PALS-K stands for Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening for Kindergarten. This spring, between April 9 – April 27, all children transitioning to kindergarten will be given the PALS assessment before leaving our school.
Why give the PALS Assessment?
PALS-K will identify early and accurately students who are experiencing difficulties in acquiring fundamental reading skills. In keeping with research findings, PALS-K will ensure these students get extra instruction when they are young. PALS-K also gives teachers information to plan instruction that matches students’ needs, as they are making an important transition to a new facility.
What does PALS-K measure? PALS-K assesses these literacy domains: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary. Specifically, PALS-K assesses a student’s:
- Phonological awareness
- Alphabet knowledge
- Knowledge of letter sounds
- Spelling
- Concept of Word
- Word recognition in isolation
What types of scores and information does PALS-K provide? PALS-K provides teachers with information about students’ level of mastery of early literacy fundamentals. PALS-K reports students’ development by domain and by tasks. Students’ scores on designated tasks are added to create a Summed Score. This score is compared to expectations for fall and for spring. Summed Scores help identify students who would benefit from extra instruction tailored to their needs.
How are the PALS-K results used? At Spark! we use this information to monitor our ability to adequately prepare children for kindergarten. We share this information with each child’s school and principal at a critical transition from our preschool to the elementary level. As children transition into kindergarten, before the start of kindergarten they will be given a different form of the PALS-K, and teachers will be able to monitor any gains or regression during the summer. The minimum total score for students in August is 28 points; if students are below 28 points, they will be considered below grade level and placed on a READ plan to support their literacy skills. At the elementary level PALS-K allows teachers and school-level reading specialists to identify students who are at risk of reading difficulties, because they lag behind grade-level expectations in literacy fundamentals. PALS-K results are used to guide teachers in planning literacy instruction that is matched to students’ specific literacy needs.
If you have questions about this assessment, please contact your child’s teacher.