HAVE GRADE LEVEL KIT READY:

• A Teacher's Guide that contains introductory information about the instrument.
• Copies of the Student Record Sheet, one per student to be assessed.
• Depending on the grade level, such things as alphabet letters, magnetic board, stop watch, booklet of comprehension stories and task cards.

GUIDELINES:

You need to read through the entire Teacher's Guide for your grade level before administering the TPRI to a student.  If you have questions on how to pronounce or divide a word for the TPRI, refer to the examples provided on the page entitled, "Listen to the TPRI."

1. The Screening Section of the TPRI is to be given to each student in your classroom.  The instrument is designed to be individually administered by the student's reading teacher.

2. The Screening Section of the TPRI must be administered with a student in one sitting.

3. Administer the tasks in the Inventory Section to those students who did not score at the "concept developed" level on the Screening Section and to any student for whom you may want additional information.  You can choose to give the inventory to everyone if you have sufficient time and resources. However, all students, regardless of performance on the tasks in the screening section, should complete the reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension portion of the Inventory.

4. The Inventory section does not need to be administered in one sitting.  Do not interrupt a task within a component and make every effort to complete each component without a break. For grade 2, it is strongly recommended to administer the inventory to all students in a group format regardless of their performance in the screening portion.

5. Make sure your testing area has adequate lighting and is relatively quiet.

6. If a task has two practice items, always present both of them.

7. Be careful not to provide hints or clues to correct responses.

8. You should repeat test items in the phonemic awareness tasks only in the case of noise interference.

9. Be careful not to use differential feedback; for example, where correct answers are given positive responses (like "good" or "great") and incorrect answers are given other responses (like "okay" or "let's go on"). Be equally positive with both correct and incorrect responses. Praise effort, not correct responses.

10. Be aware of students who are losing interest, who are easily distracted, or who exhibit frustration.  These behaviors often invalidate results.

11. You may consider making allowable accommodations during the administration of the TPRI.  The decision to use a particular accommodation with a student should be made on an individual basis and should take into consideration: a) the needs of the student, and b) whether the student routinely receives the accommodation in classroom instruction.

12. Score the student's answers immediately after the student responds.

13. For phonemic awareness tasks, pronounce letter SOUNDS, not the letter names, and say the word silently to yourself first.