Which assessment focuses specifically on a student's ability to decode words?

The phonics assessment is specifically designed to evaluate a student's ability to decode words. Decoding involves translating written words into their spoken equivalents, which is fundamentally reliant on a student's understanding of the relationships between letters and sounds. Phonics assessments typically involve tasks that require students to apply their knowledge of phonemes and graphemes to read words accurately. This skill is a critical component of reading development and supports students in becoming proficient readers as they learn to sound out words effectively.

In contrast, a writing assessment measures a student's ability to express ideas in written form, while a phonemic awareness assessment evaluates their understanding of individual sounds in spoken language, independent of written text. A reading fluency assessment focuses on how smoothly and accurately a student reads aloud, which includes aspects of comprehension, but does not zero in on the specific decoding skills that a phonics assessment does. Therefore, the focus of the phonics assessment on decoding makes it the correct choice.