Free ALTA Competency Exam (CALT) Exam Flashcards

Receptive language concerns understanding; expressive language concerns communicating. Listening and speaking support later reading and writing, but these abilities develop together rather than in a rigid sequence. A learner may need support in one or several areas. Compare the learner’s oral-language and written-language performance before selecting instruction.

Phonological awareness: noticing and manipulating spoken sound units. Phonological working memory: temporarily holding sound-based information. Naming speed/retrieval: efficiently accessing familiar verbal labels. They are related but distinct; weakness in one does not establish the same weakness in all three.

Move between larger spoken units, such as words and syllables, and smaller units, including phonemes, as assessment indicates. Blending combines sounds; segmenting separates them; manipulation changes them. These skills overlap, and difficulty depends on the task and word. Connect phoneme work to relevant letters instead of requiring mastery of every oral manipulation task before print instruction.

The model represents reading comprehension as the joint contribution of decoding and language comprehension: R = D × C. Weakness in either can constrain understanding. Compare both when planning instruction. The model is not a diagnostic checklist: dyslexia can coexist with language-comprehension difficulties, and a strong-decoding/weak-comprehension profile alone does not establish hyperlexia.

Language comprehension includes background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge. Word recognition includes phonological awareness, decoding, and sight recognition. Increasingly strategic language comprehension and increasingly automatic word recognition work together in skilled reading; neither strand makes the other unnecessary.

Pre-alphabetic: relies mainly on nonalphabetic cues. Partial alphabetic: uses some letter–sound connections. Full alphabetic: can use a more complete alphabetic system to decode unfamiliar words. Consolidated alphabetic: increasingly uses familiar spelling units and morphemes efficiently. These are a developmental framework, not fixed age bands or an instruction schedule identical for every learner.

The historical framework moves from prereading through initial decoding, fluency, reading to learn, multiple viewpoints, and knowledge construction. Use it to consider changing demands, not to assign a learner solely by age or grade. Vocabulary, comprehension, discussion, and knowledge building belong alongside early decoding instruction; they need not wait for a later stage.

A phoneme is a speech-sound category that can distinguish words, as /p/ versus /b/ in pat/bat. A grapheme is a letter or letter group representing a phoneme, such as sh. A morpheme is a meaningful unit, such as un- or -s. Allophones are pronunciation variants of one phoneme; their distribution depends on language and dialect.

Consonants involve a constriction or closure; describe their place, manner, and voicing. For /p/, the lips close and release without vocal-fold vibration. Vowels have a relatively open vocal tract and are commonly described by tongue height, backness, and lip rounding. Vowels are usually voiced, not invariably; some syllables have a syllabic consonant as their nucleus.

In a blend, adjacent consonant letters retain distinguishable sounds, as /s/ and /t/ in stop. A digraph uses two letters for one phoneme, as sh in ship. Count sounds rather than letters: in a typical pronunciation, ship has four letters but three phonemes. Dialect and the particular word matter; do not infer sound count from spelling length.

Closed (cat), open (me), vowel-consonant-e (hope), vowel team (rain), vowel-r (car), and consonant-le (table). These are instructional spelling categories with useful pronunciation generalizations and exceptions. Consonant-le is not a label for every stable ending such as -tion. Teach examples and exceptions, then confirm the resulting word’s pronunciation and meaning.

Try VC/CV in rab/bit and V/V in li/on when adjacent vowels belong to separate syllables. With one medial consonant, compare V/CV in ti/ger with VC/V in cab/in. Confirm pronunciation and meaning; these are decoding strategies, not universal frequency rules. Keep digraphs intact and consider morpheme boundaries. Adjacent vowels may instead form a vowel team, as in rain.

FLOSS often doubles final f, l, or s after a single short vowel in a one-syllable word, as in stuff, bell, and miss; words such as if and bus are exceptions. Rabbit illustrates medial doubling in a particular pattern, not a rule that every two-syllable word with an initial short vowel doubles: habit and cabin do not.

Compare hop→hopping, hope→hoping, and happy→happiness. For final-consonant doubling, check the base’s final vowel-consonant pattern and, in longer words, stress. A vowel-initial suffix often triggers final-e dropping, but spelling may preserve e, as in changeable. Consonant+y often changes to i, except before -ing. Teach each generalization with its conditions and exceptions.

In many short one-syllable words, ck, tch, and dge follow a short vowel: back, catch, badge. These are useful patterns, not exceptionless laws: much and rich use ch. Compare position, adjacent letters, word origin, and related words. Avoid claiming English never ends in a particular letter; borrowed words can break common patterns.

Schwa /ə/ is a reduced vowel common in unstressed syllables, as the first vowel in about. Different vowel letters can represent it, so pronunciation alone may not reveal spelling. Examine morphemes, related words, and the written pattern; use an accented relative when it actually clarifies the vowel. Not every unstressed vowel is schwa.

Many frequent everyday words, function words, and common irregular spellings have Old English roots. Teach their spelling–sound relationships and meaningful connections rather than treating them as pictures to memorize. Etymology explains some patterns; it does not justify a fixed percentage of every learner’s vocabulary or an exceptionless spelling rule.

