Phonological and Print Awareness Scale (PPA)

Kathleen T. Williams, PhD

Ages: 3.6 - 8.11 years

Testing Time: 10 to 15 Minutes

Administration: Individual

  The new Phonological and Print Awareness Scale (PPA Scale) measures early literacy skills and allows examiners to track the development of these skills over time. This research-based, standardized test can be administered quickly and helps identify children who may benefit from early intervention.

The PPA Scale assesses two important literacy skills that consistently demonstrate a strong, predictive relationship with later measures of reading and writing:

•   Phonological awareness: The ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sound structures of a whole word without any reliance on print
  

•   Print awareness: The understanding of the elements of print, including alphabet knowledge and concepts about print (for example, reading starts at the top left of a page)
  

Development of the PPA Scale was guided by expert research and reports highlighting the importance of both phonological and print awareness in learning to read and write successfully.

PPA-1    Comprehensive Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$606.00

PPA-2    Manual  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.00

PPA-3    Form A (25). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59.00

PPA-4    Form B (25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.00

PPA-5    Form C (25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.00

PPA-6    Easel A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129.00

PPA-7    Easel B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129.00

PPA-8    Easel C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129.00

COMPREHENSIVE KIT INCLUDES: 25 Form A; 25 Form B; 25 Form C; Easel A; Easel B; Easel C; Manual; Building Early Literacy Skills: Phonological and Print Awareness Activities

Useful Regardless of Speech and Language Abilities

The PPA Scale may be used with children ages 3 years, 6 months to 8 years, 11 months—the age range in which most children acquire phonological and print awareness. Because it can be administered in just 10 to 15 minutes and uses a receptive, multiple-choice response format, it is ideal for assessing young children. Using a colorful self-standing easel, the examiner reads instructions and the examinee only has to point to indicate his or her answer—verbal responses are not required. This format makes the PPA Scale useful for evaluating children who have speech impairments and/or expressive language difficulties or are simply reticent.

The PPA Scale has 69 items representing six tasks, which can be evaluated for qualitative purposes. The six tasks measure:

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•   Rhyming: Ability to recognize rhymes, which is an early phonological skill requiring recognition of the sound structure of language
  

•   Print Knowledge: Ability to recognize important elements of print, including identification of individual capital and lowercase letters
  

•   Initial Sound Matching: Ability to isolate and match the first phoneme (smallest unit of speech sound) in a pair of words
  

•   Final Sound Matching: Ability to isolate and match the last phoneme in a pair of words
  

•   Sound –Symbol: Ability to isolate the initial or final phoneme (sound) and match it to the corresponding grapheme (symbol)
  

•   Phonemic Awareness: Ability to segment the individual phonemes in a word
  

Because of its focused age range, research-based content, and three parallel forms, the PPA Scale has many applications in school and clinical settings:

•   Screening to identify children who are behind their peers
  

•   Identifying strengths and areas needing improvement
  

•   Tracking progress over time using the growth scoreand three parallel forms
  

•   Researching the effectiveness of early literacy programs
  

Results are useful for any professional who measures early literacy skills, including speech –language pathologists, psychologists, reading specialists educational diagnosticians, early childhood specialists, and teachers.

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