Ratings are also used to indicate how well a student can control vocal pitch during oral reading.
| Rating | Comments | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Cannot sustain phonation. This speech sample demonstrates the inability to control pitch. Fluctuations or breaks appear to cover almost the full range of audible tone generation. | (Male) |
| Level 2 | Noticeable breaks or fluctuations of large magnitude. Pitch register for this female is characterized by abrupt pitch breaks ranging from a register slightly below optimum to a register above optimum. The noticable breaks in control are of large magnitude. They are associated with gross deviation in respiration, and almost a complete absence of indentifiable phonemes. | (Female) |
| Level 3 | Noticeable breaks or fluctuations of small magnitude. This speaker demonstrates reasonably good or appropriate pitch register. However, he does have noticeable breaks or fluctuations in pitch of small magnitude. | (Male) |
| Level 4 | Flat within limited speaking range. Pitch in this sample is controlled within a very limited range. The speaker does use terminal fade appropriately; however, the overall characteristic of the sample is flatness. This feature seems accentuated by a very monotonous rate of syllable and word articulation. | (Female) |
| Level 5 | Normal-satisfactory modulation of pitch. This sample is rated as having satisfactory modulation of pitch. The speaker uses stress and variation in rate effectively. | (Male) |