Early Grades Reading Assessment
(EGRA) - Components
Philippine Version
The
EGRA
EGRA and EGRA-based
assessments can be used
to:
identify needs
intervene
monitor
student learning and
progress
Reading Skills That Influence
Reading Success*
phonemic
awareness
phonics
vocabulary
fluency
comprehension
Identified by US National Reading Panel
phonemic
awareness - instruction
designed to teach children the ability to
focus on, manipulate, and break apart the
sounds (or phonemes) in words
phonics - instruction designed to help
readers understand and apply the
knowledge of how letters are linked to
sounds (phonemes) to form letter-sound
(grapheme-phoneme) correspondences
and spelling patterns
fluency
- instruction, primarily
through guided oral reading, that
reinforces the ability to read
orally with speed, accuracy, and
proper expression
vocabulary
- instruction, both
explicit and implicit, in order to
increase both oral and print
knowledge of words, a critical
component of comprehension and
Requirements of Successful
Assessments:
the assessment should be related to
existing performance expectations
and benchmarks
the assessment should correlate with
later desired skills
it must be possible to modify or
improve upon the skills through
additional instruction
EGRA Components
Compone
nt
Early
reading
skill
Skill demonstrated by
pupils
Letter
name
knowled
ge
Phonemi
c
awarene
ss
Letter
Provide the name of
recognitio upper- and lowercase
n
letters in random order
Letter
Phonics
Phonemic
awarenes
s
Segment words into
phonemes
Identify the initial
sounds in different
words
Provide the sound of
EGRA Components
Compone
nt
Early
reading
skill
Skill demonstrated by
pupils
Word
Familiar reading
word
reading
Read simple and
common
one- and two-syllable
words
Unfamili Alphabeti
ar
c principle
nonword
reading
Make graphemephoneme
correspondences
(GPCs) through the
reading of simple
EGRA Components
Compon
ent
Oral
reading
fluency
with
compre
hen
sion
Readin
g
compre
Early
reading skill
Skill demonstrated by
pupils
Oral
reading
fluency
Read a text with
accuracy, with little
effort, and at a
sufficient rate
Reading
comprehen
sion
Respond correctly to
different types of
questions, including
EGRA Components
Early
Skill demonstrated by
Compone reading skill pupils
nt
Listening
Listenin comprehen
g
sion
compre
hen
sion
Respond correctly to
different types of
questions including
literal and inferential
questions about the text
read to them
Dictatio Alphabetic
n
principle
Write, spell and use
grammar properly with
EGRA
Philippine
Adaptation
Orientation to print
Letter name knowledge
Letter name knowledge
Letter sound knowledge
Letter sound knowledge
Phonemic awareness
Initial sound discrimination
Familiar word reading
Familiar word reading
Unfamiliar nonword reading
Invented word decoding
Oral reading fluency and
comprehension
Oral reading fluency and
comprehension
Listening Comprehension
Listening Comprehension
Dictation
Dictation
Description of the
1. Orientation to Print
Tests
Understanding of how print works or the
knowledge of the rules of print material
Tests the childrens ability to understand
basic rules of print:
Where to begin reading on the page
Where to read next
Where to read when at the end of
the line
Students are scored on the number of
correct response to total questions asked
2. Letter Name Knowledge
the most basic of assessments of
student reading preparedness (and
risk).
a consistent predictor of reading
development for native speakers of
English, French, and other
alphabetic languages
In this assessment of letter name
knowledge, students are asked to
provide the names of all the letters
that they can, within a one-minute
The full set of letters of the alphabet is
listed in random order, 10 letters to a row,
using a clear, large, and familiar font in
horizontal rows with each letter presented
multiple times.
Letters are to be selected based on the
frequency with which the letter occurs in the
language in question.
Randomization is used to prevent students
from reciting a memorized alphabet - that is,
to test for actual automaticity of letter
recognition and translation of print to sound.
Scoring
The
childs score for this subtest should be
calculated as the number of correct letters
per minute.
If
the child completes all of the words before
the time expires, the time of completion
should be recorded and the calculations
should be based on that time period.
Enumerators/Teachers
should mark any
incorrect letters with a slash (/), place a
bracket (]) after the last letter named, and
record the time remaining on the stopwatch
at the completion of the exercise.
Variables are:
Total letters read
Total incorrect
Time remaining on stopwatch
These three data points are
then used to calculate the total
correct letters per minute
(CLPM):
CLPM = (Total letters read Total
incorrect) / (60 Time)
Early Stop Rule:
Discontinue only if the child provides
incorrect response to all of the first 10
letters.
3.a Letter Sound Knowledge
(Phonemic Awareness)
This
ability to identify sounds in words,
to separate words into sounds, and to
manipulate those sounds
It
is part of a broader term
phonological awareness, which is a
more general appreciation of the
sounds of speech as distinct from their
meaning
Early Stop Rule:
Discontinue only if the child provides
incorrect response to all of the first 10
letters.
