Achievement Tests Designed to measure the skills and abilities acquired through direct instruction or intervention. Can measure both lower order and high order cognitive processes. Reading (from higher to lower order) Passage Comprehension Reading Fluency Sight Recognition Word Attack Skills Letter Identification

Types of Achievement Tests: Screening Tests Brief measures of achievement that typically assess lower levels of cognition WRAT-3 (1993) basic reading, mathematics, spelling 5 to 75 years 15-30 minutes WIAT Screener (1992) basic reading, mathematics reasoning, spelling 5 to 19 years 30-60 minutes

Types of Achievement Tests: Comprehensive Tests To be classified as comprehensive: Assess 3 or more subject areas Include at least 2 different subtests for each subject area Assess both lower and higher levels of cognitive skills within each subject area. Example: Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement III (2001)

Administering the WJ-III Standard Battery Appropriate for ages 2 to 90 years. Approximately 60-70 minutes to administer (Writing samples takes 15-20 minutes to administer and all other subtests take 5-10 minutes). Materials needed: pencil with eraser, tape recorder, stop watch, testing easels. Examiner should sit diagonally across from examinee. Order of administration – generally follow the prescribed order, but it is o.k. to change order if needed.

Administering the WJ III Standard Battery: Basal and Ceiling Rules Basal and ceiling rules differ across subtests. Some subtests define the basal as the six lowest consecutive items administered that were passed. When stimulus material is visible on the examinee’s page, administer the entire page even if the ceiling has been reached. If the examinee answers an item correctly past the point of obtaining a ceiling, continue testing until a new ceiling is reached.

WJ-III Broad Reading Cluster Measures reading decoding, reading speed, and using syntactic and semantic cueing systems when reading for meaning. Tests: Letter-Word Identification Reading Fluency Passage Comprehension

WJ-III Broad Math Cluster Measures math achievement including problem solving, number facility, automaticity with facts and reasoning. Tests: Math Calculation Math Fluency Applied Problems

WJ-III Broad Written Language Cluster Measures spelling, writing rate, and written expression Tests: Spelling Writing Fluency Writing Samples

WJ-III Broad Oral Language Cluster Measures linguistic competency, listening ability, and oral comprehension. Tests: Story Recall Understanding Directions

Cross Academic Clusters Academic Skills Letter-Word Identification Spelling Math Calculation Academic Fluency Reading Fluency Writing Fluency Math Fluency Academic Applications Passage Comprehension Applied Problems Writing Sample

Levels of Interpretation Qualitative Level of Development Age or grade equivalents

Levels of Interpretation (cont.) Degree of Proficiency Relative Proficiency Index RPI can differ from standard scores or percentiles because std. scores and percentiles are a rank order and do not take into account the examinee’s proficiency with a task compared to other’s his/her age/grade. Age/Grade Profiles Instructional Zone is a special application of the RPI Range of easy (96/90) to difficult (75/90)

Levels of Interpretation (cont.) Comparison with Peers Percentile Rank Standard Scores Standard Error of Measurement 68% confidence interval; 95% by doubling SEM

Classification of Standard Scores and Percentile Ranks Std. Score Range Percentile Rank Range WJ III Classification 131 and above 98-99.9 Very superior 121 to 130 92 to 97 Superior 111 to 120 76 to 91 High Average 90 to 110 25 to 75 Average 80 to 89 9 to 24 Low Average 70 to 79 3 to 8 Low 69 and below 0.1 to 2 Very Low

Interpretation of the Standard Score & Percentile Rank Confidence Intervals If the confidence bands for any two tests of clusters overlap at all, assume that no difference exists between the subject’s two abilities. If a separation exists between the ends of two test bands that is less than the width of the wider of the two bands, assume that a possible difference exists between the subject’s two abilities. If the separation between the two bands is greater than the width of the wider band, assume that a real difference exists between the two abilities.