General Questions - PALS espaol

Table of Contents
1. Why use PALS espaol?
2. Which students benefit from PALS espaol?
3. What information does PALS espaol provide to teachers?
4. Is the Online Assessment Wizard (OAW) available for PALS espaol?

1. Why use PALS espaol?
PALS espaol measures childrens developing knowledge of the fundamental component of Spanish literacy
in Kindergarten through 3
rd
grade. PALS espaol tasks are parallel to English PALS tasks but are NOT
translations.

Early assessment with PALS espaol helps teachers:
Identify students literacy strengths in their native Spanish.
Individualize instruction to accelerate reading development in both English and Spanish.
Identify students with reading difficulties without waiting until they are proficient enough to be
assessed in English.

2. Which students benefit from PALS espaol?
PALS espaol tracks the literacy progress of students who:
Receive instruction in both English and Spanish.
Are transitioning from Spanish to English instruction.
Speak Spanish at home and English at school.

3. What information does PALS espaol provide to teachers?
PALS espaol K assesses phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, and
concept of word in text.

PALS espaol 1-3 assess word knowledge (including spelling), oral reading (accuracy, comprehension, rate,
and fluency), alphabet knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, and phonemic awareness.

4. Is the Online Assessment Wizard (OAW) available for PALS espaol?
Yes! Teachers can enter scores into the PALS espaol OAW and have immediate access to reports that
guide instruction and intervention. The reports included for PALS espaol are the Student Summary and
Class Summary. PALS espaol Mid-Year assessment is also available through the PALS espaol OAW.

www.palsmarketplace.com | 888-924-7257

Frequently Asked Questions - PALS espaol K

Table of Contents
1. General Information about PALS espaol K
2. Beginning Sound Awareness
3. Spelling


1. General Information about PALS espaol K

1.1 Are there any major differences between administering PALS K and PALS espaol K?
There are, indeed, a few differences in the administration of PALS espaol K. It is highly recommended that
the test be administered by a fluent speaker of Spanish. PALS espaol K is not a translation of PALS-K. Given
that the Administration and Scoring Guide has sections written in Spanish, the assessor should be a fluent
speaker.

1.3 Does it matter if a student speaks Spanish, English, or a combination of both during assessment?
Students should speak Spanish for all tasks during testing, whether they are repeating a word after the
assessor, or they are reading words on their own.


2. Beginning Sound Awareness

2.3 What do I do if a student is speaking English when he or she repeats the words during the
individual Beginning Sound Awareness task?
The assessor will be speaking in Spanish. If the child says the word in English, remind him/her to say it in
Spanish.


3. Spelling

3.1 What do I do if my student cannot write in Spanish?
If a child says he or she unable to write in Spanish, encourage the child to do his/her best. If there are no
correct words or features, score each word and letter feature as zero. If the a child writes words in English
and Spanish interchangeably, score only the correct features and/or words that are written in Spanish.

www.palsmarketplace.com | 888-924-7257

Frequently Asked Questions - PALS espaol 1-3

Table of Contents
1. General Information about PALS espaol 1-3
2. Entry Level Tasks: Spelling and Word Recognition
3. Level B Tasks: Alphabetics
4. Level C Tasks: Phonemic Awareness


1. General Information about PALS espaol 1-3

1.1 Are there any major differences between administering PALS 1-3 and PALS espaol 1-3?
There are, indeed, a few differences in the administration of PALS espaol 1-3. It is highly recommended
that the test be administered by a fluent speaker of Spanish. PALS espaol 1-3 is not a translation of PALS
1-3. Given that the Administration and Scoring Guide has sections written in Spanish, the assessor should be
a fluent speaker. Details regarding variability among tasks are included below.

1.2 Does it matter if a student speaks Spanish, English, or a combination of both during assessment?
Students should speak Spanish for all tasks during testing, whether they are repeating a word after the
assessor, or they are reading words on their own.

2. Entry Level Tasks: Spelling and Word Recognition
2.1 My school uses a developmental word study program or model for spelling (such as Words Their
Way for English Learners). Is it necessary to do an initial spelling assessment beyond what is in PALS?
The information obtained in the Spelling Inventory in PALS provides information about a students spelling
stage. This information can be used to begin developmental spelling/word study instruction without further
assessment. Therefore, the spelling assessment included in PALS is the only spelling assessment needed
before beginning developmental word study.
3. Level B Tasks: Alphabetics
3.1 What do I do if my student calls English and Spanish letters interchangeably on the
Lower-Case Alphabet Recognition task?
Remind the student to answer in Spanish one time. If the student continues to answer in English, the answer
is scored as incorrect.

4. Level C Tasks: Phonemic Awareness

4.1 Why is the scoring on PALS espaol 1-3 different for the Sound-to-Letter task than it is for PALS
1-3?
In Spanish, many letter sounds and names are the same, so it does not make sense to discriminated
between them when scoring.
www.palsmarketplace.com | 888-924-7257