Get more than data—get a targeted intervention plan that saves time!

The SPELL- 3 diagnostic assessment features sophisticated error analysis that provides a data-driven reading and spelling intervention plan for each student—a prescriptive roadmap for exactly which patterns and skills to address and in what order. This print-and-go intervention plan also tells you the specific lesson numbers and word study activities to turn to in the SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing – Word Study Curriculum for each prescribed instructional goal.

SPELL-3 makes it easier than ever to assess learners given its seamless compatibility with macOS and Windows OS, its ability to run across a variety of devices, and its power to simultaneously test multiple students.

"SPELL-3 is a valid, reliable, and eminently useful diagnostic measure. The diagnostic analyses guide practitioners to implement structured language teaching that will not only improve spelling, but that will also boost students’ reading, vocabulary, and language comprehension. To the authors, thank you for this significant achievement."
Louisa Moats, Ed. D.

About SPELL-3

Skills Assessed

  • Phonological awareness: phoneme and syllable segmentation and phoneme discrimination and identification
  • Orthographic pattern awareness: letter-sound relationships and letter patterns and spelling rules
  • Morphological knowledge and awareness: letter-meaning relationships of prefixes, suffixes, and word roots; rules for combining morphemes; and relationships in meaning and spelling among inflected and derived words that share a common base word or word root
  • Semantic awareness: attention to the meaning conveyed by the spelling of a word
  • Orthographic representations of words and word parts in long-term lexical storage

Target Audience

SPELL-3 is appropriate for all Grade 2 and above students and adults who are struggling with reading decoding, reading fluency, spelling, and writing, including multi-lingual learners, Title I students, special education students, speech-language impaired (DLD) and hearing-impaired learners, and learners with dyslexia and dysgraphia.

Product Details

Format & Administration: web-based assessment administered with minimal supervision required; Examiner’s Help Guide (PDF) and Quick Start Guide (PDF) included 

Response: keyboard entry and mouse click; option for students to write responses on paper for keyboard entry by examiner is strongly recommended for younger students unfamiliar with keyboarding to reduce test completion time

Administration Time: 35–45 minutes 

Ages/Grades: Grade 2–Adult

Supported Devices: desktops, laptops, Chromebooks, and most tablets including iPads and Android tablets; log-in flexibility allows examiner to begin testing on one device and finish on another 

Supported web browsers: Chrome version 70+, Edge version 80+, Firefox version 70+, and Safari version 13+; while SPELL-3 may work on earlier versions of these browsers and on other browsers, technical support for those is not available.

HIPAA Compliant: Yes

SPELL-3 Authors: Dr. Julie Masterson, Dr. Kenn Apel, Dr. Jan Wasowicz

"SPELL-3...what an amazing assessment for students with dyslexia! The assessment creates an individualized intervention plan to improve a student's spelling and basic reading skills that many teachers would not have the time or necessary level of specialized training to develop on their own."
Nancy Mather
Professor Emerita, University of Arizona
  Get actionable data and save time!

SPELL-3 gives you immediately actionable data linked directly to activities in the SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing word study curriculum (sold separately). For each deficit identified by SPELL-3, the assessment writes an intervention goal and prescribes specific lessons and activities in a recommended order.

This wealth of actionable data is presented in several instantly created reports, including detailed results and recommendation reports; letter reports to parents/caregivers, colleagues, and the test taker that summarize the results and recommendations; a performance-based intervention plan that lays out the roadmap for targeted instruction and allows all stakeholders to easily track progress; and group reports that identify individual and overlapping instructional needs for a set of students.

Be confident!

Detect oral and written language deficits often missed by other assessments. With SPELL-3, you’ll obtain a deep and highly sensitive measure of a student’s word study knowledge and skills for reading and spelling words. The assessment automatically and seamlessly adapts to responses to present test items that are uniquely tailored to the individual student, and expertly interprets the data in line with the most current research. When the assessment is complete, you’ll know which underlying language processes and skills are interfering with successful reading and spelling and precisely what types of interventions are needed.

SPELL-3’s user interface eliminates distractions and is appropriate for all ages and provides peace of mind, knowing that your data is securely stored for you—with no need for creating backups. You’ll also find comfort knowing that assessment updates and new features will be added automatically, at no additional cost.

