For TX-KEA and the DRC, which part of the assessment is considered phonemic awareness vs phonological awareness?
Answer
Teachers are advised to use both quantitative and qualitative information when determining if a child would benefit from a more comprehensive assessment of reading skills.
The Dyslexia Referral Checklist, (DRC), is a questionnaire developed that allows you to gather more information on each student. The checklist helps connect assessments of early reading skills with classroom observations, so more information can be gathered about each student. On the Kindergarten Dyslexia Referral Checklist, under the Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness, section 8 refers to phonemic awareness.
Phonological awareness is about being able to hear and manipulate units of sound in spoken words which includes syllables, onset, rime, and phonemes.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate only the smallest unit of sound in spoken language (a phoneme). While phonemic awareness does fall under the phonological awareness umbrella, phonemic awareness activities involve ONLY phonemes. Please consider your observations of children’s behaviors within the classroom and school to complete this checklist.