Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
PSF measures a student’s ability to say all the individual sounds in a spoken word.
True
Explanation: Segmentation is the core PSF skill. (Pages 66-74)
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) assesses a student’s ability to decode unfamiliar, made-up words.
True
Explanation: NWF is designed to measure decoding skills. (Pages 76-88)
If the student reads fewer than 8 words correctly on the first passage during benchmark assessment, do not administer Retell or the second and third passages.
False
Explanation:
If the student reads fewer than 10 words correctly on the first passage during benchmark assessment, do not administer Retell or the second and third passages. (Page 93)
Each relevant word included in the retell is one point; irrelevant or inaccurate words are not scored.
True
Explanation: Only passage-relevant words count. (Page 101)
Errors are coded by marking with this symbol: X
False
Explanation: Mark a slash (/) through any incorrect letter or letter sound in FSF, PSF, NWF or incorrect word in ORF & MAZE.
Students read printed words during the PSF subtest.
False
Explanation: PSF is oral only; no print is used. (Pages 66-74)
Each correct letter-sound correspondence receives one point, regardless of blending.
True
Blending is not required for letter-sound points. (Pages 76-88)
If a student omits a word, it is counted as an error and not awarded a point.
True
Explanation: Omitted words are counted as errors.
Example: Passage: "She went to the store."
Student reads: "She went to store."
"the" is omitted, so no point for that word. (Pages 89-100)
Repeated ideas or details are counted in the retell score more than once if they are not mentioned together.
False
Explanation: Repeated details are not double counted. (Page 101)
The Wait Rule is 5 seconds for the Acadience Reading Assessments.
False
The Wait Rule is 3 seconds.
If a student blends the word instead of segmenting it, no points are awarded.
True
Explanation: Only segmented responses are scored; blended responses are not. (Pages 66-74)
Reading a whole nonsense word correctly earns one additional point for the word.
True
Explanation: One point for each letter-sound, plus one for whole word blending. (Pages 76-88)
If a student repeats a word, the repetition is neither penalized nor credited in scoring.
True
Explanation: Repetitions are ignored in scoring.
Example:
Passage: "The dog ran fast."
Student reads: "The dog dog ran fast."
Both instances of "dog" are ignored for scoring purposes; the word is scored only once. (Pages 89-100)
If the student continues speaking after the one-minute timer, continue the retell until the student is done.
False
Explanation: Only the first minute counts towards the retell score. (Page 102)
If the student reads fewer than 40 words correctly on any passage, use professional judgment on whether to administer Retell for that passage.
True
Explanation: If a student reads less than 40 words, the retell does not need to be done. (Page 93)
Onset-rime segmentation (e.g., /c/-/at/) receives full points for the word.
False
Explanation: Only if each phoneme is produced separately is full credit given. (Pages 66-74)
Certain reminders, such as “Go this way” (sweeping your finger), “Say the sounds, not the letter names,” and “Just read the word,” may only be given once each during NWF administration, while “Keep going” and pointing if the student loses place may be used as often as needed.
True
Explanation: Some reminders are strictly limited to once per assessment (e.g., directionality, letter name correction, word reading correction), while others like “Keep going” and pointing for place can be repeated as needed. (Page 79)
Proper nouns mispronounced each time they appear are only counted as an error the first time.
True
Explanation: The first incorrect pronunciation is marked as an error; subsequent identical errors are not counted again.
Example:
Passage: "Mr. Jablonski is my teacher. Mr. Jablonski likes reading."
Student reads: "Mr. Jabinski is my teacher. Mr. Jabinski likes reading."
The first mispronunciation of "Jablonski" is counted as an error; the second is not. (Pages 89-100)
If a student includes correct information that is not in the passage, those words are counted in the retell score.
False
Explanation: Only passage-based content is scored in the retell. (Page 102)
The Maze Adjusted Score is a modified score that compensates for student guessing.
True
The Maze Adjusted Score is a modified score that compensates for student guessing. This is automatically calculated in Acadience once the score is submitted, but here is the formula:
Maze Adjusted Score = number of correct responses – (number of incorrect responses ÷ 2). (Page 114)
The examiner must repeat the word if the student asks for it to be repeated, even after the maximum number of repetitions.
False
Explanation: The examiner repeats the word only according to protocol; after the maximum, no further repetitions are given. (Pages 66-74)
If you hear a student sound out a word quietly before reading it as a whole word, they do not get credit for Whole Word Reading (WWR); but if you only see them move their lips or nod, with no sound, you do give credit for WWR.
True
Explanation: You must hear the student sound out the word to deny WWR credit. If you only see physical cues (no sound), credit is given for WWR, but you should note this for instructional purposes. (Page 79)
If a student skips an entire line, only the first word of the line is marked as an error.
False
Explanation: All skipped words are counted as errors. (Pages 89-100)
Retell scoring includes both main ideas and supporting details as long as they are accurate.
True
Explanation: All relevant content is credited.
If a student self-corrects, code it by circling the word.
False
Explanation: Write “sc” above any word that had been previously slashed and was self-corrected within 3 seconds. Count that word as correct.