Articulation assessments can feel like putting together a puzzle—you need all the right pieces to see the full picture of a child’s speech abilities. A well-thought-out assessment plan not only helps you identify areas of need but also ensures your evaluation is comprehensive and tailored to the individual student.
In this post, we’ll walk through the 10 essential components of a solid articulation assessment plan. From standardized tests to classroom observations, each piece plays a critical role in understanding and supporting your student’s communication journey. Let’s dive in!
If you want a basic checklist for an articulation assessment, check out this FREEBIE!
Key Considerations for Creating an Effective Articulation Assessment Plan
The purpose of a special education evaluation is to determine whether a student has a disability and, if so, how it impacts their education. To ensure your articulation assessment plan is thorough and effective, keep these key considerations in mind:
1. Start with a Comprehensive Record Review
Before creating your testing plan, conduct a detailed review of the student’s records. Look for previous assessments, academic performance, and any interventions or supports already in place. This step is crucial for identifying patterns and guiding your next steps.
Need help gathering the right data? Check out this blog post for tips on effective record reviews.
2. Make Your Evaluation Comprehensive
A truly effective evaluation goes beyond standardized tests. While standardized assessments are important, they’re just one piece of the puzzle. Incorporate other methods such as classroom observations, work samples, parent and teacher input, and informal measures like intelligibility ratings. Use your state’s qualification criteria as a roadmap to ensure your evaluation captures all relevant data about the student’s communication abilities.
10 Essential Components for Your Next Articulation Assessment Plan
Before we get started, you might be looking for a more detailed evaluation checklist. Click on the picture below to see page 2 (of 4) of my detailed articulation evaluation checklist that is part of my Ultimate SLP Dashboard. It will help guide you through everything you need to do for your next assessment.
When planning an articulation assessment, it’s important to include a variety of measures to get a complete picture of a child’s speech and communication abilities. Here’s what I like to include:
- Standardized Assessment for Articulation
Use a standardized test to compare the child’s articulation abilities to those of same-age peers. Remember, standardized tests are only one piece of the puzzle. Results should be interpreted with caution, as the normative sample might not reflect the student’s cultural or linguistic background. - Standardized Assessment for Phonology OR Phonological Analysis
This type of test evaluates error patterns in a child’s speech compared to same-age peers. Like articulation tests, phonology test results should be analyzed carefully—children can score low but still have phonological processes that are age-appropriate. Instead, you might want to consider doing a phonological analysis to determine which error patterns are present above 40%. Then, compare these process to age of elimination data to see if they are normal or not. Here is the link for a phonological process elimination chart. - Intelligibility Samples
Measure how well the child is understood in conversation. Use tallies to record whether words are understood or not. Conduct multiple intelligibility samples, and if possible, involve an unfamiliar listener (someone not on the evaluation team) to provide an additional perspective. - Consonant Sound Inventory
Assess which consonant sounds the child can produce correctly. This helps determine if the child is missing or struggling with sounds that are expected for their age. Here is a link for a consonant sound development by age chart. - Stimulability Probe
Take the sounds that were absent from the child’s consonant sound inventory and check whether the child can imitate specific sounds in isolation and at the syllable level. Research shows that if a child can imitate a sound with at least 30% accuracy during a stimulability probe, that sound will most likely generalize to their speech without needing specialized instruction. Here is the link for the Miccio stimulability probe. - Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC)
Calculate the percentage of correctly produced consonants at the sentence level. This is a valuable metric for documenting articulation errors in connected speech. Here is a link for a PCC form. - Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS)
Use the ICS, a parent or caregiver questionnaire, to assess how well the child is understood in different everyday situations. This provides insight into their communication abilities outside of the testing environment. Here is a link to an ICS form. - Classroom Observation
Determining educational impact is a necessary part of an evaluation plan and what better way to collect data than to observe the student in the classroom. Observe the child in their natural learning environment to see how speech difficulties impact communication, participation, and interaction with peers and teachers. Remember to compare the student to a typically developing peer to determine if they are performing like others in the classroom or not. Depending on what the class is doing, this might also be a good time to talk with teacher about your observations and ask questions. - Work Samples and Academic Data
This is also a great way to determine if the child’s articulation difficulties have an educational impact. Review work samples and academic data, including district and classroom assessments, to understand how speech difficulties may affect academic performance. If this data wasn’t collected during the review of records, now is the time to gather it. If you haven’t talked with the teacher yet, analyzing work samples with teacher might be a perfect way to connect about the child’s difficulties in class. - Hearing Screening
If a recent hearing screening hasn’t been conducted, include one as part of the assessment plan. Hearing issues can significantly affect articulation and should be ruled out as a contributing factor.
Where can I find FREE resources to help collect all this speech data?
Many of the measures listed above can be obtained through FREE resources from reputable internet sites. Click on the links next to each measurement to see the resources OR purchase the Ultimate SLP Dashboard to get an articulation checklist with links included, plus templates for intelligibility ratings.
Wrapping Up Your Articulation Assessment Plan
An effective articulation assessment is all about gathering the right data to make informed decisions that best support your student. By including a variety of tools—like standardized tests, classroom observations, and input from parents and teachers—you can create a comprehensive picture of the child’s needs and strengths.
Remember, every child is unique, and so is every evaluation. Stay flexible, keep your process organized, and use these 10 components as a guide to ensure nothing gets overlooked.
Do you have a favorite strategy or tool for articulation assessments? Share your tips or questions in the comments—I’d love to hear from you!
