FAST: earlyReading English

Letter Sounds

Rating Summary

Efficiency
Classification Accuracy
Generalizability		Moderate Low
Reliability
Validity
Disaggregated Reliability and Validity Data
	Administration	Individual
	Administration & Scoring Time	1-2 Minutes
	Scoring Key	Computer Scored
	Benchmarks / Norms	Yes

Cost	Technology, Human Resources, and Accommodations for Special Needs	Service and Support	Purpose and Other Implementation Information	Usage and Reporting
The Formative Assessment System for Teachers™ (FAST) is online software that requires no hardware or special add-ons. FAST is supported by an extensive set of materials to support teachers and students, including self-directed training modules that allow teachers to become certified to administer each of the FAST assessments. The entire FAST assessment package (i.e., reading, math, behavior, and on-line training) is provided at an annual flat rate of $6 per student.	Testers will require 1-4 hours of training. Paraprofessionals can administer the test.	Where to Obtain: Address:http://www.fastbridge.org/ FastBridge Learning 520 Nicollet Mall, Suite 910 Minneapolis, MN 55402-1057 Phone: 612-254-2534 Website: http://www.fastbridge.org/ Training materials are included in the cost of the tool. Additional, optional on-site and webinar-based training services are available for a fee. Ongoing technical support is available by calling 612-424-3710 or emailing fast1@umn.edu	The Formative Assessment System for Teachers (FAST) earlyReading measure is designed to assess both unified and component skills associated with kindergarten and first grade reading achievement. earlyReading is intended to enable screening and progress monitoring across four domains of reading (Concepts of Print, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and Decoding) and provide domain specific assessments of these specific component skills and a general estimate of overall reading achievement. The objective of the Letter Sounds measure is to assess the student’s ability and automaticity with saying the sounds of uppercase and lowercase letters in isolation. All 26 letters in the English alphabet are used. The letters c, g, and all vowels are included in a separate section of the measure (not within the automaticity portion of the measure).	The tool is intended for use in Kindergarten or with ages 5-6. Administration is computerized and is 1-2 minutes per student. Scoring is done automatically within the software and does not require any additional time. Available scores include: raw scores, percentile scores, developmental benchmarks and cut points, subscale/subtest scores, composite scores, and error analysis.

The Formative Assessment System for Teachers™ (FAST) is online software that requires no hardware or special add-ons. FAST is supported by an extensive set of materials to support teachers and students, including self-directed training modules that allow teachers to become certified to administer each of the FAST assessments. The entire FAST assessment package (i.e., reading, math, behavior, and on-line training) is provided at an annual flat rate of $6 per student.

Testers will require 1-4 hours of training.

Paraprofessionals can administer the test.

Where to Obtain:

Address:http://www.fastbridge.org/

FastBridge Learning

520 Nicollet Mall, Suite 910

Minneapolis, MN 55402-1057

Phone: 612-254-2534

Website: http://www.fastbridge.org/

Training materials are included in the cost of the tool. Additional, optional on-site and webinar-based training services are available for a fee.

Ongoing technical support is available by calling 612-424-3710 or emailing fast1@umn.edu

The Formative Assessment System for Teachers (FAST) earlyReading measure is designed to assess both unified and component skills associated with kindergarten and first grade reading achievement. earlyReading is intended to enable screening and progress monitoring across four domains of reading (Concepts of Print, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and Decoding) and provide domain specific assessments of these specific component skills and a general estimate of overall reading achievement.

The objective of the Letter Sounds measure is to assess the student’s ability and automaticity with saying the sounds of uppercase and lowercase letters in isolation. All 26 letters in the English alphabet are used. The letters c, g, and all vowels are included in a separate section of the measure (not within the automaticity portion of the measure).

The tool is intended for use in Kindergarten or with ages 5-6.

Administration is computerized and is 1-2 minutes per student. Scoring is done automatically within the software and does not require any additional time.

Available scores include: raw scores, percentile scores, developmental benchmarks and cut points, subscale/subtest scores, composite scores, and error analysis.

