Lexical Analysis of Words on Commonly Used Standardized Spelling Assessments

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the morphological characteristics (i.e., number of morphemes in each word, degree of transparency between a derived morpheme and its root word) and frequency data (i.e., the standard frequency index; SFI) of six commonly used standardized spelling assessments and their alternate forms (when available). Results indicate high variability among the assessments and their alternate forms on the use of multimorphemic transparent and opaque words. Variability based on the SFI index between tests and their alternate forms was relatively low. Findings are discussed in regard to providing researchers and practitioners with a deeper understanding diagnostically of the morphological and frequency requirements and complexities of these standardized spelling assessments.