ASSESSMENT PRESENTATION

TERA
TEST OF EARLY READING
ABILITY
The College of Education and Behavioral Studies
School of Education
HOUSTON BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
EDSP 5311-20: Diagnostic and Prescriptive
FALL 2014
DR. CHARLOTTE FONTENOT PROFESSOR

POSSIBLE ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

Alphabet Subtest
1. What letter is this? B (child says B)
2. Which one is a letter a.$ b. x c. 7 (child chooses b)
3. What word goes with this picture? (picture of a nest)
4. How many syllables does this word have? Habitat (the child says 3)
Conventions Subtest
1. Show me the writing? (present a book)
2. Show me two pictures that have the book right side up?
3. Who wrote this story? (child should be able to point to the aurthors name)
4. What is this? (pointing to a period)

WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?
Assessment is defined as the act of assessing (World Book Encyclopedia, 1963,
Volume 1, A-K, p. 122).
How does the definition of assessment apply toward in regards to a childs
educational abilities?
The Individuals Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) defines assessment as
implementation of a formal plan for identifying a disability as early as possible in a
childs life.

WHAT IS THE TERA?

TERA (test of early reading ability) is an assessment intended to test students from
ages 3 to 8 years of age.
TERA is also considered an achievement test to measure what the student has
learned
TERA was created in 1981, by Doctors, D. Kim Reid, Ph.D., Wayne P. Hresko, Ph.D.,
and Donald D. Hammill, Ph.D., to measure the reading ability of young children.
TERA has and is evolving in the pursuit to bridge the gap between the haves and the
have nots.

THE PURPOSE OF THE TERA

There are five cited purposes of the TERA-3 Achievement Test:
Provide early intervention through identification of children who are significantly
below peers in reading development
To identify reading strengths and weaknesses to inform instruction
To document the progress of early intervention strategies on learning
To inform the research used to guide reading development instruction and
interventions
To accompany other forms and techniques of assessment in students with reading
difficulties in order to provide a holistic view of the childs readiness for reading.

THE BENEFITS OF USING THE TERA-3

Rather than assessing childrens readiness for reading, the TERA-3 assesses their
mastery of early developing reading skills such as
(1)concepts of print, (2)decoding, (3)comprehension, (4)oral language
(5)phonological awareness(6)letter recognition and(7)print awareness.
TERA identifies students in need of early reading intervention and allows the RTI
process to begin to drive literacy instruction and progress monitoring.

STATISTICS
A seminal study conducted over a 10-year period documented the language interactions
between young children and their parents in professional, working class, families and
found that:
From 7-9 months to age 3, the children from the professional families were exposed to
30,000.000 more words than the children from the welfare families
Language interactions in the homes of the professional families were more robust and
encouraging than in the other homes.
Children living in poverty and children with disabilities are disproportionally below
average in their language development and are more likely to have reading difficulties.

The TERA -3 IMPACT

To ensure successful and critical reading, the quantity and quality of childrens language must be nurtured
through explicit engagement. - Language and Literacy for Young Learners, 2011, Nehaus Education Center

TERA-3 assesses children using normative samples of 875 subjects. Normative,

meaning the samples are based on what is considered to be the norm such as the
general school-age population.
TERA-3 assesses across the board not to emphasize gender, race, ethnicity, SES
(socio-economic status), or disability. United States (Buros, 2011)
Upon correct administering of the assessment, TERA-3 is believed to encourage a
high level of motivation and involvement from the students being tested, and is
considered to be highly engaging to students because of the bright colors, friendly
format and easy to understand data results for the person administering the test

ACCESSIBILITY
TERA-3 is not free, a kit including an examiners manual, Form A and B picture books,
and 25 each Form A and B record forms costs $303.00.
TERA can purchased through Pro-Ed, Inc.; Gander Publishing, and PEARSON.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

TERA is individually administered to accurately measure students skills in all major
areas of basic early literacy as mentioned above.
3 subtests are administered in approximately thirty minutes and include alphabet,
conventions, and meaning.
The alphabet Subtest measures childrens knowledge of the alphabet and soundletter correspondence through 29 items related to letter name knowledge, initial and
final sounds, number of sounds and syllables and knowledge of letters in different
fonts.

CRITIQUE OF THE TEST

TERA-3 is considered not comprehensive enough to be used as a stand alone tool
of assessment.
If used, users of the assessment must add more instructional emphasis and go
beyond the results of the TERA-3 to discover poor performance, instead it is
recommended to collaborate with colleagues and additional testing.

If you can read this, thank TERA-3

Anonymous Teacher

REFERENCES
Grant, V., (2011), Language and Literacy for Young Learners, Nehaus Education
Center
Pro-Ed, Inc.(2010), TERA-3: Test of Early Reading Ability-Third Edition (data file),
Retrieved October 1, 2014 from
http://www.proedinc.com/customer/productView.aspx?ID=631
Thorndike, Barnhart, (1963), World Book Encyclopedia, Vol.1, A-K , p 122
Waters, A. (2010), A Review of the Test of Early Reading Ability-Third Edition (TERA3), Columbia College, Retrieved October 1 from www.mrs.watersworld.com/matportfolio/exhibit%2op.pdf