Accomplish more in less time!

Scoring and analyzing student data and planning data-driven instruction is so incredibly time consuming, often incomplete, and too subjective. SPELL-3 saves countless hours because it does all the heavy lifting—test administration; scoring, analyzing and interpreting data; identifying goals; writing reports; and planning targeted intervention—so you can devote more of your valuable time to teaching and advancing student outcomes. But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what your colleagues are saying…

"The detailed and specific recommendations are awesome and allow us to provide intervention to the specific letter patterns that each student needs."
"I was delighted to find a report detailing the spelling deficits of the person tested, and what resources I needed to use. This is usually a very time-consuming process for me."
"The Performance-Based Intervention Plan is a time-saver!"
"The reports/recommendations/results generated by the SPELL-3 are the greatest benefit of using SPELL-3."
"I haven't seen another spelling assessment tool that includes simple to complex words like used in SPELL-3. I can see benefits to students of all levels."

How it works

Once you log in to your SPELL-3 account, it takes just a minute to create a student record and begin the assessment. There are three levels of the Main Test in SPELL-3, and the program will automatically determine which level of assessment is most appropriate for an individual student.

Level 1 assesses:

  • common consonant patterns
  • consonant digraphs and trigraphs
  • short vowels
  • common long-vowel patterns
  • homophones
…all in single-syllable words

Level 2 assesses:

Level 1 patterns, plus
  • additional consonant patterns
  • additional long-vowel patterns
  • other vowels and diphthongs
  • within-word consonant doubling
  • consonant clusters and abutting consonants
  • silent consonants
  • syllabic vowel sounds
  • irregular past-tense verbs
  • contractions
  • inflected suffixes
…all in one- and two- syllable words, plus unstressed (i.e., schwa) vowels in two-syllable words

Level 3 assesses:

Level 2 patterns, with the exception of contractions, plus

  • irregular past-tense verbs
  • derivational affixes

…all in words ranging from 1 to 5 syllables, plus unstressed (i.e., schwa) vowels in words containing 3 or more syllables

When the Main Test has been completed, SPELL-3 will automatically present any additional testing modules that may be needed based on the student’s Main Test performance. Once all testing is finished, six reports will be automatically created and you’ll have the option to print them or save them in PDF format for easy sharing.

Summary of key features of SPELL-3

FeatureSPELL-3
Platform Web-based app
OS CompatibilitymacOS and Windows OS
Device compatibilityDesktops, laptops, most tablets including iPads, Chromebooks, and popular Android tablets
Remote accessAccess the web-based program from anywhere; begin testing on one device, finish on another
User interfaceAgeless
Ability to simultaneously test multiple studentsIncluded and unlimited
Grouping Tool to identify individual and overlapping instructional needs for a set of studentsIncluded
Automatic upgradesIncludes automatic upgrades to newer versions and immediate access to new features and functionality as they become available.
Automatic updatesIncludes performance enhancements, bug fixes, and patches to the existing software
Storage/backup of student dataStudent data is securely stored and automatically backed up for you on our server
Intervention plan reportThe automatically created intervention plan specifies which patterns and skills to address and in what order for each student and identifies the corresponding lessons and word study activities in the SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing – Word Study Curriculum for each prescribed goal.
Pricing

Pay per administration—pay only for the number of assessments you need to administer. Cost per administration decreases with increase in number of administrations purchased in a single transaction, and purchased administrations may be allocated among multiple users within an organization.

# of AdministrationsPrice 
1$150 
2$200 
5$375 
10$490 
30$1050 
50$1450 
100$2500 

FAQs

Is SPELL-2 still available for purchase?

No.

Can I keep using the SPELL-2 software I already purchased?

Yes. You may continue using your SPELL-2 CD or SPELL-2 downloaded software. However, we no longer provide tech support for the SPELL-2 CD and SPELL-2 downloaded software.

Can I still purchase additional user licenses for the SPELL-2 downloaded software?

No.

Can I still upgrade my SPELL-2 CD software to SPELL-2 download software?

No.

What are the differences between SPELL-3 and SPELL-2?

View this comparison of the key features of SPELL-3 and SPELL-2.

Once I purchase SPELL-3 test administrations, do I need to use them within a limited amount of time?

No. SPELL-3 test administrations never expire.