Our work in providing teachers with instructional support in the earliest stages of reading development repeatedly highlighted the need to have a user-friendly assessment instrument that teachers could rely upon when attempting to gain fast, yet reliable, information on the level of phonological awareness exhibited by their students. The intention of the Standardized Assessment of Phonological Awareness (SAPA) is to provide teachers with the tools necessary to isolate specific phonological awareness activities that were problematic for their learners so that focused instructional attention could be directed toward those areas of need most readily, ideally unlocking the potential for the learners’ growth.

This assessment tool aligns with the learning activities in Orson’s Farm.