Assessment of Academic
Achievement
Chapter Eight
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Understand the purpose of achievement tests
Understand why individually administered
achievement tests are preferred rather than
group achievement tests
Discuss oral reading and miscues associated
with it
Understand the different types of reading
comprehension
Understand word recognition and word attack
skills
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Thoroughly evaluate the various reading
assessment measures
Understand written composition and the tests
associated with it
Differentiate between mathematics and
arithmetic
Identify and thoroughly evaluate the various
arithmetic tests
Identify and thoroughly tests that measure
spelling ability
Identify and thoroughly evaluate the various
comprehensive achievement tests
ACHIEVEMENT TESTS
• Tests designed to assess the academic
progress of a student.
• When doing an evaluation for
identification and/or placement in
special education, achievement tests
will be individually administered.
READING
ORAL READING
Common errors seen on oral
reading tests…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Omissions
Insertion
Substitution
Gross mispronunciation of a word
Hesitation
Inversion
Disregard of punctuation
Analyzing Oral Reading Miscues
An oral reading error is often referred to
as a miscue.
Analysis of miscues can be of two types:
1. Quantitative miscues
2. Qualitative miscues
Miscues are significant when…
• The meaning of the sentence is altered
and the student does not correct the
miscue.
• A nonword is used in place of a word
• A partial word is substituted for the word
or phrase
• A word is pronounced for the student
Miscues are not significant when…
• The meaning of the sentences undergoes
no change or minimal change
• They are self-corrected by the student
• They are applicable in the student’s
dialect
• They are later read correctly in the same
passage
READING COMPREHENSION
Diagnostic testing often assess six kinds of reading
comprehension skills:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Literal comprehension
Inferential comprehension
Listening comprehension
Critical comprehension
Affective comprehension
Lexical comprehension
Word Recognition Skills
The purpose of word
recognition tests are to
explore the student’s
ability with respect to sight
vocabulary.
Word Attack Skills
Word attack skills are those
used to derive meaning and/or
pronunciation of a word through
context clues, structural
analysis, or phonics.
READING ASSESSMENT
MEASURES
• Gates-MacGinitie Silent Reading Tests,
4th Edition
• Gray Oral Reading Test- 3 (GORT-3)
• Durrell Analysis or Reading Difficulty
(DARD)
• Gates-McKillop-Horowitz Reading
Diagnostic Tests
READING ASSESSMENT
MEASURES
• Gilmore Oral Reading Test
• Slosson Oral Reading Test- Revised
(SORT-R)
• Spache Diagnostic Reading Scales (DRS)
• Woodcock Reading Mastery Test- Revised
(WRMT-R)
• Test of Reading Comprehension, 3rd
Edition (TORC-3)
WRITTEN
EXPRESSION
Handwriting refers to the actual motor
activity that is involved in writing.
Most students are taught manuscript
(printing) initially and then move to cursive
writing (script) in later grades.
Handwriting skills are usually measured
through the use of informal assessment
measures.
The term writing refers to a
variety of interrelated
graphic skills including:
• Composition
• Spelling
• Handwriting
TESTS OF WRITTEN
LANGUAGE
• Test of Early Written Language- 2
(TEWL-2)
• Test of Written Language- 3 (TOWL-3)
• Test of Written Expression (TOWE)
• Written Expression Scale (WES)
• Writing Process Test (WPT)
• Mather-Woodcock Group Writing Tests
(MWGWT)
MATH
Mathematics refers to the
study of numbers and their
relationships to time, space,
volume and geometry.
Arithmetic refers to the
operations or computations
performed.
Three types of classifications
are involved in diagnostic
math tests:
• Content
• Operations
• Applications
Analysis & Interpretation of
Math Skills
Four error types in computational
analysis:
1. Incorrect operation
2. Incorrect number fact
3. Incorrect algorithm
4. Random error
ASSESSMENT OF
MATHEMATICAL ABILITIES
• Key Math Diagnostic Arithmetic TestsRevised (Key Math-R)
• Test of Early Mathematics Ability- 2 (TEMA-2)
• Test of Mathematical Abilities- 2 (TOMA-2)
• Diagnostic Mathematics
Inventory/Mathematics Systems (DMI/MS)
• Stanford Diagnostic Mathematical Test- 4
(SDMT-4)
SPELLING
Spelling is the ability to
use letters to construct
words in accordance
with accepted usage.
Analysis of Spelling Skills
Several questions should be addressed before one begins
to analyze the results of the spelling subtest:
• Does the child have sufficient mental
ability to learn to spell?
• Are the child’s hearing, speech and
vision adequate?
• What are the child’s general level of
spelling ability according to teacher
comments, past evaluations, or
standardized tests?
Spelling Errors Primarily Due
to Auditory or Visual Channel
Deficits
Certain spelling errors may be evident in students
with certain auditory channel deficits:
• Auditory discrimination problems or cultural
problems
• Auditory discrimination problems
• Auditory acuity or discrimination problems
• Auditory-visual association
• Auditory-visual associative memory
Certain spelling errors may be evident
in students with certain visual channel
deficits:
•
•
•
•
Visual memory problems
Visual memory sequence
Visual discrimination problems
Visual memory
ASSESSMENT OF SPELLING
• Diagnostic Word Patterns
• Test of Written Spelling- 4
(TWS-4)
• Spellmaster Assessment and
Teaching Systems (SATS)
COMPREHENSIVE TESTS
• Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Basic
Skills
• Kaufman Tests of Educational
Achievement (KTEA)
• Peabody Individual Achievement TestRevised (PIAT-R)
• Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-2
(WIAT-2)
COMPREHENSIVE TESTS
• Wide Range Achievement Test-3
(WRAT-3)
• Woodcock-Johnson Achievement TestIII (WJ-III)
• Test of Academic Achievement SkillsRevised (TAAS-R)
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Understand the purpose of achievement tests
Understand why individually administered
achievement tests are preferred rather than
group achievement tests
Discuss oral reading and miscues associated
with it
Understand the different types of reading
comprehension
Understand word recognition and word attack
skills
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Thoroughly evaluate the various reading
assessment measures
Understand written composition and the tests
associated with it
Differentiate between mathematics and
arithmetic
Identify and thoroughly evaluate the various
arithmetic tests
Identify and thoroughly tests that measure
spelling ability
Identify and thoroughly evaluate the various
comprehensive achievement tests
THE END