Identify meaningful units, as re- + construct + -ion in reconstruction. Connect the root and affixes to related words and discuss how the suffix affects meaning or grammatical role. Origins offer clues rather than certainty; Latin-derived English words can contain vowel teams and changed pronunciations. Confirm a proposed analysis in a reliable reference.

Forms such as bio (life), geo (earth), and -logy (study) recur in technical vocabulary. In biology, recognizing bio and -logy supports meaning, while spelling and pronunciation still need attention. Combining forms are not always free-standing English words. Teach a small connected word family instead of assigning an unsupported percentage of English vocabulary to Greek.

Inflection marks grammar without normally creating a new lexical word: cat→cats, walk→walked. Derivation creates a related word and may change its class: happy→happiness; unhappy stays an adjective. English inflection categories are not eight invariant spellings: consider went and children. Assimilated prefixes change form with the following sound: negative in- has the im- form before b, m, or p, as in imbalance. Check the word’s actual morphology rather than changing every prefix mechanically.

Word order, clauses, and grammatical relationships show who did what to whom. The dog chased the boy differs from The boy chased the dog. Have learners identify the actor/action, connect pronouns to referents, and unpack an embedded clause. Sentence complexity can increase processing demands, but difficulty depends on the learner and context.

Semantics concerns meaning in words and sentences; pragmatics concerns how context and communicative intent shape interpretation. Can you open the window? literally asks about ability but commonly requests action. Teach vocabulary and multiple meanings, then discuss what the speaker intends and which contextual clues support that interpretation.

IDA’s October 2025 definition describes persistent difficulties with word reading and/or spelling accuracy or speed despite instruction effective for peers. Difficulties vary across individuals and writing systems. Causes involve interacting genetic, neurobiological, and environmental factors. Phonological or morphological difficulties are common but not universal; oral-language and comprehension needs may also coexist. A definition does not replace individual evaluation.

Research examines networks involving frontal, temporoparietal, and occipitotemporal regions during reading. Group findings can inform models of learning, but they are not a universal brain pattern or a classroom diagnostic test. Instructional decisions require the learner’s history, language and literacy assessment, response to teaching, and appropriately qualified evaluation.

It considers phonological-awareness and rapid-naming difficulties as distinguishable contributors to reading problems. A learner can show either or both, suggesting different assessment questions. It is a research framework rather than a required set of diagnostic subtypes, and combined weaknesses do not determine an individual’s outcome. Plan from observed needs and monitor progress.

It is the process of securing a word’s spelling, pronunciation, and meaning in memory through connections between phonemes and graphemes. Accurate decoding and repeated meaningful encounters support this learning, including attention to unexpected spellings. It is not memorizing the word’s overall outline, a fixed quarter-second performance cutoff, or proof that every letter has its own sound.

Effortful letter formation can consume attention needed for planning and expressing ideas. Examine handwriting, spelling, and composition separately and together. The term dysgraphia is used differently across settings; do not assume it means one universal diagnosis. Provide explicit instruction and appropriate access supports, and refer for assessment when motor or other needs exceed your expertise.

Observe accuracy, error patterns, fluency, attention, and performance across tasks and settings. ADHD and dyslexia can coexist, but neither explains every error made by a learner with the other condition. Coordinate with qualified professionals and use documented evidence; a classroom impression or a prevalence percentage cannot establish either diagnosis.

A learner with developmental language difficulties may need vocabulary, grammar, narrative, or listening support; a learner with word-reading difficulty needs targeted decoding and spelling instruction. Both can occur together. Do not require intact comprehension before considering dyslexia, or assume all low comprehension reflects decoding alone. Assess both and connect language teaching with written text.

Orton and Gillingham are associated with the development of multisensory structured language approaches. Historical ideas help explain the field’s development, but they do not by themselves prove a present-day claim about brain function or treatment effectiveness. Distinguish historical terminology from current evidence and describe the specific instructional method rather than promising results from a label.

A standard score uses a specified scale; a percentile locates performance in a norm group. On an illustrative normal scale with mean 100 and SD 15, 85 and 115 are about the 16th and 84th percentiles. Stanines group norm-referenced performance into nine broad levels, 1–9. Use the instrument’s norms, interpretive labels and confidence intervals; these are not universal conversion tables, and percentile differences are not equal units of skill.

Norm-referenced results compare performance with a defined comparison group. Criterion-referenced results describe performance against specified content or criteria. Repeated curriculum-based measures can track change during instruction. Check what each tool measures, its administration rules, and the relevant population; no single result answers every eligibility or instructional question.

Reliability concerns score consistency under specified conditions. Validity evidence supports a particular interpretation and use of scores. Measurement error limits precision, so consult the manual’s standard error and confidence intervals. There is no universal reliability cutoff that makes every screening or diagnostic decision sound; consider purpose, population, and the consequences of the decision.

