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South Australian Speiling Test (SAST) (revised)

The South Australian Spelling Test (SAST) is a standardised test of spelling achievementfor srudents in the age range 6 years to 16 years. The test is available in rwo forms, Aand B. Both forms were standardised together on a sample of over 10,000 SouthAusualian children in November 2004. Forms A and B can be used interchangeablyfor assessment purposes, but care must be taken to ensure that the correct norrntables are consulted when inteqpretirg the scores from each form. Thble I andT[ble 2 xe for Form A; Table 3 and T[ble 4 are for Form B.

The SAST can be administered orally to an individual srudenr, to a group, or ro awhole class. A written response is required from the snrdent and the results are scoredas either correct or incorrect. A student's raw score (rotal of items correct) can be evaluatedagainst the range of scores cypical for students of that particular age level (see Thble 1

for Form A). The raw score can also be converred into an approximate spelling age forthat student (see Table 2 forForm A). If SAST Form B has U*., used, Thble 3 and Thble4 rnust be used for the same purpose. Detailed instnrctions for adminisnation, scoringand interpretation are presented below.

The main pu{pose of SAST is to provide a quick screening instrument, enabling teachersto determine the spread of spelling abilicy in their classes and to identift srudents whomay require addidonal help. Used in this way SAST can provide a quantitative measureof a srudentt current standing within the age group. The SAST should not be used toofrequendy because children can become overly familiar with the content. If used oncea year, SAST can give an indication of the progress in spelling development made bystudents over a period of time. The SAST measurement can accompany the moredescriptive or qualitative assessments based on srudents' wrirten work samples and theEnglishProfiles. . . '.'

SAST can also be used before and after any spelling intervention program (ofreasonable duration) to detect improvements. Teachers are reminded, however, thatstandardised tests are not particularly sensitive to ve{F short-term gains from briefintervention programs (see Chapter 6).

Close inspection of the errors a snrdent makes in SAST can also y.reld some limited.diagnostic informadon, although that it not irs prime purpose. For example, it ispossible to note the individual's abiliry to spell phonetically, to use syllabification, tospell some irregular words, and to produce certain orthographic units correctly. Usedtogether with other sources of information, performance on the tesr rnay help a teacherdetermine the developmental stage a child has reached in the acquisirion of spellingskills. Teachers wishing for more detailed informadon are referred to Ganske's (1999)D ea elopmental Sp elling Analysis.

Technical detailsSAST Form Ais a modified version of the graded word list (1970) compiled in Britainby Dr Margaret Peters of Cambridge Universiry. Most of the words she used were derivedfrom Schonell's earlier standardised spelling tests Sl and 52 (Schonell, 1958; 1960). The

Spelling: approaches to teaching and assessment

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SAST Form B is a new alternative test covering the same age range as Form A. Thewords in Form B were selected by Wesnvood and Bissaker for this specific purpose.

The original Form A was standardised on children in England. Lateq in L978,Australian norms were obtained by testing a large representative sample of SouthAustralian children. The Ausualian norrns were checked and updated in 1993, and againin2004.tbles I to4inthisbookprovidenormsbasedonthetesting of 10,692SouthAustralian children in November 2004.

Reliability: The test-retest reliability of the South Australian Spelling Test is .96 atmost year levels. The correlation benveen scores in Form A and Form B varies from.89 to .94 zccording to age level. The modal value of the correlation between thenvo forms is .91 across the age range 6yearc to 16 years.

Standard etror of measurement: The standard error of measurement is approximately* 2 marks on raw score.

Normal range of perfortnance: The normal range of scores for each age level isbased on the spread of scores reflecting the performance of 50 per cenr of the age

group.This was calculated on t .68 standard deviation. These scores have been roundedto t}re nearest whole number in Thble I and Table 3.

Critically low score: The critically low score has been calculated on the basis that10 per cent of the age group would fall 1.29 standard deviations below the mean.The scores have been rounded to the nearest whole number in Table 1 and Thble 3.

