SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory) Test – Overview

To ensure your child scores well on the Scholastic Reading Inventory™ (SRI), it’s essential to have them well-prepared and confident on test day. If your child enters the test without knowing what to expect, the many children who have prepared and know what to expect will have an advantage, regardless of fairness.

Fortunately, there’s a straightforward solution. Testing Mom has assisted thousands of children in achieving higher scores on the SRI Test with a unique prep program. Moreover, many members opt to maintain their membership post-testing due to the extensive educational content Testing Mom offers. As an interesting point, a single Testing Mom membership can benefit any child in the family.

The Testing Mom Advantage

The Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) Test is widely used throughout the United States. Moreover, Testing Mom provides extensive support with thousands of practice questions, interactive games, online tutors, a skill-building academy (including several online reading programs), and a team of testing experts. Furthermore, all these resources are available to parents with a Testing Mom membership. Additionally, this support extends beyond the testing process.

The SRI Test is a reading assessment tool designed to measure and monitor students’ reading comprehension levels. It is widely used in schools to help educators assess students’ reading comprehension, reading level, vocabulary, and fluency, providing valuable insights into their reading abilities and growth.

The assessment is comprised of multiple-choice questions. When administered on a computer, it becomes an adaptive test, where correct answers lead to more challenging subsequent questions, and incorrect responses result in easier questions. The computer-based format is designed to be given at the beginning, middle, and end of the year.  The print version of the test is given based on students’ grade levels. This version is designed to be given at the beginning of the year as a pre-assessment and at the end of the year as a post-assessment.

Key Skills Assessed by the SRI Test

The SRI Test is designed to gauge a student’s reading comprehension skills, including their ability to:

• Comprehend and interpret written information.
• Make inferences and draw conclusions from text.
• Identify the main ideas and supporting details in a passage.
• Recognize vocabulary and word meaning in context.
• Determine the author’s purpose, tone, and point of view.

If your child will be taking the SRI, watch for common mistakes. At TestingMom.com, we have seen that children, no matter how bright they are, don’t always perform well on tests when they have no test-taking experience, and specifically, no practice with the format and structure of a particular test. Because many of these critical test-taking skills are not reinforced in school, students are unable to gain practice in the art of test-taking. As a result, they may misunderstand directions, lose focus, fail to consider all answer choices, struggle to listen to the questions asked, fail to eliminate obviously wrong answers, lose time getting stuck on hard questions, and more.

As you observe your child working through this practice test, watch for these common mistakes and gently make corrections. Through your guidance and lots of practice, your child will be able to perform at his or her true ability for a fair and accurate evaluation during the actual test.

Since the SRI is a test that assesses your child’s reading comprehension skills, TestingMom.com’s practice questions, that are similar to the test, can be very helpful in building your child’s underlying skills, experience, and confidence.

How Testing Mom Helps With SRI Test Prep

Testing Mom online test prep equips kids with the skills and knowledge required to tackle these assessments confidently and successfully. Here’s how Testing Mom can assist with the SRI Test and how parents can play a crucial role in this process:

• Comprehensive Material:  TestingMom.com offers a wide range of study material aligned with the content of the SRI Test. It includes online practice questions, interactive games, skill-building exercises, and printable worksheets. This vast selection allows parents to choose the learning method that best suits their child, ensuring an effective and engaging study experience.
• Tailored Learning:  The platform customizes the learning content based on the child’s grade level, ensuring the material is suitable and challenging enough to boost their reading abilities. This tailored learning approach aids in the comprehensive understanding and mastery of the topics that the SRI Test will assess.
• Skill Development:  The SRI Test assesses students in comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and critical thinking. TestingMom.com offers practice questions and resources for each. If you run out of questions in our Reading Test Section, we can guide you to related tests on the site. Additionally, you can access 3rd-party reading programs in our Skill Building Academy for skill development.
• Parental Support: TestingMom.com also offers resources for parents, including a guide to understanding reading testing, strategies for test prep, and tips on how to support their child’s learning journey. This helps parents feel more equipped to assist their child in preparing for the test.

How Parents Can Further Help With SRI Test Prep

• Regular Practice:  Parents should ensure their child regularly practices using TestingMom.com. Consistency is key in reinforcing the skills and knowledge gained. Testing Mom also offers one-to-one online tutoring at super affordable prices! You can  schedule a free call with one of our educational advisors to learn more about how our one-to-one tutoring can help your child soar on the SRI Test!
• Encourage a Growth Mindset: Parents play a crucial role in fostering a growth mindset in their children. They do this by emphasizing that intelligence can be developed through effort, resulting in improvement. This approach helps children approach the SRI Test with a positive and resilient attitude.
• Healthy Environment:  Parents should provide a quiet, comfortable space for children to study, free of distractions. Also, maintaining a healthy balance between work and play is crucial to avoid burnout.
• Monitor Progress:  Parents can use Testing Mom’s Digital Tutor to track their child’s progress for SRI Test success, identifying areas of strength and weakness. This can help parents provide specific support where it’s most needed and discover how Testing Mom tutoring can help for that extra added boost.
• Open Communication:  Parents should maintain an open dialogue with their child about their upcoming test. It’s essential to discuss any worries or concerns their child may have and to reassure them that a test is merely a way to show what they’ve learned.

By using TestingMom.com and following these guidelines, parents can support their child in preparing for the SRI Test. This combination of online learning and parental support can help students approach their test with confidence and perform to the best of their abilities.

How to get the most out of SRI Practice Tests and Questions

Ensure your child works in a quiet, well-lit environment for SRI practice tests. We recommend 30-minute chunks, followed by breaks. This duration aligns with a child’s ability to maintain clear thinking and full attention.

Materials You’ll Need:

• If you print the practice test from a download on the TestingMom.com website, separate the practice test from the instructions.
• Have some soft, black #2 pencils and good erasers to use.

When Your Child Is Taking the Practice Test:

• Give your child one set of questions at a time. First, go through the sample questions in the set to make sure your child knows what to do.
• Then, allow your child to work through the rest of the questions if you don’t need to read individual question prompts. There may be some questions which the parent needs to read for the child.
• When reading instructions, follow them precisely without making any changes or paraphrasing.
• Give your child breaks as needed.
• Once the practice questions begin, avoid providing feedback or assistance to your child. Only offer help if they become confused about what to do. Review all answers after the practice session is over.
• At the end of each question set, provide positive feedback to encourage motivation and boost your child’s confidence.

To prepare for the SRI Test, join TestingMom.com. We offer hundreds of practice questions and engaging online prep games.

 SRI Quick Facts

• Publisher – Scholastic
• Latest Version – SRI – 3.0
• Age Range – K – 12
• Test Format – Computer-Based or Print Versions
• Testing Time – usually about 20 – 30 minutes

Purpose of the SRI

• To evaluate how well a student can understand and interpret written text,
• To determine a person’s strengths and weaknesses in reading comprehension abilities,
• To track and monitor a student’s progress in reading comprehension over time,
• To determine a student’s reading level, educators typically express it in terms of grade level equivalency.

See if TestingMom.com supports your child’s test by your school district. If you don't see your child's school district listed, check with us! We have practice for other tests as well.