Teaching · Reading Intervention

Baseline, follow-up
and what changed in between.

A word-level reading and spelling inventory is only useful when the second score sits next to the first. Enter the items and the number correct for each skill at baseline and follow-up. The comparison works out percent correct and the change per skill, draws them side by side and flags drops, skills under your mastery level and a follow-up that came too soon.

Compare resultsWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Reading Intervention toolkit, $49 for 42 items.

Results

The worked example is made up: a fourth grader with growth in every skill, a seventh grader whose vowel-team reading slipped and a third grader with a baseline only. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Teaching · Reading Intervention$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per student and assessment cycle: student code, grade, the measure, the mastery level, baseline and follow-up dates and, per skill, items and items correct each time. Works out percent correct, change per skill and overall percent; flags counts above the items, drops, skills under the mastery level, follow-ups under six weeks after the baseline and missing follow-ups.
Who it is for
Reading interventionists, special education teachers and reading specialists who give a word-level reading and spelling inventory before and during intervention.
Format
Browser comparison tool with a saved record per student. Prints one comparison, every comparison in a table or a blank score sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Reading Intervention toolkit ($49) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Reading Intervention space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Use the same items or an equivalent form both times.
  2. Enter items and correct answers per skill.
  3. Set the mastery level your team uses.
  4. Read the flags and the error notes together.
  5. Plan the next follow-up date.

Compare results

Reading the comparison

Reading a baseline and a follow-upSame itemsGive the same items oran equivalent form bothtimesScore real and nonsensewords separatelyEnough timeSix weeks or morebetween the twoNote absences andchanges in the lessonsLook at errorsWhich sounds or patternswere missedA drop of one or twoitems may be noiseReading the comparisonSame itemsGive the same items or an equivalent formboth timesScore real and nonsense words separatelyEnough timeSix weeks or more between the twoNote absences and changes in the lessonsLook at errorsWhich sounds or patterns were missedA drop of one or two items may be noise
Nonsense words show whether a student can decode a pattern without having memorized the word.

Your measure, your items

The comparison works with any word-level reading and spelling inventory: one your program provides, one your district uses or one you built. It stores only skill names and counts, so it reproduces no published test, and it fits programs that give an inventory before and during a structured literacy intervention. Caveat is not affiliated with any program publisher.

Percent is not a norm

Percent correct tells you how much of this set of items a student knows. It is not a percentile or a standard score and does not compare the student with others. Use it for planning lessons; eligibility and progress reports need the measures and decision rules your school sets.

Sources

  1. International Dyslexia Association. Structured literacy: an introductory guide (dyslexiaida.org).
  2. National Center on Intensive Intervention. Using diagnostic data to plan intensive intervention (intensiveintervention.org).
  3. Kilpatrick, D. A. (2015). Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties. Wiley.
  4. Moats, L. C. (2020). Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers (3rd ed.). Brookes.

The worked example is made up. Percent correct on a set of items is a planning figure, not a norm-referenced score. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.