FAST is an indigenous, standardised and scientifically robust online, diagnostic assessment tool developed for children aged 6 - 15. It tests children’s meaning-making (comprehension) and word use fluency (vocabulary) in the English language at various degrees of complexity. Based on these, it describes the independent reading ability of children attending English medium schools in urban and semi-urban areas. The project was in partnership with ACER, the largest assessment body in the world tasked to work on PISA initially.
FAST is a result of of a decade long research in early childhood by thought leaders from Harvard, Stanford, IIT, IIM and London School of Economics.
The objective of the FAST Assessment is to serve as a base from which educators and school leaders can:
- Understand the reading process
- Assess two components of the reading process – comprehension (meaning-making) and vocabulary (word use fluency)
- Understand how the children’s home environment impacts reading skills
Why is FAST critical?
- Gives a complete picture of each child's decoding, comprehension and reading fluency levels.
- It ascertains a child’s reading level – at, above or below grade/age level
- Provides support in improving every child's reading, learning and expression abilities that build future academic success
- Helps in building champions for life by continuousand comprehensive evaluation year on year to establish learning gaps
FAST is based on internationally established reading outcomes and assessment principles as laid down by PIRLS (global) *, Common Core (USA) ** and NCF 2005 (India) ***Contextualized to meet culture and comfort of children from second language English backgrounds.Adaptive assessment to suit children’s personalised learning needs.
Link to national level report on 'Where India Reads' published by Stones2Milestones basis FAST data.
To know more, visit FAST Website.
