Creston Tutor's Orton-Gillingham practice requires administering informal assessments that map out a student's current skills in reading. The result gives a detailed data of a student's phonological awareness, a list of letter-sound correspondences a student has mastered, and where the gaps are.
You will be able to take the assessment results to any teacher or tutor knowledgeable in the science of reading, and the data will tell where it is best to start help a child acquire foundational skills like blending sounds, decoding words, or identifying which letters make what sound.
Why won't your informal assessment tell which "level" my child is in?
The assessment will not tell you what "level" your child is in, because placement by reading levels is usually from "whole language" or "balanced literacy" programs. The premise of programs based on balanced literacy is that there is supposed to be a balance between the demands of direct instruction, such as explicit phonics instruction and phonological awareness, and the precepts of Whole Language, which involves having children figure out the meaning of text from context clues and images.
The science of reading has disproven the precept of whole language practices. Humans are not wired for acquiring reading as we do spoken language. Phonics need to be taught. The whole language way of giving prompts while reading, such as What makes sense, Can you think of another word that would work in this sentence, and Look at the picture is problematic because it encourages guessing. Guessing and memorizing is not reading. What will a student do then when faced with a picture-less text on an unfamiliar topic (like academic texts and unfamiliar topics)?
How long does the informal assessment take?
The informal assessment will take between 1 to 1.5 hours to finish, depending on the skills of the student. It is usually done in 1 or 2 sessions, depending on the student's age, endurance, and/or attention.