Finco Reading Proficiency Tool

Reading Proficiency Tool

Teacher Handbook

Because
every child
deserves
a great
future.

Introduction

The following Reading Proficiency tool handbook is designed for teachers to
have a more accurate understanding of their students’ reading abilities.

This is not a summative test.

The information and data from each section of the tool should be used to create
meaningful reading goals for students to support their ongoing reading
development and progress.

All sections can be used for any student between the ages of 4 to 13.

Each section is designed to give specific information about each of the building
blocks of proficient reading.

Administering the sections, first-hand, is very informative, and teachers should
not miss this opportunity to get to know their student’s literacy skills better.

The Appendices at the end of this document hold the charts, lists and tables for
capturing data that are referred to as part of the tool.

The organisation of the sections within this tool is hierarchical, but teachers
should use their best judgement to decide which assessments are given to each
child, and in what order, as follows;

Start the tool here if the student struggles with basic reading skills.

Section 1 Reading Readiness 1.1 Letter Recognition
1.2 Phonological Awareness
1.3 Phonemic Awareness

Start the tool here if the student can already comfortably
read basic words and sentences.

Section 2 Reading Age 2.1 Sight Words
2.2 Reading Sentences

Section 3 Comprehension 3.1 Comprehension

Section 3 Vocabulary and decoding 4.1 Fluency

Reading Proficiency Tool

Section 1:

Reading Readiness

Covers 3 topics: 1.1 letter recognition, 1.2 phonological awareness, & 1.3 phonemic
awareness. Start using the tool from here if the student struggles with basic
reading skills.

Section 1.1: Letter Recognition (See Appendices 1 & 2)

Instructions:
Student reads the full page of letters – capitals, smalls, different fonts, and other
writing symbols (!, ?, etc.) (Appendix 1)
For marking responses, there are 3 categories for the teacher to choose from as
the child reads – Correct, Incorrect, Hesitant (Appendix 2)
Tick the appropriate box as the child reads – left to right, row by row – can be
done slowly – no rush
Use this tool to check readiness and confidence e.g., able to decode letters, not
confused by different fonts, able to work out what is in front of them without too
many instructions, etc.
If they do not have confidence in reading this page, these students are at the
pre-reading stage and would need to learn the letters and symbols of reading
before proceeding further.

Section 1.2: Phonological Awareness (See Appendix 3)

Instructions:
Each sentence in the list has two main words – some rhyme, some do not
Teacher reads the questions about the rhyming words (Appendix 3)
Students answer yes or no – they do or do not rhyme
Teacher takes note of the response in the table
Teacher adds up total score by the end of the two lists

Section 1.3 Phonemic Awareness (See Appendix 4)

Instructions:
Explain to students that words have sounds in them
Ask ‘Do you hear the /k/ sound in the word KING? Listen ‘K – K – K – KING’
‘Can you hear the /oo/ sound in TOOK?’
‘Can you hear the /sh/ sound in TOOK?’
‘There is no /sh/ sound in TOOK. But there is in SHOOK.’
Proceed to ask students all questions from list A
Use List B later in the year when you are checking for progress
Record the students’ answers in the related table (Appendix 4)

Reading Proficiency Tool

Section 2:

Reading Age

This section is for determining reading age. For those who don't need Section 1,
start here.

There are 2 ways to determine reading age in this section – Sight Words and
Reading Sentences. Use 1 of them at the beginning of the school year or term
and use the other at the end of the school year or term, to measure progress.
Both reading age calculators correlate, so a student taking either tool can reliably
be said to have more or less that same reading age on the other tool.

Section 2.1 was adapted from the Burt Word Reading Tool and section 2.2 was
adapted from The Hertfordshire Reading Test.

2.1 Sight Words (See Appendices 5, 6 & 7)

Instructions:
In the table there are words ranging in size, and difficulty – from large and easy, to
small and challenging – (Appendix 5)
The child begins at the first word ‘to’ and reads left to right, steadily and with
attention and focus
When a child makes an error, do not tell them they have made an error and do not
tell them the correct pronunciation - just move to the next word
The child’s original response should be accepted, but spontaneous corrections
should be allowed
Stop after 10 errors
No coaching, no hinting, no helping
After 10 errors, count the number of words pronounced correctly up to that point
The number of correct words in total is the reading age –
Use the age calculator, Appendix 6, to determine reading age, and record the
results in the table (Appendix 7) or use the Excel Spreadsheet

2.2 Reading Sentences (See Appendices 8 & 9)

Instructions:
Child reads the sentences out loud (Appendix 8)
Let the child make mistakes – no hints, prompts, or helping
When the child makes their 4th mistake, at whichever line, you can stop
The line that has the 4th mistake made is the final reading age
If the child already makes mistakes by lines 1, 2 or 3, they are reading at an age of
just over 5 and a half years old, to just over 6 years old
The table explains the years and months, per line (Appendix 9)

Reading Proficiency Tool

Section 3:

Comprehension

Use the sentences in Section 2.2 – Appendix 8, to support the following compre-
hension questions.

