The Gentry Developmental Spelling Test (aka 'Monster Test')
WHAT?: The ‘Monster Test’ of developmental spelling was designed by Richard Gentry and colleagues in 1985, and has been in widespread use for the past 25 years. This 10- item test is quick to administer, and provides great information for a variety of purposes:
• Progress Monitoring: This test helps show progress across time. Because it is quick to administer, it can be given at least at the beginning and end of the year, as a new project is initiated. It is helpful to administer the test even before students are ‘writing’ as that will document that baseline is 0, and will highlight student progress!
• Tracking Phases for Individual Students: This test leads to identifying phases of developmental spelling from precommunicative to conventional spelling.
• Proscriptive Testing: Knowing the spelling phase can assist teachers and therapists in designing appropriate instructional strategies for groups or individuals.
WHY?: Developmental spelling is important because it gives us a ‘window’ into children’s understanding of how to use print to form words, and how those understandings grow across time. Across time, individuals go through predictable ‘phases’ of developmental spelling. This test can identify the current phase, and show progress across time and across interventions.
• Progress Monitoring: This test helps show progress across time. Because it is quick to administer, it can be given at least at the beginning and end of the year, as a new project is initiated. It is helpful to administer the test even before students are ‘writing’ as that will document that baseline is 0, and will highlight student progress!
• Tracking Phases for Individual Students: This test leads to identifying phases of developmental spelling from precommunicative to conventional spelling.
• Proscriptive Testing: Knowing the spelling phase can assist teachers and therapists in designing appropriate instructional strategies for groups or individuals.
WHY?: Developmental spelling is important because it gives us a ‘window’ into children’s understanding of how to use print to form words, and how those understandings grow across time. Across time, individuals go through predictable ‘phases’ of developmental spelling. This test can identify the current phase, and show progress across time and across interventions.
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