Acquisition of the three R’s reading, `riting and `rithmetic, in primary school is essential for future academic success. The thrust of primary school education is skill building n literacy and numeracy. In later grades there is a shift I emphasis to the acquisition of academic knowledge. However, even in later grades, students require instructions in reading, spelling and comprehension strategies, albeit at different levels. Jeanne Chall’s pioneering model of reading stages is universal in its appeal and application and specifies how demands on a learner change over time. PRAYATNA, center for Educational assessment and intervention, has developed a battery of tests, based on developmental principles, to assess children’s English language skills at different levels, right from Kindergarten to Grade five. The center has also designed a vast corpus of teaching aids cover different aspects of language, namely reading, spelling , syntax, comprehension, vocabulary and written expression and are culturally sensitive to the needs of Indian children and curricula. This paper provides a developmental framework of different skills, how they can be assessed and how the assessment can be used to guide instruction.