3.1 Comprehension (See Appendices 8 & 10)

Instructions:
Two related comprehension questions will follow each sentence (Appendices 8 & 10)
Student reads the first sentence out loud
Teacher asks both questions about the sentence to check for understanding –
student responds verbally
Student continues reading and answering comprehension questions
Record the sentence in which the student makes their 4th mistake - this will give an
indication of the students’ reading age in terms of comprehension
Encourage students to answer the questions using body language if it helps
Expect results to be lower for ESL students

Section 4:

Fluency

This section was adapted from the Abecedarian Tools and covers reading fluency
and vocabulary taken from word lists comprised of higher to lower frequency
words from MOE syllabus documents and CEFR word lists.

4.1 Fluency (See Appendices 11 & 12)

Instructions:
This section is designed to see whether children understand the meaning of higher
to lower frequency words
Ask students to read the words in a list, in order, and then to explain the meaning of
the word (Appendix 11)
Encourage students to explain further and to use body language if it helps (for
example, pointing, or miming)
If it is still not clear, count that word as unknown and move to the next word
Students should be getting 8 out of 10 correct
There are 2 lists of words - one for the beginning of the academic year or term, and
one for the end
Use the tables (Appendix 12) to collect data about your student’s responses

Reading Proficiency Tool

APPENDICES

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 1 for SECTION 1.1 – Letter Recognition

Student Sheet –
print or show to your student to read

Student Sheet

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 2 for SECTION 1.1 – Letter Recognition

Teacher Answer Sheet –
use this, or the excel spreadsheet to record student responses

Teacher Answer Sheet

Item C IR H Item C IR H Item C IR H
M ____ ____ ____ d ____ ____ ____ 5 ____ ____ ____
s ____ ____ ____ k ____ ____ ____ N ____ ____ ____
a ____ ____ ____ Z ____ ____ ____ L ____ ____ ____
U ____ ____ ____ C ____ ____ ____ Q ____ ____ ____
V ____ ____ ____ b ____ ____ ____ W ____ ____ ____
! ____ ____ ____ u ____ ____ ____ 4 ____ ____ ____
O ____ ____ ____ J ____ ____ ____ j ____ ____ ____
H ____ ____ ____ f ____ ____ ____ m ____ ____ ____
q ____ ____ ____ S ____ ____ ____ i ____ ____ ____
r ____ ____ ____ 8 ____ ____ ____ y ____ ____ ____
T ____ ____ ____ A ____ ____ ____ t ____ ____ ____
B ____ ____ ____ 2 ____ ____ ____ G ____ ____ ____
p ____ ____ ____ Y ____ ____ ____ v ____ ____ ____
x ____ ____ ____ a ____ ____ ____ X ____ ____ ____
g ____ ____ ____ K ____ ____ ____ ? ____ ____ ____
E ____ ____ ____ l ____ ____ ____ c ____ ____ ____
n ____ ____ ____ R ____ ____ ____ P ____ ____ ____
w ____ ____ ____ g ____ ____ ____ D ____ ____ ____
F ____ ____ ____ e ____ ____ ____ h ____ ____ ____
6 ____ ____ ____ I ____ ____ ____ z ____ ____ ____

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 3 for SECTION 1.2 – Phonological Awareness

Teacher Answer Sheet –
use this, or the excel spreadsheet to record student responses

No. QuesƟon Student said… (Yes or Correct Answer Score
No?)
List A PracƟce Items:
1 Does MOO rhyme with ZOO? Yes N/A
2 Does WRAP rhyme with RIP? No N/A
3 Does CAR rhyme with STAR? Yes N/A
4
5 Does PILL rhyme with HILL? Yes
6 Does HEAD rhyme with NOSE? No
7 Does GAME rhyme with NAME? Yes
8 Does LAKE rhyme with MAKE? Yes
9 Does MOON rhyme with SPOON? Yes
10 Does FEAR rhyme with FAR? No
List B Does MOST rhyme with TOAST? Yes
1 Does BIKE rhyme with BAKE? No
2 Does GREEN rhyme with GRAIN? No
3 Does SNAP rhyme with NAP? Yes
4
5 Does LUCK rhyme with TRUCK? Yes
6 Does HAND rhyme with FOOT? No
7 Does FINE rhyme with PINE? Yes
8 Does HOSE rhyme with NOSE? Yes
9 Does SAME rhyme with GAME? Yes
10 Does SNAKE rhyme with SNACK? No
Does WEST rhyme with TEST? Yes
Does LAKE rhyme with LIKE? No
Does SMOKE rhyme with SHOOK? No
Does BEND rhyme with END? Yes

