What letter names & sounds involves
- Telling letters apart from numbers and shapes, and finding letters in real print
- Pointing to a named letter, then naming uppercase and lowercase letters shown in random order
- Matching uppercase letters to their lowercase partners
- Saying the most common sound for consonants and the short sound for vowels
- Connecting a heard sound to the letter, including the beginning sound of a word
- Writing or selecting the letter when its name or sound is dictated
- Retrieving letters quickly enough that word reading and typing are not slowed
Baseline and measurement considerations
- Start with a full 26-letter inventory in each case, shown in random order, and keep the letter-by-letter chart; the percent tracks progress while the chart tells you what to teach.
- Use accuracy while letters are still being learned, a timed rate (letters correct per minute) once accuracy is above about 80 percent and speed is the gap, and latency when a few letters take several seconds.
- Score names and sounds separately even when they are taught together; most students know more names than sounds.
- Decide in advance how to score a sound with an added vowel (buh for /b/), reversals in writing, and letters with more than one sound, and write the rule on the data sheet.
- Keep the font, letter order, and field size constant from probe to probe; a changed a or g looks like regression.
- Compare small-field scores to chance: a field of 3 gives a 33 percent guess rate, and a field of 2 gives 50 percent.
Progress-monitoring methods used in these templates
- Opportunity (trial) recording: Each planned or naturally occurring opportunity is recorded as correct/independent, prompted, or not demonstrated.
- Timed probes: A fixed-length timing (for example, 1 or 2 minutes) used to calculate a per-minute rate.
- Work-sample analysis: Scoring completed student work (permanent products) against a defined answer key or checklist.
- Direct observation: An adult observes and records the defined behavior during a specified activity.
- Latency recording: The time between a cue (such as a direction) and the start of the response is timed.
How each measure works
- Percent Accuracy: Percent of attempted items answered correctly.
- Rate per Minute: Count of correct responses per minute on a timed task.
- Opportunity (Trial) Data: Number of opportunities in which the behavior is demonstrated, out of a fixed number.
- Latency Recording: Time from a cue (such as a direction) to the start of the response.
Matching data sheets
Each template links to a blank sheet built for its measure. You can also download these sheets on their own:
- Accuracy tracker: Number correct out of number attempted, with percent accuracy and support level.
- Frequency & rate tracker: Counts a defined behavior during a fixed observation period. Calculates rate when time is recorded.
- Opportunity tracker: Records each opportunity as independent, prompted, or not demonstrated.
- Latency tracker: Times the gap between a cue and the start of the response.
Common mistakes when writing letter names & sounds goals
- Writing "will know the alphabet" without saying which case, which task, or how it is scored.
- Counting the alphabet song or reciting letters in order as letter naming; random-order naming is the skill that matters.
- Mixing names and sounds in one score so nobody can tell which is lagging.
- Setting a timed goal before the student is accurate, which teaches guessing.
- Using decorative or all-caps fonts on probes that do not match the student's books.
- Treating b/d reversals in a five-year-old as a reason for an intensive goal; they are developmentally typical until about age seven.