SSPA stands for Supplementary Spelling Assessment. The objective of the test is to assess the ability and understanding of children to spell. It helps the teacher to explore a range of spelling skills as well as spelling writing behavior of students that assists learners to improve their spelling. New Zealand Council of Education and Research has developed the SSPA test with a motive to analyze as well as diagnose the progress of spelling writing ability in children. Many students experience difficulty in spelling, which consequently turns into a big hurdle in expressing the right meaning or conveying the right message in communication and academics.

Nature of the test:

• SSPA is a standardized assessment test.
• The assessment area of the test is English-Spelling.
• It is a group administration test.
• SSPA test has two parts:

1. In the first part, the test assesses the achievement in writing spellings.
   
   
2. The second part of the test is diagnostic. It helps to reveal the problematic area of learners in writing English spellings.
   
   
3. It has different sub-tests, which educational institutions administer at any time once in a year.

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Significance of SSPA test

Spelling matters a lot in conveying message or while showing ability. Most of the time, people use it as an apparent measure to judge intelligence. It indicates the attentiveness of the learner during a teaching-learning session. English spelling is a complicated system due to inconsistency and lack of coherence in the sound and letters in English language. Many words have silent letters with different pronunciations, while some have completely different phonics in different words. So, there is a need to pay attention and practice more words to attain proficiency.

An SSPA test assists in exposing the challenges of students. A teacher can better understand the reasons behind errors. It also gives evidence regarding the spelling behaviors of the student.

• A spelling assessment test is a progressive approach to diagnose the issues in spellings. This diagnosis leads to constructive teaching strategies to bring improvements. Students implicate different methods to learn spellings. Some students build links between words that sound similar. While some used rote spellings of different words.
  
  
• Assessment of spelling is crucial when it comes to improving the spelling skills of learners. It gives important diagnostic information about student’s spelling skills. Most of the lengthy words originate from short words. After assigning an SSPA test, an instructor can guide students in different relational and psychological ways to improve spelling writing skills.
  
  
• A diagnostic assessment provides a lucid picture of students’ spelling skills, that directs the teacher to impart the right instructions. It is important to not just assess the score of students but also gain information about the methods they are using in their spelling writing skills.
  
  
• The supplementary spelling assessment test helps the students to capitalize on their strengths and minimize their weaknesses in the English-spelling area. This is possible when teachers impart various methods like co-relation, visual, rhyming, graphics, and word extension to spell words. Students can choose the best that interests them.
  
  
• Spelling assessment provides a full understanding of the learner’s level to spell. And language experts must have knowledge of the grammar and history behind every word so that they can provide effective guidance. Knowledge of word origin that is etymology. It is useful to spell words, moreover, it also gives an idea of the morphology component of the word. That makes it easier to understand and learn.

The purpose of the test is to monitor student’s performance as well as teaching methods. Spelling is a crucial component of communication, literacy, and profession. It is vital to convey a clear message and show your ability. While poor spelling can hinder student’s communication ability and several academic-oriented opportunities. Proficiency in spelling enhances confidence level. It shows the ability to understand the links between the words, origin, and the way these are interlinked.

Memorizing a spelling has great significance. It is an effective strategy with long-term benefits. English language experts frame strategies that encourage to learn new words. English-spelling is itself a huge component of the writing area, that has different rule-based strategies to spell kinds of words. Understanding-based instructions are beneficial in eliminating spelling difficulties among students.