Score Total

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 4 for SECTION 1.3 – Phonemic Awareness

Teacher Answer Sheets –
use these, or the excel spreadsheet to record student responses

PracƟce Items:
Do you hear /v/ in VAN? (Yes)
Do you hear /aw/ in THAW? (Yes)
Do you hear /h/ in GONE? (No)

List A Student Correct Score
Response Response
Student Name:
Date: Yes
1. Do you hear /s/ in SAND? Yes
2. Do you hear /m/ in GUM? No
3. Do you hear /s/ in CARD? Yes
4. Do you hear /oo/ in GLUE? No
5. Do you hear /sh/ in SMELL? Yes
6. Do you hear /ee/ in PEEK? No
7. Do you hear /m/ in RAIN? No
8. Do you hear /k/ in DAY? Yes
9. Do you hear /z/ in MAZE? Yes
10. Do you hear /p/ in SPOON?

TOTAL

List B Student Correct Score
Response Response
Student Name:
Date: Yes
1. Do you hear /s/ in SIT? Yes
2. Do you hear /m/ in TRAM? No
3. Do you hear /s/ in BEARD? Yes
4. Do you hear /oo/ in FLEW? No
5. Do you hear /sh/ in PASS? Yes
6. Do you hear /ee/ in GREEN? No
7. Do you hear /m/ in TRAIN? No
8. Do you hear /k/ in GROW? Yes
9. Do you hear /z/ in WISE? Yes
10. Do you hear /p/ in SPILL?

TOTAL

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 5 for SECTION 2.1 – Sight Words - Reading Age

Student Reading Sheet –
print out or show to student to use

Sight Words List A

Reading Proficiency Tool

Sight Words List B

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 6 for SECTION 2.1 – Sight Words
- Reading Age Calculator

Score = number of words read correctly
Reading Age = ‘year.month’ eg 5.3 is 5 years 3 months

Score 1–3 4 5–6 7–8 9 – 10 11 12 – 14 15 – 16
5.6 13
Reading Age 5.3 5.4 5.5 22
6.3 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11
34
Score 17 18 – 19 20 - 21 7.0 23 24 – 25 26 27 28 – 29
45
Reading Age 6.0 6.1 6.2 7.10 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8
54
Score 30 - 31 32 33 8.7 35 – 36 37 38 39 – 40 41
64
Reading Age 6.9 6.10 6.11 9.7 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.5 7.6
73
Score 42 43 44 10.6 46 47 48 49 50
82
Reading Age 7.7 7.8 7.9 11.5 7.11 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3
91
Score 51 52 53 12.4 55 56 57 58 59
100
Reading Age 8.4 8.5 8.6 13.3 8.8 8.9 8.10 9.0 9.1
110
Score 60 62 63 14.3 65 66 67 68 69

Reading Age 9.2 9.3 9.6 9.8 9.9 9.10 10.0 10.1

Score 70 71 72 74 75 76 77 78

Reading Age 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.7 10.9 10.10 10.11 11.0

Score 79 80 81 83 84 85 86 87

Reading Age 11.1 11.3 11.4 11.6 11.7 11.9 11.10 11.11

Score 88 89 90 92 93 94 95 96

Reading Age 12.0 12.1 12.3 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.9 12.10

Score 97 98 99 101 102 – 103 104 105 106

Reading Age 12.11 13.0 13.1 13.4 13.6 13.7 13.9 13.10

Score 107 108 109

Reading Age 13.11 14.0 14.1

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 7 for SECTION 2.1 – Sight Words
- Reading Age Data Collection

Teacher Answer Sheet –
use this table, or the excel spreadsheet to record student responses

This table allows for teachers to keep note of the reading age in 2 separate times
throughout an academic year

Student Name Date Reading Age Date Reading Age

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 8* for SECTION 2.2 – Reading Sentences

