The Lexercise Screener has two parts: the San Diego Quick Assessment (SDQA) and the Z-Screener.*

1. San Diego Quick Assessment (SDQA)

The San Diego Quick Assessment (SDQA) is an un-copyrighted, freely available and un-timed test of single-word reading.

Poor readers have been shown to be over-dependent on sentence context cues when reading. Single-word reading can be a more effective way to gauge reading skills since these words are out of context.

The authors, Margaret LaPray and Ramon Ross, developed the SDQA as a quick way to gauge a student's reading ability. Words were selected for 13 grade levels, pre-primer through 11th grade, by drawing them randomly from basal reader glossaries.

Word reading is analyzed according to three reading levels:

• Independent Level (90-100% - 0 to 1 error) suggests that the individual can read words at this/these grade level(s) independently, with little help.
• Instructional Level (80% - 2 errors) suggests that the individual can read words at this/these grade level(s) with some instructional support, such as help with unfamiliar words.
• Frustration Level (70% or below - 3 or more errors) suggests that the individual has significant difficulty reading words at this/these grade level(s) so that both motivation to read and reading comprehension may suffer.

Individuals should read grade-level words at least at an Instructional Level. Therefore, the test stops after three errors or more are made at a grade level.

Independent research has shown that the SDQA reliably predicts Instructional Level reading.

Source: LaPray, M. & Ross, R. (1969). The Graded Word List: Quick Gauge of Reading Ability. Journal of Reading, 12, 305-307.  http://www.jstor.org/pss/40011379

2.  Z-Screener

The Z-Screener is a quick, online test that uses nonsense words with “short” vowel sounds. All Z-Screener words begin either with a vowel (e.g., af) or with “z” (e.g., zash), putting the focus on decoding the sound of the vowel and its attached consonant(s). The Z-Screener can identify basic decoding problems missed in other types of reading assessments.

The Z-Screener was adapted by Sandie Barrie Blackley, MA/CCC, from the Z Test in McKenna, M. & Stahl, S. (2003). Assessment for Reading Instruction. New York, New York: The Guilford Press.

The Public Lexercise Screener (a single assessment with two pass-fail sections)

The Public Lexercise Screener is found on the Lexercise.com home page under "Screen Your Child Now."  The purpose of this version is to provide an indication if an individual, age 6 or older, needs a complete language processing evaluation.  The examiner will need to enter a name and grade for the child. For each target word there is an optional audio recording of the correct response that allows the person administering the Screener to check the child's response against the acceptable response.  Failing one or both sections of the Public Lexercise Screener suggests the need for complete language processing  evaluation. The Public Lexercise Screener combines the Z-Screener and the SDQA in to one instrument with two pass-fail report sections.  The accuracy on individual test items are not reported. A pass-fail report is automatically generated at the end of the test. The report is not retained by the system so if a copy is desired one must be printed before navigating away from the page.

The Clinicians' Lexercise Screeners (two separate assessments, two detailed reports)

Registered Lexercise Clinicians (i.e., those with a user name and password) can access separate versions of these assessments with item-by-item reporting. To locate the Clinicians' Lexercise Screeners navigate to the Reports Page of any Lexercise client, including the test client, Ima Tester and then click the In-Clinic Tools Tab. The two parts ( Z-Screener and the SDQA) of the Screener are administered separately and each one has a detailed error report that is generated automatically after completing the assessment and entering the child's name and grade. The report is not retained by the system so if a copy is desired the clinician should select "pdf" and  print the report before navigating away from the page. 

Examples of the detailed reports that are generated for the Clinicians' Z-Screener and SDQA are attached below.

*For information on the rationale for the two-part Lexercise Screener, see this.