The D.I.G.
The Decoding Inventory for Growth is a digital formative phonics assessment for teachers, specialists and instructional teams, built to turn what you notice into what you teach next.
How it works
Short, easy-to-administer phonics assessments that fit inside real classroom routines. No student devices: you record responses from printed word lists.
Patterns become visible: which students share a gap, which skills are secure, and where the class as a whole is stuck.
Group students by the specific need they share, plan targeted instruction, and monitor progress across the year in one place.
What it measures
The inventory walks the progression rather than sampling it.
School, team and district pricing on request.
The D.I.G. helps teachers identify student needs, spot instructional patterns, group with greater confidence, and turn phonics assessment into clear next steps.
The D.I.G. is an easy-to-administer phonics assessment tool that helps educators collect meaningful data, identify student needs, and make more confident decisions about what to teach next. Instead of sorting through scattered notes, paper forms, or unclear scores, teachers can quickly see where patterns are showing up and how to group students for more targeted instruction.
Collect meaningful phonics data.
See patterns and skill gaps clearly.
Plan targeted instruction faster.
The D.I.G. was designed to make phonics assessment feel more manageable, more useful, and easier to connect directly to instruction.
Start with a simple process to identify students’ decoding strengths and gaps.
Color-coded skill and subskill scores make student and group needs instantly clear.
Use what you learn to target instruction, plan groups, and teach with confidence.
Clearer phonics data leads to clearer instructional decisions.
Start Using The D.I.G.The D.I.G. helps teachers move from uncertainty and time-consuming planning into a clearer, more confident way to respond to student needs.
The D.I.G. helps teachers move from scattered phonics data to clearer instructional decisions, so you can group students faster, teach more strategically, and feel more confident in your next steps.
I finally feel clear on what to teach, and why.
Before The D.I.G., I had data, but I didn’t feel confident using it. I was constantly second-guessing my groups and spending too much time trying to figure out next steps. Now I can actually see what my students need. My groups are more targeted, planning feels faster, and I feel much more confident in the instructional decisions I’m making.
The D.I.G. was built as a formative phonics assessment system that helps teachers understand what students know, identify what students need next, and make instructional decisions with greater confidence.
Student performance is evaluated against specific decoding skills rather than compared to the performance of other students.
The D.I.G. is designed to help teachers determine instructional priorities, not generate percentile rankings, national comparisons, or benchmarking reports.
The D.I.G. brings phonics assessment and instructional decision-making into one clear system, so you can move from data collection to targeted support with less friction.
Assess individual students or groups with a system designed to fit real classroom routines while protecting instructional time.
Quickly see which skills are secure, where support is needed, and what students are ready to learn next.
Spot class-wide patterns and targeted skill gaps so instructional decisions become clearer and more strategic.
Group students based on specific phonics needs rather than broad reading levels or unclear assessment scores.
Track growth across the year, monitor changes in skill development, and adjust instruction with confidence.
Keep student data, assessment results, and progress monitoring organized without piles of paper or scattered notes.
Built for teachers, specialists, coaches, schools, and teams.
The D.I.G. gives teachers a practical way to assess phonics skills, organize student data, and make instructional decisions without sorting through disconnected notes, spreadsheets, or paper forms.
Administer phonics assessments with less friction.
See strengths, needs, and class-wide patterns clearly.
Use the data to guide small groups and next steps.
Built for real classrooms, real schedules, and real instructional decisions.
A quick look at how The D.I.G. works, who it supports, and how it helps make phonics assessment easier to use.
Professional Learning & Partnerships
Maggie Thoreson, our Professional Development Specialist, helps schools and districts with bulk enrollment in our online classes, custom classes, and more. Tell her a little about what you have in mind, and she will reach out.