Student Reading Sheet –
print out or show to student to use

1. The boy has a ball.
2. The cat is in the tree.
3. I go to bed at six o’clock.
4. We are going to get some sweets.
5. I have a cup of hot milk at bedtime.
6. The children had crisps and cake at the party.
7. My aunt gave me ten ringgit for my birthday.
8. The book was called the Mystery of the Disappearing Jewels.
9. Nearly every car needs petrol, oil, water, air and a good engine.
10. The kitten escaped through a hole in the fence and it was difficult to catch him.
11. The teacher had a very stern face and so the boy did not argue.
12. The thief took all the milk from the refrigerator as well as other valuables.
13. The ambulance came quickly to the scene of the accident as the victim appeared to have hurt his knee

and wrist.
14. They went to a foreign restaurant which had an orchestra playing and waiters wore smart black suits.
15. The giant ate a huge dinner and as a result suffered from violent indigestion.
16. The girl had an audition for a part in a major production at a famous London theatre.
17. The yacht, which cost half a million ringgit to build, was launched by the distinguished visitor.
18. Severe weather conditions hampered the delivery of essential food throughout the north-eastern region.
19. The judge stopped the trial because the jury had been intimidated.
20. It was characteristic of Dad to say that, unless we took reasonable precautions, we could not go.
21. The nature Conservancy is to proceed under a compulsory purchase order to acquire land for a national

reserve especially for wading birds.
22. Smoking is a known cause of bronchitis, cancer, asthma and, in exceptional cases, of pneumonia.
23. The prevailing tendency to abandon our artistic tradition leaves contemporary life bereft of philosophical

significance.
24. For some unknown reason the majority of the audience missed the ironic humour of the comedy.
25. As societies progress, the organisation of a legal system is indicative of the development of stable

government.
26. The production of an anti-caries vaccine may prevent the controversy over water fluoridation becoming

a significant issue.
27. The first practical initiatives by the Alliance will be the circulation of a parliamentary newsletter and

distribution of a questionnaire.
28. For some inexplicable reason, my predecessor disliked using photocopying facilities in the office.
29. The benign influence of certain Roman Deities was thought to protect the children from malignant

forces.
30. The psychiatrist diagnosed that the patient undergoing analysis was suffering from schizophrenia.
31. Conspiracy to kill is an indictable offence and punitive measures are invariably taken.

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 9 for SECTION 2.2 – Reading Sentences
– Reading Age Calculator

Teacher -
use this table to note student’s reading age, line by line

Use the table in Appendix 7 if you wish to keep track of your student’s reading
age throughout an academic year

Able to start text Boys Girls
Line of 4th mistake: 1 Years Months Years Months

2 5 10 59
3 58 53
4 5 11 56
5 62 59
6 65 60
7 68 63
8 6 11 66
9 72 6 10
10 74 71
11 77 74
12 7 10 77
13 81 7 10
14 84 81
15 87 85
16 8 10 88
17 91 8 11
18 94 92
19 97 95
20 9 10 98
21 10 1 10 0
22 10 4 10 3
23 10 7 10 6
24 10 10 10 9
25 11 1 11 0
26 11 3 11 3
27 11 6 11 6
28 11 9 11 10
29 12 0 12 1
30 12 3 12 4
31 12 6 12 7
Finished before making 4 mistakes 12 9 12 10
13 0 13 1
13 6 13 3

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 10 for SECTION 3.1 – Comprehension

*Student reads sentences from Appendix 8
Teacher asks related comprehension questions below – Appendix 10

1.The boy has a ball.
What is happening? Who has the ball?
2.The cat is in the tree.
What is happening? What else might be in the tree?
3.I go to bed at six o’clock.
What do you do? What time do you do that?
4.We are going to get some sweets.
What are you doing? What are you going to get?
5.I have a cup of hot milk at bedtime.
What do you do? When do you do it?
6.The children had crisps and cake at the party.
Where are the children? What did they have?
7. My aunt gave me ten ringgit for my birthday.
What did you get? Who gave it to you?
8.The book was called the Mystery of the Disappearing Jewels.
What did you read? What do you think it was about?
9. Nearly every car needs petrol, oil, water, air and a good engine.
Why does a car need petrol? What would happen if you didn’t have water in the engine?
10. The kitten escaped through a hole in the fence and it was difficult to catch him.
What happened? How would you feel if your pet did that?
11. The teacher had a very stern face and so the boy did not argue.
What do you think happened? What do you think is happening to the boy?
12. The thief took all the milk from the refrigerator as well as other valuables.
Where do you think he found the valuables? How do you think the family will feel, when they find out?
13. The ambulance came quickly to scene of the accident as the victim appeared to have hurt his knee
and wrist.
What is a victim? Why does the victim have a sore knee and wrist?
14. They went to a foreign restaurant which had an orchestra playing and waiters wore smart black suits.
What sort of suits were the waiters wearing? What do you think the orchestra would be playing?
15. The giant ate a huge dinner and as a result suffered from violent indigestion.
How many plates of food would be in a huge dinner? What could the giant do to stop the indigestion?
16. The girl had an audition for a part in a major production at a famous London theatre.
How would the girl be feeling, during her audition? Do you think she will get the part? Why/why not?
17. The yacht, which cost half a million ringgit to build, was launched by the distinguished visitor.
What does distinguished, mean? Who might be the distinguished visitor to launch a million ringgit
yacht?
18. Severe weather conditions hampered the delivery of essential food throughout the north-eastern
region.
What does hampered, mean? What do you think the severe weather conditions were?

