Author's Purpose Probes Editable

About this resource

Everything inside: 25 pages · 6 original silent-reading passages, each written to entertain, to inform, or to persuade (two passages per purpose) with 24 questions total · 6 equivalent probe forms · a shared answer-key and scoring page for all six forms · a data log and scaled trend graph · a caseload summary · a ready-to-send family update · a classroom teacher check-in (a second setting) · a 17-starter phrase bank · a binder cover and 4-section binder map · a worked, invented example. 491 type-in fields.

This file measures a reading-comprehension IEP goal that is genuinely thin on the shelf: whether a student who reads a passage SILENTLY can identify the author's purpose — to entertain, to inform, or to persuade — and back that answer up with the passage's own words. Every passage is original and invented, about 70–86 words, and was deliberately written in a different register for its purpose (a narrative with characters and a made-up event for "entertain," true stated facts about a real animal for "inform," an opinion with reasons and a request for "persuade") so the purpose is genuinely inferable from the passage's content and structure. Every passage title is a neutral character name or simple noun phrase (Ruby and the Puddle, Octopuses, Room 14, The Tree House, Honeybees, The Lunchroom) — never a title that gives the purpose away. Nothing but the passage and four write-in questions appears on the page the student sees. Scoring, the rubric and the answer key live on separate adult-only pages, never in the student's hands.

WHAT IS INCLUDED — 25 pages, 491 type-in fields

Prepare To Give The Probes

• Binder Cover and Section Map — a spine/cover card, a 4-box section reference (not a cutting page), and an 8-row "where to find things" index
• How This Pack Works — how the six forms share one rubric and one key page, plus a 3-row table comparing what each of the file's three tools measures
• Author's Purpose Goal, Rubric and Directions — a sample IEP-style goal (invented, every bracket editable), a baseline table (median of the first three probes), a binary Correct/Incorrect rubric (no partial credit per item — the student wrote the words), and a 2-row benchmark table

Take The Data

• Six Probe Forms (A–F) — each a clean, student-facing page: a "My name" line, one kid-worded instruction with a book icon, the passage, and four numbered questions with a real four-line answer box each (name the purpose, two pieces of supporting text evidence, and the technique the author used) — nothing scored, no goal text, no marks on this page
• Answer Keys and Scoring — one shared adult-only page with all six forms' accepted purpose, technique and evidence (any close paraphrase counts) and a Score /4 field per form

Track, Report And Share

• Author's Purpose Accuracy Data Log — 12 dated rows, one form per row
• Author's Purpose Accuracy Trend Graph — a scaled 0–100% grid plus a 12-row log table
• Caseload Summary — 12 students by 8 probes, baseline and criterion percent, trend and decision columns
• Family Update — Reading at Home — a ready-to-send communication page: what was read, how it went in plain words, a practice idea, and a 7-day practiced table
• Classroom Comprehension Check-In — two half-page notes per sheet, cut apart: a checkbox, one sentence, no codes, for the general education teacher or paraprofessional during regular class reading (a different setting from the six probe forms)
• Progress Note Phrase Bank — 17 observable-language starters across 5 groups (purpose accuracy, evidence accuracy, pattern across probes, next steps, the quarterly-report sentence), every one ending in a blank pulled from a data sheet in the file
• A Filled-In Probe Set and Log — a worked, invented example (Devon R., fifth grade) with a 4-row weekly log and a 2-row answer-key excerpt, every number cross-checked against the arithmetic behind it

Plus a Start Here quick-start, a 3-section contents page with real page thumbnails, 3 section dividers, and a "what's next" back page.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

It is a fillable PDF. Open it in a PDF reader, click a field, type, save. It works offline with no account or subscription. It is NOT a Google Sheets file, a Google Doc, or an Excel workbook, and it does not calculate a percent for you. The six probe forms print cleanly for the student to write directly on.

It is not a norm-referenced or standardized reading test, and it is not a Lexile or grade-level placement tool. It does not set a passing criterion or sort a student into any category — that is a blank line for your team. Every purpose, technique and evidence item scored is checked directly against that passage's own words; the key never asks for a guess unsupported by the text. It is not Cause and Effect Reading Comprehension Probes, which measures a stated causal relationship rather than why the passage was written; the two pair well for a student whose goal names both skills.

No age, eligibility or IDEA-timeline claim anywhere; no health data is pre-filled, and the example student (Devon) is invented and named as such on page 24.

Who This Is For

Special education teachers, reading interventionists and case managers who need author's purpose measured with the student's own written answers as the evidence, scored from an answer key in under a minute a form.

If You Want More

Cause and Effect Reading Comprehension Probes measures a stated causal relationship rather than why the passage was written. Main Idea and Supporting Details Reading Comprehension Probes measures the overall gist of a passage. Inference Text Evidence Probes measures a conclusion the passage implies but never says outright. Fact and Opinion Probes measures telling a stated fact from a stated opinion within a passage.