Educational Assessment of
Children
Melissa Stern
PSY 4930
October 3, 2006
Academic Achievement
Skills children learn through direct
intervention or instruction
Educational assessment or achievement is a
method of testing these skills
Usually includes areas such as:
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Reading
Spelling
Writing
Math
Vocabulary
Why is it important to
measure achievement??
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
Specific learning disabilities are defined
as:
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a severe discrepancy between achievement
and intellectual ability
PL 94-142
What is a “severe”
discrepancy?
A constant 2-year discrepancy between
grade level and achievement
A graduated formulation of
underachievement
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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
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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
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Brief
One subtest for each subject area
Useful to decide whether comprehensive tests are
necessary
Examples:
Wide Range Achievement Test-3
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Screener
Types of Achievement Tests
Comprehensive tests
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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
Passage
Comprehension
Reading
Fluency
Site Recognition
Letter ID
Math
Writing
Problem
Solving
Constructing Text
Estimation
Syntax
Measures,
Time, $
Numeration
Capitalization,
punctuation
Letter Formation
Single-subject vs.
Multiple-subject Tests
Single-subject tests include several subtests
to measure different skills within one domain
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Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised
Multiple-subject tests provide info on at least
3 basic school subjects
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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 age
Specifically created to be used in conjunction
with the WISC
30-60 minutes to administer
8 subtests:
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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 years
22 tests
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12 in standard battery
Word attack is in the extended battery and is
commonly given (phonetic analysis)
Standardized for use with WJ III-COG
Long 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 disability
Administering these tests, along with an
interview can be expensive and time
consuming
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4-5 hours
$1,000+