ELPATS: Early Literacy Phonemic Awareness Tool Surrey
The ELPATS is a formative assessment tool designed for classroom teachers to monitor learners' development of phoneme-level phonological awareness skills. The skills included in the ELPATS are informed by research to be the most critical phonemic awareness skills for reading and writing success. Assessment commences in kindergarten with periodic monitoring through the primary years until mastery of each skill is achieved.
*NEW in 2024* The assessment is divided into three parts:
Part 1: Isolation of Phonemes
Part 2: Segmentation of Phonemes
Part 3: Blending of Phonemes
Children are assessed on Parts 1, 2 and 3. Children demonstrate mastery of at least 4 out of the 5 assessment items in each section to proceed to the next section. Mastery is demonstrated by responses which are accurate & fluent (for most learners, fluency means responding in under 3 seconds). If the child is not yet demonstrating mastery of a skill, the assessment moves to the first skill of the next section. Not yet mastered phonemic awareness skills are revisited after further targeted instruction and practice.
Each child’s progress is revisited using the ELPATS app each January and May until mastery is achieved.
General Information:
Administration of the ELPATS is done by the classroom teacher. Teachers sign in using their SD36 login and password to find a current class list. Children who have moved schools within Surrey will remain attached to their previously entered ELPATS data. |
The ELPATS is administered to learners in January. Children who have not yet mastered all sections revisit those sections in May/June. Mastered sections are not reassessed. |
Mastery of skills is answering at least 4 out of 5 assessment items correct with automaticity. |
Automaticity is demonstrated when the child responds accurately and fluently, without a great deal of effort or struggle. Teachers check assessment words in the app when children demonstrate automaticity. |
If a child does not yet demonstrate accuracy with fluency in at least 4 of the 5 assessment items on an Isolation section the assessment will proceed directly to the first section of the phoneme segmenting portion (Part 2). If a child does not yet demonstrate mastery in a segmentation skill, the assessment will proceed directly to the first section of the phoneme blending skills (Part 3). If the child does not yet demonstrate mastery of a phoneme blending skill, the assessment will end. That child's assessment will show as "In Progress" with the most recent date assessed. Revisit the ELPATS after additional instruction and practice. |
| Each section includes a modeled item (word) and three practice items. Use the practice items to explore whether the child understands the directions. If the child is not yet able to accurately respond to any of the practice items, do not proceed with the assessment items for that section. Click "Next". |
Following the ELPATS assessment, adjust instruction to match the phonemic awareness skills that have been identified as needing instruction or practice. Children who are not yet responding accurately to a specific skill benefit from direct instruction and teacher feedback. Children who are accurate but not yet fluent, benefit from more repetition & practice. NOTE: Although the ELPATS assesses phoneme awareness orally, this does not suggest oral is the best or only way to teach the skills. Phonemic awareness research supports instruction to be more effective for developing reading and writing abilities when done in connection with letters. |
Early in the grade one or two years, teachers can access a class summary showing children who have not yet mastered skills in the previous grades. Primary teachers continue using the ELPATS to guide instruction and practice of phonemic awareness skills until each child demonstrates mastery of each section. Monitor student progress by administering the ELPATS sections not yet mastered in JANUARY and MAY. |
Class summary pages may be printed and used for planning instruction or shared with learner support colleagues and/or the School-Based Team. Be sure to use Chrome as your web browser for printing capabilities. |
Data is automatically stored. No additional entering of children's progress is required. |
| Some children will not be assessed using the ELPATS for a variety of reasons. Use the "Will not Assess" toggle and enter a note as to why the child will not be assessed at this time. This documentation may also be accomplished by clicking on the child's "Summary" button and entering the date and reason into the summary notes field. School-based team specialists may advise teachers of alternative phonemic awareness tools available for children for whom an oral assessment would not be appropriate. If a child is absent during January, assess upon their return to school. For emerging bilingual learners, children should be assessed when it is determined through classroom experiences and the ELPATS practice words that they understand the directions and skill. This may occur beyond kindergarten. For those learners, do not use the "Will Not Assess" feature. |
| If you mistakenly enter incorrect data, please contact an Early Learning & Literacy Helping Teacher (see below) to have that child's assessment corrected. |
At the end of the school year, student summary pages should be printed and placed in each child's PR file. If a child is moving out of the district, print the child's summary page and place into the child's PR file. If the child previously mastered the entire assessment, the student summary is not required to be filed again.
Tips for teachers administering the ELPATS:
- Administering the assessment is not a time to teach skills. Instead, look for insights into the child's current understanding and ability to identify and manipulate speech sounds. You may take notes to guide your instructional planning.
- If hand motions or physical movements had been utilized to teach and practice the skills, assess without these supports for understanding of whether the child can efficiently and automatically isolate, segment and blend phonemes. (For language learners, teachers may find it appropriate to use hand motions during the practice items to help students understand each task.)
- Use your regular speaking voice when administering the assessment, using clear minimal language to convey the instructions. The app includes what you may say to work through the practice items.
- DECISION POINTS: Use the modeled and practice items to determine whether the child understands the instructions and task before proceeding to the assessment items. If the child does not demonstrate an understanding of the skill or instructions through the practice items, do not proceed to the assessment items for that section. Select "Next" in the app to advance to either the Blending section (Part 2) or to end the assessment. The student would not be assessed on the more complex sections at that time.
- Answers to "Frequently Asked Questions" may be found here: ELPATS FAQ Dec2023.pdf
Access the ELPATS App:
The app can be accessed through the web-based link or on a device with the Microsoft PowerApps app.
For the web-based version (using a laptop or tablet), click on the button below to access the ELPATS app. Use Chrome as your browser for seamless printing functions. Copy and paste the link into a Chrome window if another browser is your default. Consider bookmarking the link for quick access.
For the Microsoft PowerApps app version, download PowerApps from your device's App Store for free. Sign into PowerApps using your Surreyschools login and password. Find the ELPATS app loaded under "All Apps". More detailed instructions to download PowerApps can be found here: PowerApps support page.pdf
Kindergarten through grade 3&4 combined classes teachers access to their class' data on the ELPATS app. If you are experiencing access difficulties, please reach out to an Early Learning & Literacy Helping Teacher (see below).
This 11-minute tutorial video guides teachers in how to use the app: ELPATS APP TUTORIAL VIDEO
If you are a job-share team, only one teacher will have access to the class data through the ELPATS app. The partner colleague may choose to use a paper version of the tool to assess some of the learners. The partner with access is encouraged to transfer the results into the app for continued monitoring and an accurate class summary to guide instruction.
Schools with weak internet signals may experience wait times between sections as data is saved. Teachers may choose to use a paper version to administer with students and transfer results to the app for continued monitoring.
Surrey teachers can download a paper version here: ELPATS paper copy (October 2024)
Reach out to an Early Learning & Literacy Helping Teacher for further support:
Ginny Tambre: [email protected]
Courtney Jones (Inner-City Early Learning): [email protected]
Hilary Wardlow: [email protected]
