• Grades: 1-6
• Administration Time: 35-45 minutes
• Norm-referenced – standard scores and percentile ranks
• Morphological Awareness Test for Reading and Spelling Complete Kit includes: a detailed manual, Examiner Administration Booklet, and a pack of 10 Student Response Forms for each grade (1-6). (©2026)
• Qualification Level: B

Morphological awareness—the ability to recognize, understand, and consciously use the smallest units of meaning in a word—is one of the most important skills for literacy development. The Morphological Awareness Test for Reading and Spelling (MATRS) is the first comprehensive, norm-referenced assessment designed to evaluate how well students (Grades 1–6) understand and use morphemes (such as prefixes, suffixes, and root words) to decode and spell.

Developed by literacy experts, the MATRS evaluates both spoken and written modalities to predict and enhance literacy development. The assessment consists of targeted subtests to identify specific instructional needs:

• Segmenting: Assesses the ability to break words into base words and affixes.
• Affix Identification & Meaning: Tests recognition of prefixes and suffixes and understanding of what they mean.
• Suffix Choice & Spelling: Measures the application of suffixes and spelling rules for multi-morphemic words.
• Relatives (Spoken & Written): Evaluates morphological relationships (e.g., relating a derived word back to its base).

HOW IT WORKS

MATRS consists of easy-to-implement subtests called tasks, administered by a reading specialist, speech-language pathologist, or other intervention specialist. There are a total of eight tasks in MATRS, and students complete four in each grade:

• Task 1: Segmenting (Grades 1 and 2)
• Task 2: Affix Identification (Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6)
• Task 3: Affix Meaning (Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4)
• Task 4: Suffix Choice (Grades 5 and 6)
• Task 5: Spelling Multi-Morphemic Words (Grades 4, 5, and 6)
• Task 6: Suffix Spelling (Grades 1, 2, and 3)
• Task 7: Spoken Relatives (Grades 1 and 2)
• Task 8: Written Relatives (Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6)

Following the clear directions in the Examiner Administration Booklet and demonstration videos, the examiner provides students with oral prompts and plays audio recordings to elicit and record responses. The test takes 35−45 minutes, and scoring is easy with the time-saving Excel scoring solution, which provides automated access to standard scores and percentile ranks. The MATRS kit also includes access to a full set of assessment materials for administering a follow-up test, so you can easily determine the effectiveness of interventions.

COMPLETE MATRS KIT INCLUDES: a detailed manual, Examiner Administration Booklet, and a pack of 10 Student Response Forms for each grade (1-6). (©2026)