Assessing and Teaching Phonological Knowledge (ATPK)

Purpose: To identify development level of phonological knowledge, assess whether difficulties are due to delayed or immature development, and recommend teaching procedures and follow up tasks

Range: First three years of school and older children experiencing reading difficulties

Administration: Time varies – individual

Assessing and Teaching Phonological Knowledge (ATPK) comprises a set of practical assessment procedures which allow teachers or educational diagnosticians to:

• Identify where students are in their development of phonological awareness
• Determine whether reading and spelling difficulties may be due to delayed or immature development
• Follow up with a range of exercises for reinforcing and fostering this knowledge

Using a straightforward logical format, ATPK addresses the need to implement systematic instruction in the area of phonological knowledge. It provides teachers a means of helping students with reading difficulties to access the code that enables them to link spoken and written words.

Assessment Content

• Awareness of sound patterns in words
• Segmenting words into sounds
• Sound blending
• Manipulating sounds in words
• Phonemic recoding