Diagnostic reading assessment after screening

A screener says who is at risk. It does not say why. Two third graders can both read 45 words correct per minute for completely different reasons: one cannot decode vowel teams, the other decodes well but reads slowly and loses meaning. A diagnostic assessment is the short set of follow-up checks that tells them apart.

The National Center on Intensive Intervention describes diagnostic data as the information teams use to pinpoint a student's specific skill deficits and decide how to adapt an intervention.^[1] In practice, most diagnostics can be done by a classroom teacher or interventionist in 30 to 45 minutes spread over two or three short sessions. The reading intervention pillar shows where this step sits in the full cycle.

What you need before you start

• The screening report, with each subtest score, not just the composite. The DIBELS subtests guide explains what each measures.
• Two or three unpracticed passages at the student's grade level, and one a grade lower.
• A phonics survey that moves from letter sounds through multisyllable words, using real and made-up words.
• A short phonemic awareness check (blending and segmenting spoken words).
• A spelling inventory with words that sample the same patterns as the phonics survey.
• A recording sheet and a timer.

Step-by-step diagnostic assessment

Step 1: Read the screening data

Look at every subtest, not just the overall band. A low oral reading score with a solid nonsense word score points away from basic decoding. Note accuracy as well as rate. Example: a student reading 40 words correct per minute at 97% accuracy has a different problem from one reading 40 at 85%.

Step 2: Listen to the student read a passage

Have the student read 2 or 3 unpracticed grade-level passages for 1 minute each. Mark every error and write down exactly what the student said. Below about 90% accuracy, decoding is likely the barrier. Example: in "The children stained the fence," the student reads "stand" for "stained." That points to vowel teams. The reading error analysis guide shows how to sort errors into patterns.

Step 3: Give a phonics survey

Move through the survey from easiest to hardest: letter sounds, short-vowel CVC words, blends and digraphs, silent e, vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, then two- and three-syllable words. Use made-up words in each section so memory does not hide a gap. Stop a section after the student misses most items. Example: a student reads 18 of 20 CVC words and 17 of 20 silent-e words but only 6 of 20 vowel-team words. The gap starts at vowel teams.

Step 4: Check phonemic awareness

If the phonics survey breaks down early (letter sounds or CVC words), check whether the student can blend and segment spoken sounds. Say "/m/ /a/ /p/" and ask for the word; say "ship" and ask for each sound. Example: a first grader blends 3-sound words but cannot segment 4-sound words with blends. Skip this step for students whose decoding is solid through silent e.

Step 5: Give a spelling inventory

Spelling is a second check on the phonics results, because spelling a pattern is harder than reading it. A student who reads silent e words but spells "make" as "mak" knows the pattern only partly. Example: the student spells "rain" as "ran" and "boat" as "bot," which matches the vowel-team gap from step 3.

Step 6: Check vocabulary and comprehension

When word reading is accurate, look at meaning. Ask the student to retell a passage they read, then ask 5 questions. Read a harder passage aloud and ask the same kind of questions. If listening comprehension is much stronger than reading comprehension, word reading is still the barrier. If both are weak, language and vocabulary need attention too. Example: a student retells a grade 3 story read aloud in full but gives only 2 details after reading it alone.

Step 7: Summarize and plan

Write a short skill profile: what is solid, what is partly known and where the gap starts. Instruction starts at the lowest skill that is not solid. Then choose the measure that will track that skill and set a baseline using the same measure.

Worked example: Kayla, grade 3

Kayla is a fictional third grader. All numbers are illustrations.

Screening, September 8. Oral reading fluency: 48 words correct per minute, 88% accuracy, in the "well below benchmark" band. No other subtests given in grade 3 at her school.

Passage reading, September 12 (6 minutes). Three grade 3 passages: 46, 51 and 48 WCPM; median 48. Accuracy 87% to 89%. Of 19 errors, 12 are on vowel-team words ("stand" for "stained," "bot" for "boat") and 5 are on two-syllable words. She self-corrects 3 errors.

Phonics survey, September 13 (10 minutes).

Phonemic awareness. Skipped; decoding is solid through blends.

Spelling inventory, September 14 (9 minutes). Spells short-vowel and blend words correctly. Spells 4 of 10 vowel-team words correctly.

Comprehension, September 14 (10 minutes). Retells a grade 3 story read aloud with all key events. After reading a similar story herself, she retells about half.

Summary. Kayla's barrier is decoding vowel teams and r-controlled vowels, which also breaks down her two-syllable reading. Listening comprehension is a strength. Plan: a decoding group targeting vowel teams, then r-controlled vowels, then syllable division, with daily reading of decodable and then grade-level text. Progress measure: weekly 1-minute grade 3 passages, plus a 20-word vowel-team list every 2 weeks. Total diagnostic time: about 40 minutes across three days.

If Kayla were moving toward an IEP, this profile would go straight into present levels, and her goals would come from the phonics and decoding goals library, such as the vowel-team and r-controlled word list goal. Paste the draft into the goal checker to catch vague wording.

Common mistakes

• Weak: Giving a full battery to every flagged student. Better: Start from the screening data and give only the checks that answer the open question.
• Weak: Writing "decoding" as the finding. Better: Name the pattern: "reads CVC and blends; breaks down at vowel teams (7 of 20)."
• Weak: Using only real words in the phonics survey. Better: Include made-up words so memorized words do not hide a gap.
• Weak: Assuming a slow reader needs fluency practice. Better: Check accuracy and decoding first; repeated reading will not fix a vowel-team gap.
• Weak: Skipping comprehension because decoding is low. Better: Check listening comprehension, so you know whether language needs support too.
• Weak: Choosing a progress measure that does not match the gap. Better: Monitor the skill you teach, plus a general passage measure.

Tools for the next step

• Group students who share a gap with grouping students for reading intervention.
• Write the plan with the reading intervention plan template.
• Record passage probes on the reading fluency data sheet.
• Review the screening side in universal screening for reading and letter naming fluency benchmarks.

A school-based diagnostic is not a special education evaluation. If the team suspects a disability, or a parent requests an evaluation, the evaluation process and its timeline apply, and intervention cannot be used to delay it.^[2] The glossary entries for universal screening and curriculum-based measurement give short definitions.

Frequently asked questions

Use it in IEP Atlas

• Universal screening in the IEP glossary
• Curriculum based measurement in the IEP glossary
• IEP goal checker
• Phonics and decoding goals (reading)
• Reading fluency data sheet

Related guides

• Reading intervention for students with IEPs: assess, group, teach, monitor
• Universal screening for reading
• DIBELS subtests explained
• Reading error analysis
• Grouping students for reading intervention
• Letter naming fluency benchmarks

Sources

1. Diagnostic Data, National Center on Intensive Intervention
2. OSEP Memo 11-07: Response to Intervention (RTI) (January 21, 2011), U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.