WIAT-III Training Notes
Bozeman
10-6-10
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The item analysis feature is built right into the scoring CD
o Open the feature and just type in the item responses
 Very useful in identify specific needs/deficits
The WIAT-III can be used as more of a diagnostic skills test then an achievement test by
how you interpret and use the data
o Look at the specific subtest scores not composite scores
Composite scores are not critical for reporting or talking about because they really do not
provide any information. They are just a bunch of numbers thrown together
He never uses age equivalent scores and rarely uses grade equivalent scores because they
do not really provide information
o Ex of why: all a student needs to get a higher grade equivalent is to obtain one
more raw score point
o Sometimes the standard score will drop but the GE will increase
o Sometimes they can be useful when dealing with parents (as a last resort)
What can be more useful is the Growth Scale Values
o Use table D.4 in manual
 Plot on a graph to show the students growth (trend line) and the “aimline”
 The slope of the ‘trend line’ will show you what kind of progress the
student is making
o Growth Scale Values have more sound psychometric properties then Grade
equivalents
o This is a way to counter the dropping SS and to really show the progress
 Yes, even though the SS dropped and the student is not making progress at
the rate of the average student they are still making progress
The WIAT-III has an issue with a lack of floor and ceilings on certain subtests
o Ex: student score raw score of 0 and your score will be 90
o Ex: student gets all right but highest SS will be 109
o When the WIAT-II was revised to the WIAT-III the number of subtest with this
issues was reduced – this is an improvement in the test
On certain subtests the examiner can choose the start points
o Ex: if you know that the student does not read at grade level you can choose to
start at the grade level at which you think they read at
o However, if you choose an earlier start point and you judged wrong, and then the
student gets the basil and the next two items correct at their grade appropriate start
point you need to award al points for the previous items even if they got a few
wrong
Erasers are NOT allowed on certain subtests
o Tell the student to cross out the mistake
K-3 grade, if a student gets a poor score on “early reading skills” you need to take a
closer look
o PAL-II
Word Reading rate score is not good or accurate
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Sentence Composition
o Only option for grades 1-2
o But at the high school level: the examiner may want to choose between Essay
Composition and Sentence Composition given the time it takes
 He would choose Essay over Sentence
o When scoring this keep this in mind
 You should look for 2 pt sentences and 0’s pt sentences, if it is not a 2 or 0
score it as a 1
Essay Composition
o Can add WJ sentence writing subtest (the one where the student looks at the
pictures and then writes a sentence and they have 7 minutes to complete this) for a
good assessment of writing
o The composite score is composed of 50% word count and 50% Theme
Development and Test organization – Grammar and Mechanics are not included
in this score
 Will give all three areas as scores so look at all three pieces together not
just Essay Comp Composite score
o Subjective
 2 people should score this subtest individually and then compare
 If you give the student the benefit of the doubt, you may give the student
points that will hide the fact that they have a writing problem, (a problem
that you may already know they have given writing samples)
 Tough love is better
o Can be given using a keyboard
 Spell and grammar check needs to be turned off!
KTEA, WJ, WIAT all have different ways to assess writing, what this means is there is
no great way to measure writing and you need to bring good CBA data, samples from
teachers, into the evaluation process
o Additionally it may help to understand what the teachers you are working with
perceive as poor, average, and great writing.
 This can be done by asking for samples of these
Word Reading subtest- there may be a better assessment for this
o What you really should look for is sight recognition
 If they start to decode the words early that is a bad sign
Reading Comprehension
o Only have the student read one set
 Typically the student will only read three passages, but if you have to
reverse they may read more
o What we really want to find out from this subtest is can the student comprehend
the written language, we don’t want to see if they have trouble reading
 The passages were designed to be ‘easy reads’
 Its best that a set be chosen at the students reading level
o The scoring assist uses a weighted raw score table
 So if a 6th grade student is given the 3rd grade passages the computer will
take this into account when it scores it
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o The score given on the WIAT should be thought of as the students positional
comprehension and may not be reflective to what the classroom teacher is seeing
 This subtest tried to eliminate issues with word reading and decoding but
in a classroom a textbook this does not happen- the word reading and
decoding deficits may be what is affecting comprehension.
 Ex. Copy a page from the students textbook ask the student to read it and
to have them mark words they cannot read, don’t know, and/or don’t know
the meaning. Then you should black out all the words the student marked
 This will give you an idea as to what the student is really getting
from the reading- if you cannot read it because all the black-outs
then it is more a reading problem then a comprehension deficit
o Depending on the student- the WIAT-III’s reading comp subtest may be better
then the KTEA because on the KTEA mult. Choices are given and this can tip-off
a student
 On the WIAT it is oral
Oral Reading Fluency
o May be better than on other assessments because can use weighted scores which
mean can give passage close to the students reading level
o This is also the only thing High school’s can really use for a Fluency measure
because it has been normed for that age range
 Downfall- limited number of passages- no Form B
Math Fluency
o Good measure and does not take long
There is a goal writing software that is included
o He has not used it