Progressively difficult phonological activities help the teacher determine which skill a student may be struggling with. Which option best describes this purpose?

• A. Determine reading speed
• B. Identify which phonological skill the student is struggling with
• C. Measure vocabulary growth
• D. Predict overall intelligence

Answer: (B)

Progressively difficult phonological activities are used to pinpoint exactly which phonological skill a learner is missing or struggling with, such as rhyming, blending, or segmenting sounds. As tasks get harder, you can observe where the student begins to struggle, which reveals the specific skill to target. This helps tailor instruction to that gap, rather than giving a broad measure of ability. The other options don’t capture that diagnostic aim: reading speed measures fluency, vocabulary growth looks at lexicon development, and predicting overall intelligence isn’t related to identifying specific phonological skills.