Illinois Snapshot of Early Literacy (ISEL)

Purpose
The Illinois Snapshots of Early Literacy was designed as a classroom-based assessment for kindergarten and first-grade students.

•  to provide assessment information for classroom instructional planning;
•  to identify students in need of an early reading intervention program; and
•  to provide pre- and post-assessment data to assess progress.

The ISEL is linked to the overall goals of the Illinois Reading Initiative and reflect the National Standards for Reading and the Illinois Learning Standards. The assessments are available in English and Spanish.

ISEL Snapshots – Students are tested in the following areas:

• Alphabet Recognition: upper and lower case
• Story Listening: comprehension and vocabulary
• Phonemic Awareness: initial consonant
• One-to-One Matching and Word Naming
• Letter Sounds
• Developmental Spelling
• Word Recognition
• Passage Reading

Assessment Timeframe:

Administered to students individually within the classroom setting. The ISEL provides norms for the beginning and the end of kindergarten and first grade. However, teachers may wish to assess the progress of their students at other points during the school year. To assess progress teachers may wish to administer the same snapshots as a pre- and post-assessment measure.

Links:

Visit http://www.isbe.net/ils/ela/reading/html/isel.htm for score sheet summaries, teachers guides and administrative booklets.