Test is marked as discontinued
3b: Initial Sound
Knowledge
Assesses childrens ability to identify the
beginning sound of words read out loud
Students are scored on the number of
correct sounds identified.
Early Stop Rule:
Discontinue only if the child provides
incorrect response to all of the first 5 items.
Test is marked as discontinued
4: Familiar Word Reading
Assesses word recognition or sight
recognition of words using a list of highfrequency words which is arranged in
increasing difficulty
Tests childrens ability to read as many
words as they can within one minute
Students are scored on the number of
correct words read per minute
Early Stop Rule:
Discontinue only if the child provides
incorrect response to all of the first 5 words.
Test is marked as discontinued.
5. Invented Word
Decoding
Tests childrens ability to decode CVC words
that are pseudoword or non-sense word as
many as they can within one minute
Students are scored on the number of
correct non-words read per minute.
Early Stop Rule:
Discontinue only if the child provides
incorrect response to all of the first 5 words.
Test is marked as discontinued.
6. Oral Passage Reading
and Comprehension
Tests childrens oral reading fluency and
their ability to respond correctly to literal
and inferential questions about the text
Students are scored on the number of
correct words per minute, and the number
of comprehension questions answered
correctly.
Early Stop Rule:
Discontinue only if the child provides
incorrect response to all of the first 6 words.
Test is marked as discontinued.
7. Listening
Comprehension
Tests students ability to listen to a passage
being read and answer literal and inferential
questions about the text
Students are scored on the number of
statements they answer correctly
8. Dictation
Tests both oral comprehension and writing
skills particularly the ability to hear sounds
and correctly write the letters or words, and
use grammar properly
Students are scored on a simple scale that
captures accuracy for vowel and consonant
sounds, spelling, spacing and direction of
text, capitalization and punctuation.
8. Dictation
Give the pupil a lined page and a pencil for
writing. Place them in front of the child. Then
read the instructions below. Say,
8. Dictation
Go to the store and buy some rice and sugar.
Grade 1
Go (wait 5 seconds)
to (wait 5 seconds)
the (wait 5 seconds)
store (wait 5 seconds)
and (wait 5 seconds)
buy (wait 5 seconds)
some (wait 5 seconds)
rice (wait 5 seconds)
and (wait 5 seconds)
sugar (wait 5 seconds)
Go to the store and buy some rice and sugar.
(wait 15 seconds)
Grade 2-3
General Reminders:
The time that the interview will begin and end
should be indicated in am or pm. The starting
time will be filled in before beginning the
application.
In different sections of the instrument, the
child will be asked if he or she has
understood what needs to be done. In the
case that the child has not understood,
repeat the example a second and if
necessary a third time.
General Reminders:
Explain to the child that the stop watch
measures the time it takes for him or her to
read and that this is the reason it would be
best to continue until asked to stop.
Follow the auto-stop rule if the child
cannot provide any correct response in the
first line of the components 2, 3a, 4, 5 and 6
or first half of component 3b. Do not apply
any pressure on the child. The enumerator
should check the box at the bottom of the
page and move on to the next section.
General Reminders:
Time should be taken if the child cannot read
and indicate how much time was given for
reading .
Any omission in the reading process
(such as if an entire line is skipped,
it must be marked incorrect).
Reminders on Particular
Sections:
Components 2, 3a, 3b, 4, 5
When a child is told to please start but
does
not
begin
immediately,
the
administrator should begin timing with the
stop watch once the child begins to say the
letters
Component 5
The child can follow a reading with his or
her finger.
In reading comprehension questions the
answer is found in parenthesis
Reminders on Particular
Sections:
Component 6
The child can follow reading with his or
her finger.
In reading comprehension questions,
the answer is found in parenthesis below
each question. Be careful not to read these
answers to the pupil.
Reminders on Particular
Sections:
Component 7
Read the story to the child only once.
Component 8
Enumerator should give the pencil and pad
paper to the child to write his/her response,
and asks the child to write her name before
starting the exercise.
Second reading of the sentence must be
done in small groups of words, with up to
ten seconds between groups to permit the
child to start writing.
Reminders on Particular
Sections:
Component 8
Read the sentence a third and final time for
the child to check his or her work, even if
the child has been unable to write anything.
Make sure the childs dictation response
sheet is firmly attached to the toolkit. The
dictation will be scored at another time. (It
does not need to be done while at the
school.) But it must be linked to the same
pupil.
Reminders on Particular
Sections:
Pupil Context Interview
It should be administered verbally. Do not
read aloud any response options, but rather
let the child answer and then choose the
corresponding response form the options
provided, or write the childs response if
there are no response options provided or if
the response is other.
