What assessment strategy best measures a student’s ability to apply phonics content to unfamiliar text?

The best assessment strategy for measuring a student’s ability to apply phonics content to unfamiliar text is through reading aloud a word list from an informal reading inventory. This choice effectively assesses the student's phonics skills in a context that mimics encountering new words, providing insight into how well they can decode unfamiliar text based on phonics knowledge.

When students read aloud from a word list, they are required to apply their understanding of letter-sound relationships and phonemic awareness directly to real reading challenges, which reflects their actual ability to process and interpret language. This method offers an immediate understanding of their phonics application since unfamiliar words help gauge their ability to utilize phonics strategies under less controlled conditions.

In contrast, other options focus on different aspects of literacy. Writing letters in sequence does not evaluate phonics application to reading. A grade-level oral reading fluency assessment might assess overall reading proficiency but could incorporate words that the student is already familiar with, failing to isolate their phonics skills with new vocabulary. A spelling test generally assesses production rather than reading comprehension or phonics application in reading unfamiliar text. Thus, reading aloud a word list stands out as the most direct measure of phonics application to unfamiliar text.