Classification Accuracy

Classification Accuracy in Predicting Proficiency on GRADE for Kindergarten
	15^th Percentile n = 214	40^th Percentile n = 195
False Positive Rate	0.20	0.27
False Negative Rate	0.18	0.25
Sensitivity	0.82	0.75
Specificity	0.80	0.73
Positive Predictive Power	0.26	0.53
Negative Predictive Power	0.98	0.88
Overall Classification Rate	0.80	0.74
AUC (ROC)	0.85	0.82
Base Rate	0.08	0.29
Cut Points:	34	28
At XX% Sensitivity, Specificity equals	88% sensitivity, 0.74 specificity	88% sensitivity, 0.53 specificity
At XX% Sensitivity, Specificity equals	82% sensitivity, 0.80 specificity	79% sensitivity, 0.71 specificity
At XX% Sensitivity, Specificity equals	71% sensitivity, 0.82 specificity	70% sensitivity, 0.83 specificity

Generalizability

Description of study sample:

· Number of States: 1 (Minnesota)

· Regions: 1

· Gender

o 47% Male

o 53% Female

· Race/Ethnicity:

o 65% White, Non-Hispanic

o 0% American Indian/Alaska Native

o 23% Black, Non-Hispanic

o 0% Asian, Pacific Islander

o 6% Hispanic

o 3% Other

· Disability status: approximately 11% SWDs

· First language: approximately 90% English

· Language proficiency status: 100% English proficient

Reliability

Type of Reliability	Age or Grade	n (range)	Coefficient		SEM	Information (including normative data)/Subjects
Type of Reliability	Age or Grade	n (range)	range	median	SEM	Information (including normative data)/Subjects
Alternate Form Correlation	K	34-36	0.85-0.94	0.89	5.56(4.89)
Test Retest	K	36		0.91*		Collected in Fall 2012, ~2-3 week delay
Delayed Test-Retest	K	1,241		0.51		Fall-Winter.
Delayed Test-Retest	K	1,282		0.61		Winter-Spring.
Delayed Test-Retest	K	1,600		0.35		Fall-Spring.
Coefficient alpha	K	683		0.93 for first 10 items 0.98 for first 30 items 0.98 for first 50 items		Coefficients was derived from a random sample of students from the FAST database from the 2012-2013 academic year. Approximately 52.1% of students were female, and 47.9% of students were male. Approximately 55.1% of the sample was White, 17.4% Hispanic, 14.6% Black, 5.1% Multiracial, 4.5% Asian, and 3.2% American Indian or Alaska Native.
Split-half	K	683		0.93 for first 10 items 0.98 for first 30 items 0.99 for first 50 items		Coefficients was derived from a random sample of students from the FAST database from the 2012-2013 academic year. Approximately 52.1% of students were female, and 47.9% of students were male. Approximately 55.1% of the sample was White, 17.4% Hispanic, 14.6% Black, 5.1% Multiracial, 4.5% Asian, and 3.2% American Indian or Alaska Native.

*Outliers that were +/- 2 standard deviations from the mean were removed from the test-retest reliability sample. In this case 2 cases, making up 3% of the sample, were removed.

Validity

Type of Validity	Age or Grade	Test or Criterion	n (range)	Coefficient (if applicable)		Information (including normative data)/Subjects
Type of Validity	Age or Grade	Test or Criterion	n (range)	range	Median	Information (including normative data)/Subjects
Concurrent	K	GRADE Level P	85		0.53	The majority of students within the school district were White (78%), with the remaining students identified as either African American (19%), or other (3%). In school District 2, the majority of students within the school district are White (53%), with the remaining students identified as African American (26%), Hispanic (11%), Asian (8%), or other (2%).
Predictive	K	GRADE Level K	230		0.44	See above
Predictive	K	GRADE Level K	210		0.63	See above
Concurrent	K	GRADE Level K	214		0.19	See above
Discriminant Validity (beginning)	K	Letter Sounds	187		Difference Stats: t = 25.33 d = 2.41
Discriminant Validity (middle)	K	Letter Sounds	173		t = 27.66 d = 2.69
Discriminant Validity (end)	K	Letter Sounds	212		t = 25.59 d = 2.38