CTOPP-2 examines phonological processing, with age-appropriate awareness, memory, and naming composites; it is not limited to only three composite scores. TOWRE-2 measures efficiency on real-word and nonword lists, with 45 seconds for each subtest rather than the entire appointment. Use current manuals, appropriate norms, and required qualifications; neither is a complete standalone dyslexia evaluation.

Review educational and language history, instruction, word reading, decoding, spelling, fluency, oral language, comprehension, and relevant processing information. Compare formal results with work samples and response to instruction. Select valid tools suited to the learner and referral question. CALT preparation does not authorize restricted tests or diagnosis beyond the practitioner’s qualifications and jurisdiction.

Coordinate relevant visual, auditory, articulatory, and tactile–kinesthetic information around the same language target, for example seeing a grapheme while saying its sound and forming it. Select accessible actions suited to the learner. Simply adding movement or texture is not enough, and no activity requires every sensory channel at every moment or guarantees a specific neural change.

Explicit teaching explains and models the target. Systematic instruction uses a planned sequence; cumulative review connects new work with earlier learning. Diagnostic teaching uses the learner’s responses to adjust pacing, examples, practice, and correction. Guided discovery can be purposeful when the teacher supplies clear confirmation; avoid leaving an inaccurate inference uncorrected.

Synthetic work combines parts into a whole: blend /m/ /æ/ /p/ to read map. Analytic work examines a known whole to identify its parts or a shared pattern, such as comparing map and mat. Both can be used within explicit teaching; select the task for its instructional purpose rather than treating the labels as guaranteed program outcomes.

Present carefully selected examples, ask learners to notice the relevant pattern, then explicitly confirm the rule and its limits. Contrast an exception or a different pattern and have learners apply the distinction with feedback. The number of examples and sequence of prompts depend on the trained program and learner, not a universal four-step formula.

It links spoken sounds with the ordered written representation while the learner spells. A trained program may combine saying the word, segmenting sounds, naming or forming letters, and checking the result. Follow that program’s procedure and adapt physical actions for access. The name does not establish one universal five-step routine for every learner.

Give corrective feedback and appropriate practice to develop accurate, increasingly efficient word reading. Avoid rewarding speed at the expense of accuracy. Continue suitable connected-text reading, vocabulary, and comprehension work while component skills develop; automaticity is not a reason to postpone all meaningful text until every subskill is mastered.

Teach common organizational patterns such as sequence, cause/effect, comparison, description, and problem/solution. Reciprocal teaching uses predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing to make comprehension processes explicit. Select evidence from the text and model the thinking. These are useful strategies, not an exhaustive list of all genres or a replacement for word-reading and language instruction.

Separate idea generation, sentence construction, spelling, and handwriting when examining a writing sample. If oral ideas are stronger than written output, model sentence planning and provide targeted transcription practice or an access support as appropriate. Recheck whether the change improves the intended skill; a shorter written response alone does not identify its cause.

IDEA provides special education and related services through an IEP when a student meets disability and educational-need criteria. In public elementary/secondary schools, Section 504 FAPE can include regular or special education and related aids and services for qualifying students. A student may need 504 services without IDEA eligibility. Apply individual evaluation and procedural safeguards rather than diagnosing eligibility from a label.

A support can preserve access in one task but change what another task measures. Reading directions aloud may support access; reading the target words aloud in a word-decoding test changes the task. Distinguish access supports from changes to instructional expectations in educational planning, but do not treat these teaching labels as a limit on Section 504 services. Follow the assessment manual and plan.

FERPA generally covers educational agencies/institutions receiving U.S. Department of Education funds. It provides access within 45 days and generally requires consent for disclosure, with statutory exceptions. Rights transfer at 18 or entry into postsecondary education at any age. A private therapist is not automatically a FERPA-covered institution; determine applicable law, contracts, consent, and confidentiality duties before disclosure.

Provide services within documented competencies, describe credentials accurately, and refer for needs beyond your qualifications. ALTA’s ethics code prohibits diagnosing or medically treating dyslexia unless otherwise qualified. A CALT credential alone does not confer every testing or clinical license. Explain goals, methods, fees, and limitations without guaranteeing a student’s results.

Keep adequate confidential records, restrict access, and obtain the required consent for sharing. ALTA specifically requires written consent to use student data for research or teaching. When a legal disclosure obligation or permitted exception is relevant, verify the applicable rule and document the decision. Do not treat either confidentiality or a casual request from a colleague as automatic authority to disclose.

Report 40 words correct per minute and 40÷50×100=80% accuracy, with 10 errors. Describe the observed error patterns and testing conditions rather than inferring a diagnosis from the rate. Compare results using appropriate equivalent measures and document instructional changes. The numbers, denominator, and time interval must agree.

If the manual uses a normal scale with mean 100 and SD 15, 78 is about 1.47 SD below the mean, approximately the 7th percentile. Report the actual manual-derived percentile and confidence interval, then connect the result to observed strengths, needs, and other evidence. It does not mean 7% correct or independently establish a diagnosis or fixed potential.