Reading Proficiency Tool

19. The judge stopped the trial because the jury had been intimidated.
Can you give me an example from your life when you have been intimidated? How did that make you
feel?

20. It was characteristic of Dad to say that, unless we took reasonable precautions, we could not go.
Where are they going? Why would it have been characteristic of Dad to know about precautions?

21. The nature conservancy is to proceed under a compulsory purchase order to acquire land for a
national reserve, especially for wading birds.
Apart from wading birds, what else might benefit from a piece of land that has been turned into a
national reserve? How do you think the members of the nature conservancy will feel about this
statement?

22. Smoking is a known cause of bronchitis, cancer, asthma and, in exceptional cases, of pneumonia.
Which part of the body might be most affected by bronchitis and asthma? Who might be an important
person in your country that would make this type of statement to media, tv and newspaper reporters?

23. The prevailing tendency to abandon our artistic tradition leaves contemporary life bereft of
philosophical significance.
Apart from artistic traditions, name another “old” part of life we no longer see as relevant or useful.
Name one reason you believe contemporary life is changing so rapidly, especially for the younger
generation.

24. For some unknown reason the majority of the audience missed the ironic humour of the comedy.
Why would today’s audience possibly not understand ironic humour? Do you have a comedy tv show
or movie that you enjoy? Why do you enjoy it?

25. As societies progress, the organisation of a legal system is indicative of the development of stable
government.
Who is the leader of the government in your country? Why is it necessary to have a stable
government?

26. The production of an anti-caries vaccine may prevent the controversy over water fluoridation
becoming a significant issue.
Local councils try to create healthy water systems via a process called fluoridation. Why would they
need to make our water safer to use eg drink/wash/brush teeth etc? ‘Caries’ is a common dental
disease caused by bacteria – what connection do you think exists there between discovering a
vaccine, and councils trying to make healthy water systems?

27. The first practical initiatives by the Alliance will be the circulation of a parliamentary newsletter and
distribution of a questionnaire.
What two pieces of information will the Alliance by circulating? What do you think the Alliance is
trying to achieve?

28. For some inexplicable reason, my predecessor disliked using photocopying facilities in the office.
What does predecessor mean? What could be a reason to dislike photocopying facilities?

29. The benign influence of certain Roman Deities was thought to protect the children from malignant
forces.
What is a deity? What were they supposed to be able to do?

30. The psychiatrist diagnosed that the patient undergoing analysis was suffering from schizophrenia.
What professional field is a psychiatrist in? What do you think might be wrong with the psychiatrists
patient – why might he/she be diagnosed with schizophrenia?

31. Conspiracy to kill is an indictable offence and punitive measures are invariably taken.
Some countries have very strict laws about certain offences, such as taking a person’s life. What
punitive measures have you heard of in your country? What system is in place in your country, for
dealing with these major offences?

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 11 for SECTION 4.1 – Fluency

Student Reading Sheet –
print out or show to student to use

List A
Book
Cat
Desk
Clothes
Brother
Dirty
Mirror
PlasƟc
Party
Carpet

List B
Read
Hungry
Chair
Lemon
Smile
Straight
Nurse
Message
Round
Sister

Reading Proficiency Tool

Appendix 12 for SECTION 4.1 – Fluency

Teacher Marking Sheets –
use these tables to collect data about your student’s responses

List A Y/N
Book Y/N
Cat
Desk Reading Proficiency Tool
Clothes
Brother
Dirty
Mirror
PlasƟc
Party
Carpet

TOTAL

List B
Read
Hungry
Chair
Lemon
Smile
Straight
Nurse
Message
Round
Sister

TOTAL