is right for me | Spell-Links

Selecting the right assessment tool depends on your goals. We offer several assessment tools, each designed with a different purpose in mind.

aimswebPLUS spelling module with

You want to…	deeply and comprehensively assess phonological, orthographic, and morphological skills and sub-skills across an automatically determined range based on student performance level.	assess phonological, orthographic, and morphological skills at a manually selected grade level.	compare a student’s performance against a norming group, ranking students from lowest to highest, and providing insight into where a student stands in relation to their peers and examine a student’s spelling inventory to gain foundational insights into phonological, orthographic, and morphological skills.
Using a….	spelling to dictation task. criterion-referenced assessment.	spelling to dictation and word reading task. criterion-referenced assessment.	spelling to dictation task. norm-referenced + criterion-referenced assessment.
To get…	in-depth and expertly scored and analyzed diagnostic, prescriptive data and a tailored reading and spelling intervention plan for each student. This plan directly links to specific lessons and activities in the SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing word study curriculum and is also used for progress monitoring.	a worksheet for your own analysis of progress monitoring data from which a skilled professional can glean insights for planning and adjusting instruction.	standardized scores and a worksheet for analysis of spelling inventory and spelling errors that will help you put the collected data into immediate action.
That you’re doing…	1x/year (recommended).	3x/year (recommended).	3x/year (recommended).
For the purpose of…	creating a step-by-step intervention plan. progress monitoring.	planning instruction around specific patterns and skills. progress monitoring.	identifying at-risk students and planning instruction around specific patterns and skills. progress monitoring.
You’re assessing…	Grade 2–Adult across K–12 levels of performance. SPELL-3 automatically adjusts to an appropriate level of testing based on a student’s performance on early test items.	K–Adult performing at grade levels K–5. The evaluator manually selects at which grade level to test.	Grades 3-12.
With the option of…	simultaneously testing multiple students.	simultaneously testing multiple students (for spelling task only; the reading task is administered 1:1).	simultaneously testing multiple students.
And you have…	35-45 minutes for testing. We recommend dividing this into smaller chunks of time.	10-15 minutes for the spelling task + 5 minutes per student for the reading task.	5-15 minutes to complete the standardized assessment.
Plus….	0 minutes for scoring and analyzing responses, interpreting data, identifying goals, creating a targeted intervention plan, and writing reports. SPELL-3 does all the work for you! This work would typically require 10+ hours, per student, of your time to complete manually. View sample Assessment Reports instantly created by the SPELL-3.	20-30 minutes or longer, per student, depending on the evaluator’s knowledge and skill with spelling error analysis.	20-30 minutes or longer, per student, depending on the evaluator’s knowledge and skill with spelling error analysis, to complete the spelling inventory and error analysis.
You also want…	to group students for instruction based on specific needs (patterns, skills, and subskills).	to group students for instruction based on more general needs (skills only).	to group students for instruction based on more general needs (pattern categories and phonology, orthography, morphology skills).
And you have…	0 minutes to group students by specific skill or word study pattern. SPELL-3 does all the work for you, automatically grouping students based on word study pattern, skills, and subskills.	30+ minutes to create groups, depending on how many students you are putting into groups.	20-30 minutes to create groups, depending on how many students you are putting into groups.
And you’re looking for…	expert scoring, analysis, interpretation, and recommendations, giving you a high level of confidence in the assessment results and a clear step-by-step roadmap for targeted intervention. SPELL-3 gives you immediately actionable data linked directly to specific lessons and activities in the SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing word study curriculum and allows you to spend your valuable time on the lessons/skills students need while passing over those in which they have demonstrated proficiency.	manual scoring, analysis, and interpretation that you do yourself. Accuracy, time, and careful analysis of student responses by a knowledgeable evaluator is required to glean the most useful information.	doing more with your normative data – putting it into action through additional scoring, analysis, and interpretation using the Administration and Scoring Guide (included).
That is best suited for…	Tier 2, Tier 3 intervention and special services for grades 2–Adult.	Tier 2, Tier 3 intervention and special services for Grade 2+ students already using SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing and for K–1 students just getting started with SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing.	all Tiers and student populations; use with any instruction/intervention curriculum.
Get it here…	SPELL-3	Included with SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing and SPELL-Links Wordtivities Word Lists—not sold separately.	Available through Pearson Clinical Assessments.