Welcome to the Newcastle Assessment of Phonological Awareness (NAPA). 

• The NAPA is a criterion referenced, dynamic assessment. It is not a standardised test and therefore does not provide a standard score for comparison with typically developing children.
• The NAPA follows a developmental progression from large (words and syllables) to small (sounds or phonemes) units. The language a child hears when growing up (ambient language) will influence the way their phonological awareness develops (Anthony & Francis, 2005).
• The number of items in each section are sufficient to give the child opportunity to demonstrate their ability to perform the task with or without scaffolding. The words are chosen based on their syllable and phoneme construction.

Who is this assessment for?

• It is recommended that all children are assessed on entry to pre-school provision and older children who are struggling with reading or spelling.
• Children of any age with speech sound disorders, vocabulary and language difficulties, difficulties with reading and spelling.

When should you use this assessment?

• To identify the starting point for phonological awareness intervention. The NAPA gives specific pointers to session plans in the Newcastle Intervention for Phonological Awareness (NIPA).
• To assess readiness for literacy instruction that follows a synthetic phonics curriculum (letter-sound knowledge is a phoneme level skill).

How to reference this assessment:

Stringer, H. (2019). Newcastle Assessment for Phonological Awareness (NAPA) (1st ed.). Newcastle University, UK.