Spotlight On: Morphological Awareness Test for Reading and Spelling | Brookes Publishing Co.
Spotlight On: Morphological Awareness Test for Reading and Spelling
Morphological awareness skills are a powerful predictor of reading and spelling success. But most literacy assessments have overlooked this critical element—until now.
The NEW Morphological Awareness Test for Reading and Spelling™ (MATRS™) is the first comprehensive, reliable, and valid assessment tool for evaluating MA skills in Grades 1–6. Developed by top experts on morphological awareness, MATRS helps SLPs and educators accurately identify students who struggle with MA and plan differentiated instruction and intervention.
MATRS is a gem…. an evidence-based test of morphological awareness that is both comprehensive and clear. What a gift for clinicians and teachers!"
—Nickola Wolf Nelson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, Professor Emerita, Western Michigan University; co-developer of TILLS
Free Sampler!
Look inside MATRS with this free 20-page sampler! See benefits, samples of each task, a detailed case study, and more. GET IT NOW
Why MATRS Matters
- Solves the mystery of why some students struggle by catching often-overlooked MA difficulties and pinpointing skills these students need more support to develop.
- Supports better literacy outcomes by informing lesson plans that target specific aspects of morphological awareness.
- Gives results you can trust. The product of more than a decade of research, MATRS fills the need for a norm-referenced and standardized MA assessment tool.
- Facilitates progress monitoring with different versions of the MATRS forms for pre- and post-instruction.
- Is easy and intuitive to use, with detailed instructions, scripted tasks, short videos that demonstrate the tasks, and automatic standard score conversion.
Morphological Awareness + Dyslexia
Morphological awareness has been recognized by the International Dyslexia Association as a notable factor in struggles with literacy skills. IDA’s updated definition of dyslexia says:
“Dyslexia is a specific learning disability….(which may be characterized by)…underlying difficulties with phonological and morphological processing.”
Using MATRS to uncover difficulties with MA and following up with targeted instruction will help students with dyslexia improve their decoding, spelling, and comprehension abilities.
Already Testing?
View this comparison chart to see how MATRS complements and fills the gaps in your current literacy assessment.
Finally! MATRS is the assessment we have been waiting for…It fills the void in our morphological awareness toolbox.” —Deb Glaser, Ed.D., author of Morpheme Magic, Teacher Educator, Consultant
How it Works
MATRS consists of easy-to-implement subtests called tasks, administered by a reading specialist, speech-language pathologist, or other intervention specialist. There are a total of eight tasks in MATRS, and students complete four in each grade:
- Task 1: Segmenting (Grades 1 and 2)
- Task 2: Affix Identification (Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6)
- Task 3: Affix Meaning (Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4)
- Task 4: Suffix Choice (Grades 5 and 6)
- Task 5: Spelling Multi-Morphemic Words (Grades 4, 5, and 6)
- Task 6: Suffix Spelling (Grades 1, 2, and 3)
- Task 7: Spoken Relatives (Grades 1 and 2)
- Task 8: Written Relatives (Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6)
Following the clear directions in the Examiner Administration Booklet and demonstration videos, the examiner provides students with oral prompts and plays audio recordings to elicit and record responses. The test takes 35−45 minutes, and scoring is easy with the time-saving Excel scoring solution, which provides automated access to standard scores and percentile ranks. The MATRS kit also includes access to a full set of assessment materials for administering a follow-up test, so you can easily determine the effectiveness of interventions.
What to Get
Purchase the MATRS Complete Kit for everything you need: a detailed manual, Examiner Administration Booklet, and a pack of 10 Student Response Forms for each grade. You’ll also receive digital access to materials for follow-up testing, demonstration videos for each task, audio files, a Technical Report, and the MATRS Excel automated scoring solution. The MATRS kit includes all the components you need to successfully administer the test and conduct follow-up:
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Contact Your Rep
Contact your rep to learn more about bringing MATRS to your school or district.