Educational Assessment of Children

Melissa SternPSY 4930October 3, 2006

Academic Achievement

Skills children learn through direct intervention or instructionEducational assessment or achievement is a method of testing these skillsUsually includes areas such as: Reading Spelling Writing Math Vocabulary

Why is it important to measure achievement??

Specific learning disabilities are defined as: a severe discrepancy between

achievement and intellectual abilityPL 94-142

We conceptualize specific learning disabilities as a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using written or spoken language which can manifest in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or complete mathematical calculations. Achievement tests capture these manifestations

What is a “severe” discrepancy?

A constant 2-year discrepancy between grade level and achievement A graduated formulation of underachievement 1 year for 1st and 2nd grade 1.5 years for 3rd and 4th grade 2 years for 5th-8th grade 3 years for 9th-12th grade

Severe Discrepancy

A discrepancy of at least 1 SD between standard scores for IQ and achievement This is one of the most common

methods of testing for a learning disability -bias in this method of discrepancy

testing

Types of Achievement Tests

Screening tests Brief One subtest for each subject area Useful to decide whether comprehensive

tests are necessary Examples:

Wide Range Achievement Test-3Wechsler Individual Achievement

Test-Screener

Types of Achievement Tests

Comprehensive tests Assess three or more subjects taught

in school At least 2 subtests from each area Assess lower and higher cognitive

skills in each area

Examples of Achievement Areas

Reading Math Writing

PassageComprehension

Problem Solving

Constructing Text

Reading Fluency

Estimation Syntax

Site Recognition

Measures, Time, $

Capitalization, punctuation

Letter ID Numeration

Letter Formation

Single-subject vs. Multiple-subject Tests

Single-subject tests include several subtests to measure different skills within one domain Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised

Multiple-subject tests provide info on at least 3 basic school subjects Psychologists generally use these Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement Wechsler Individual Achievement Test

Better to begin with multiple subjects tests and move to single-subject

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)

For children 5-19 years of ageSpecifically created to be used in conjunction with the WISC30-60 minutes to administer8 subtests:

Basic reading Reading comprehension Math reasoning Numerical Operations Listening Comprehension Oral Expression Spelling Written Expression

WIAT: Pros and Cons

Pros—norms based on same sample on which WISC was normed Cons--Some subjective scoring on four of the subtests

Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement

For ages 2-90 years22 tests 12 in standard battery Word attack is in the extended battery and

is commonly given (phonetic analysis)

Standardized for use with WJ III-COGLong Administration time (several hours depending on how much of the extended battery is included)

A final note on intellectual and educational assessment

IQ and achievement scores are necessary for the diagnosis of a learning disabilityAdministering these tests, along with an interview can be expensive and time consuming 4-5 hours $1,000+