Brief Description

The test consists of a list of 60 words presented orally to the participant. The words are drawn from the vocabulary found in elementary school readers across all grades and were selected based on their morphological complexity, frequency of use, and educational importance. Initially, the words are organized chronologically according to the grade in which they are typically taught and are then grouped into six equivalent lists of ten words each. The participant is asked to write each word correctly as it is dictated, without being given contextual cues. The test also includes alternate versions for repeated use.

Purpose

The SAT is designed to assess the ability to retain and accurately reproduce orthographic (graphemic) patterns, focusing on high-frequency words commonly used in the school context. It is specifically intended for elementary school students to provide objective data regarding their spelling proficiency.

Scoring Method

Each correctly spelled word is awarded one point. Accentuation errors are not counted as mistakes. The administration of the test is discontinued once the student makes six consecutive spelling errors. The final score is the total number of correct responses, with a maximum possible score of 60.

Validity

The SAT was developed to complement existing reading ability assessments, such as the TORP (Padeliadu & Sideridis, 2000). Correlation coefficients between the SAT and TORP range from 0.45 to 0.53 for students with average or low reading performance, suggesting satisfactory but differentiated evaluation between the two tools.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the test is very high (Cronbach’s α = 0.94). Item reliability is also strong, with coefficients for the first 30 words at 0.93, the last 30 words at 0.90, and for the alternate word lists ranging from 0.88 to 0.91. Test-retest reliability between two versions reaches 0.91, confirming the stability of the test over time.

Data Analysis and Use

The SAT is primarily used with elementary school students to diagnose spelling difficulties and to identify children at increased risk for specific learning disorders. It can be administered individually or in group settings and provides reliable data for evaluating school readiness and progress in written language development.

References

Padeliadu, S., & Sideridis, G. D. (2000). Discriminant validation of the Test of Reading Performance (TORP) for identification of children with reading difficulties. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 16, 139–146.