Type of Validity	Age or Grade	Test or Criterion	n (range)	Coefficient	Information (including normative data)/Subjects
Predictive Validity	1^st	aReading	78	0.69	Winter to Spring prediction
Predictive Validity	K	aReading	482	0.62	Winter to Spring prediction
Predictive Validity	1^st	aReading	17	0.71	Winter to End of School Year prediction
Concurrent validity	1^st	aReading	18	0.71	Spring data collection
Concurrent validity	1^st	CBMreading	27	0.72	Spring data collection
Concurrent validity	K	aReading	461	0.70	Winter data collection
Concurrent validity	K	aReading	1,301	0.62	Fall data collection
Predictive validity	K	aReading	453	0.62	Fall to Winter
Concurrent	K	AIMSweb Letter Names	141	0.86	See below.
Concurrent	K	AIMSweb Letter Sounds	141	0.96	See below.
Concurrent	K	AIMSweb Nonsense Words	141	0.86	See below.
Concurrent	1	AIMSweb Letter Sounds	140	0.81	See below.

*Correlations disattenuated based on reported reliabilities.

AIMSweb Letter Names requires students to read letter names aloud for one minute. The score is the correct number of letter names a student can read per minute.

AIMSweb phoneme segmentation requires students to listen to a word and respond with all of the sounds, or phonemes, in the word. The score is the correct number of sounds identified per minute.

AIMSweb Letter Sounds requires students to read letter sounds aloud for one minute. The score is the correct number of letter sounds a student can read per minute.

AIMSweb Nonsense Word Fluency requires students to read short CVC or VC non-words. The two scores are the correct number of sounds per minute and the correct number of words per minute.

DIBELS Next First Sound Fluency requires students to listen to words and provide the initial sound in the word. The score is the number of correct sounds per minute.

The earlyReading validity evidence study coefficients were derived from a sample of approximately 140 students each in Kindergarten and First Grade. Approximately 47% of students were female. Reported races of students were White (59%), Hispanic (9%), Black (12%), American Indian (1%), and Asian/Pacific Islander (18%). Approximately 21% of students were English Language Learners, 32% were eligible for free or reduced lunch, and 9% received special education services.

Disaggregated Reliability, Validity, and Classification Data for Diverse Populations

Disaggregated Classification Accuracy

Classification Accuracy in Kindergarten (15^th Percentile – Fall earlyReading Letter Sounds to Fall aReading)

	White Students
False Positive Rate	0.12
False Negative Rate	0.78
Sensitivity	0.22
Specificity	0.88
Positive Predictive Power	0.63
Negative Predictive Power	0.56
Overall Classification Rate	0.57
AUC (ROC)	0.80
Base Rate	0.47
Cut Points:	22.5
At 71% Sensitivity, Specificity equals	73%
At 81% Sensitivity, Specificity equals	60%

Disaggregated Reliability

Type of Reliability	Age or Grade	n (range)	Coefficient	Information (including normative data)/Subjects
Delayed test-retest Reliability	1^st	50	0.70	Fall to Winter; Non-white students
Delayed test-retest Reliability	1^st	17	0.71	Fall to Winter; White students

	Ethnicity		Test-Retest Coefficient (N) F to W	Test-Retest Coefficient (N) F to S
Letter Sounds	Black	K	0.53 (409)	0.45 (408)
Letter Sounds	Hispanic	K	0.46 (270)	0.29 (292)
Letter Sounds	White	K	0.50 (1,410)	0.31 (1,687)

Disaggregated Validity

Type of Validity	Age or Grade	Test or Criterion	n (range)	Coefficient	Information (including normative data)/Subjects
Concurrent Validity	K	aReading	98	0.70	Asian students; Winter data collection
Predictive validity	K	aReading	141	0.70	Asian students; Winter to Spring
Concurrent validity	K	aReading	53	0.71	African American students; Winter data collection
Concurrent validity	K	aReading	39	0.76	Hispanic students; Winter data collection
Predictive validity	K	aReading	123	0.73	Asian students; Fall to Spring prediction
Concurrent validity	K	aReading	70	0.78	Asian students; Fall data collection