FAST aReading  At-A-Glance

FAST Adaptive Reading, or aReading, is a computer-administered measure of broad reading skill developed to screen students three times per year. It is individualized for each student based on their skill and pattern of responses, yet may be delivered in a group setting. aReading is aligned with National Common Core Standards and is based on recommendations from the National Reading Panel. Concepts of print, phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, and vocabulary are assessed. The following provides more detail:

This image depicts an explanation of the Components of Reading Achievement that are measured on the aReading universal screening assessment and the grades in which they correspond with. The image denotes: Concepts of Print (K, 1), Phonological Awareness (K, 1), Phonics & Decoding (2, 3, possibly 4, 5, 6), Vocabulary (K, 1, 2, 3, possibly 4, 5, 6), and Comprehension (1, 2,3,4, 5, 6).

aReading  was designed to complement those FAST measures (i.e., CBM-Reading and earlyReading) which are more sensitive to growth over time but may not appear to directly assess comprehension and vocabulary. It is anticipated that these sources of information will usually be similar and be a useful screening and progress monitoring package with fewer time demands. Obtained student scores have meaning in relation to target benchmarks for each grade and screening period as provided below:

Grade Fall Winter Spring
K 417 434
1 434 453 469
2 468 479 486
3 483 496 501
4 499 505 511
5 508 515 521
6 516 521 527

To more fully understand and use for day-to-day teaching, one is encouraged to search the Iowa TIER Knowledge Base for, Interpreting aReading Scaled Scores for Instruction. This document provides general guidelines in terms of which skill set a student may have Mastered and may yet be Developing. Considering the potential range of student skills and the extent of detail provided, it is difficult to condense these descriptions and recommendations into a brief resource so one is encouraged to review and apply to the instructional needs of specific student(s).