S and Z Articulation Progress Monitoring Probes

About this resource

One skill, start to finish. An /s/ and /z/ sound articulation goal, six equivalent probe forms that measure it, and a graph scaled to the probe. Baseline on Monday, goal written by Tuesday, first data point on Friday.

Every form is ten words and untimed, so a score of 8 means the same thing on every form, and the student is never scored on speed. What counts as a correct production is your call, not this page's — you write that rule once, on the goal page, and it holds constant probe to probe.

WHAT IS INCLUDED - 14 pages, 301 type-in fields, six probe forms

The Goal Page

• What the probe measures, in one paragraph
• A sample goal, invented, with every bracket meant to be edited by the team
• The six-part goal frame as type-in fields: by (date), given, student will, criterion, on ___ of ___ consecutive probes, as measured by
• A baseline table: three probes and the median
• Three benchmark rows with target date, target score, actual score and met
• The administration and scoring directions
• Lines for this student's own scoring rules, and a box for what the errors say to reteach

Six Probe Forms, A Through F

• Ten single words per form containing the target /s/ or /z/ sound in initial, medial or final position, including s-blends, in random order, printed large in a card grid
• Drawn from one shuffle of an 82-word bank: sixty words used across the six forms, and no word appears on two forms
• Every form carries the goal it measures: the sample goal, plus a type-in box for the goal as written for this student, so the goal prints on the sheet the person giving the probe is holding
• A teacher scoring strip, 1 to 10, and a Correct ___ / 10 box at the foot of every form
• Name, date and form letter at the top

The Data Log And Graph

• A y-axis already scaled 0 to 10, twelve probe columns, and the instruction to draw the aim line from the baseline to the criterion first
• A twelve-row log: date, form, correct, errors, the score used on the graph, and notes

The Caseload Summary

• Twelve student rows, baseline and criterion, eight probe columns, a trend column and a decision column
• For the data meeting: rows that are flat together are a group, a row that is flat alone is a different question

A Worked Example

• An invented second grader, twelve weekly probes: the baseline taken as a median, the aim line, three points under it forcing a change in the target words practiced, the change written on the row, the criterion met, and the progress-report sentence the log produces. Every number in that sentence is on the log.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

It is a fillable PDF. The goal page, the goal box on every probe form, the data log and the caseload page are type-in fields: open the file in a PDF reader, click a line or a cell, type, and Save As once per student. The probe forms are meant to be printed; the student says the words aloud and writes nothing. One student copy of each form in a sheet protector lasts the year. It works offline with no account or subscription. It does not calculate percents or draw the graph.

It is not a norm-referenced or diagnostic assessment, it carries no benchmark score or "typical" rate, and it contains no placement, cueing or error-type guidance — that is a clinical decision for the clinician, not this page's. The criteria in the sample goal are in brackets because your team sets them from the baseline and the student's goals. Every probe is untimed on purpose; the goal page says so, so the condition stays the same all year.

Who This Is For

Speech-language pathologists and case managers writing /s/ and /z/ sound articulation goals, and the SLPAs and paraprofessionals who give the weekly probe.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY: the probe is a printed list of words the student reads aloud. It assumes a student who can read these words. There are no picture cards in this file. If your student does not read, the file still gives you the goal page, the log, the graph and the caseload summary, but you will need to decide how you present the words and write that on the directions line so every probe is given the same way.

If You Want More Skills

This is the S and Z articulation skill on its own. IEP Goals and Progress Monitoring Probes, a 69-page pack, carries letter names and sounds, blends, sight words, decodable sentences and six math skills in one file.