No More Friday Spelling Tests?

Abstract

tests?” questioned a perplexed mother at back-to-school night. I was prepared for this question and knew that parents would have difficulty accepting that their children could learn how to spell without the weekly ritual of helping their children study for the traditional spelling test. I quickly explained to her why I changed my assessment to a spelling rubric rather than a traditional spelling test. A traditional spelling test does not provide insight into the spelling cues that the students are using. (See box, “What Cues Do Writers Use to Spell Words Accurately?”) However, a spelling rubric can measure the student’s ability to find misspelled words, correct them, and use an appropriate spelling strategy. Students with learning disabilities often do well on weekly spelling tests by memorizing their lists of words, rather than by internalizing spelling strategies. They are quick to forget their weekly words when given a written assignment. Assessing my students’ spelling ability was more important to me than evaluating their memorization skills. Heald-Taylor (1998, p. 405) elaborates, “Learning to spell is a complex, intricate cognitive and linguistic process rather than one of rote memorization.” (See box, “What Does the Literature Say?”)