Sequence and grading of test items: The sequence of the words in SAST FormA corresponds fairly closely to the order used in the original tesr developed in Britain(*ith someveryminor changes). The sequence of words in SAST Form B is based

on the item difficulty index for each word, calculated from the performance of a sample

of 60 students in the age range 6 to 13+ years. In determining the final sequence ofitems, reference was also made to Spencer's (2002) analysis of word difficulry and tothe word-frequency indicators provided by Leech, Rayson and Wilson (2001).Spencer (2002) suggests that word difficulry depends not only on word length butalso on how often the word is seen and used (frequenry factor), and phoneticiry (howregularly and predictably the graphemes represent the phonemes in the word).

Gender differences: Using the 2004 sample of students, gender differences in spellingperformance were investigated at each year level using 't' tesr. It was found that there

was no statistically siguificant difference berrveen the mean scores obtained by boys and

by grrls. Separate norrns tables for male and female snrdents are therefore not required.

lnstructions for administrationSAST Forms A and B

1. Snrdents should be seated in a position where copying from others is not possible.

2. Each student requires a sheet of paper and pen or pencil.

3. Srudents should number each item before writing the response.

The method of adminisuation is to say the number of the item. Then say the wordclearly. Embeci the word in a sentence. Then repeat the word, saying for exarnple:(Forrn B) 'Number 19: COST. How much will the ticket COST? Write COST.'

If any of the sentences suggested here appear inappropriate for the age or abilirylevel being tested the tester can change the sentence, provided that the sense of theword is rerained.

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6. Students should be encouraged to attempt as many items as possible; but vrith young

children, or students with learning difficulties, do not prolong the test unnecessarily.

7. It is usual to stop testing after a student has failed a block of ten *consecutive

items. (*Note: Not a total of ten errors anywhere in the test, but a block of ten

words coming together. Definition: Consecutive = 'following one another inuninterrupted succession').

8. When marking do not give credit for anywords beyond the tenth consecutive error.

9. When marking do not penalise for reversals of b and d.

10. No part-marks are to be given. A word is either correct or incorrect.

1 1. Ensure that the correct table of norms is consulted when determining snrdents' spelling

ages and interpreting scores (Thbles I and 2 for Form A, and Thbles 3 and 4 forForm B).

lnterpretation ol scoresThe snrdent's raw score is obtained by counting the number of items correct on his orher test sheet. No credit should be given for correct responses occurring after a block

of ten consecutiae et^rars.

Thble I (for Form A) and Thble 3 (for Form B) allow the teacher to compare a snrdent's

raw score with the average score obtained by other smdents of the same age. It is also

possible to determine whether the srudent is perforrning within the 'normal' range ofscores for his or her age level, or whether the score is critically low. 'Normal' range

indicates the spread of scores within which 50 per cent of the students of that age score.

The critically low score represents the score below which only 10 per cent of the age

group would be scoring. Students in the critically low group almost certainly need

addidonal support from the teacher in order to develop more effecdve spelling suategies.

Exarnples:

. Student X: Agirl aged 10 years 0 months scores 42 onthe SAST Form A. This places

her within the 'normal range' of performance for srudents of that age. See Table 1.

Her score is slighdy above the average for her age group (average score would be 37).

. StudentY Her friend, also age l0years 0 months, scores only 24 onSASTFormA.This places her in the bottom 10 per cent of srudents of that age. It would be

advisable to carry out further assessments with this student in order to determine

where special assistance can best be directed.

Referring to Thble 2, the spelling age for each of the two students just described is

approximately 11 years 2 months (Student X) and 7 years 1 month (Scudent Y).

When using Table 2 and Table 4 it is important to apply the known Standard Errorof Measurement of SAST (t2 points). Using Thble 2, it would be more accurate and

cautious to describe the spelling ages of the two snldents referred to above as follows:

. Student X: 42 - 2 = 40 and 42 + 2 = +4.

Spelling ages for scores of 40 and 44 are 10 years 8 months and 11 years l0 months

respectively. The spelling age for Student X is therefore within the range 10 years

8 months to 11 years 10 months.

. StadentY 24 -2 =22 and24 + 2 =26.Reading from Thble

?, fi. spelling age for SrudentY is between 6 years 10 months

andT years 4 months.

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