Spelling Profile Assessment (SPA) a New Spelling Test for English Primary School Children; Standardisation

Niolaki, Georgia Z. and Purser, Harry and Terzopoulos, Aris and Vousden, Janet and Kohnen, Saskia and Masterson, Jackie (2026) Spelling Profile Assessment (SPA) a New Spelling Test for English Primary School Children; Standardisation. Behavior Research Methods. ISSN 1554-3528 (In Press)

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Abstract

We present the construction, psychometric evaluation, and administration of a new single-word spelling battery that includes: a. irregular (e.g., yacht) and regular (e.g., trap) words and pseudowords1 (e.g., knep) (N=87), and b. a morphological spelling test with real words (twenty affixes/seven suffixation rules) and pseudowords (mirroring the rules of the real-words) (N=40). After the pilot phase, the final battery was standardised on 1053 children (Year_R to Year_6 F=514). The battery across tasks presents outstanding reliability (.97-.99), and criterion and convergent validity were compared with the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third UK Edition (Wechsler, 2017) spelling subtest.
The Spelling Profile Assessment (SPA) battery provides standard scores (mean=100, Sd=15) per subtask, a total composite standard score for each test (a and b) and 95% Confidence Intervals. We calculated age-based standard scores incorporating a continuous developmental trajectory rather than putting individuals into fixed age groups. We consider gradual changes in development to give a more precise score. The test also includes a stopping rule, which streamlines its administration and reduces stress for children who can only spell a limited number of items. Additionally, every step in the standardisation process was automated and is available under open access, ensuring complete transparency, reproducibility, and ease of adaptation.
This tool contributes to the spelling literature by offering a comprehensive battery for assessing phonological, orthographic, and morphological spelling skills in primary-age children. It can serve as a valuable tool for educators/clinicians to gauge students' progression and tailor their spelling instruction accordingly.

Item Type:	Article
Dates:	Date Event 10 September 2026 Accepted
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Primary spelling ability, phonological knowledge, morphological knowledge, orthographic knowledge, psycholinguistics, psychometrics, spelling assessment
Subjects:	CAH04 - psychology > CAH04-01 - psychology > CAH04-01-01 - psychology (non-specific)
Divisions:	Life and Health Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	15 Sep 2026 09:53
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2026 09:53
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/17243

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