Literacy Testing & Achievement Testing Educational Psychologists WIAT

Literacy Testing & Achievement Testing

Mayfair Consultants offers literacy testing and achievement assessment for children and adults, in addition to our broad offer of educational tutorials and interview guidance. Our team of educational psychologists in London administer an achievement test called WIAT-III, a most recent version of the assessment used to recognise learning disabilities. Our literacy testing options are delivered by qualified educational psychologists.

What is the achievement test?

An achievement test is a test of developed skills or knowledge. Standardised achievement tests are commonly used to measure skills achieved by a student in comparison to results obtained by others in the same grade, age etc.

Literacy and achievement tests most used in the UK are WIAT-III, KTEA-3 and WJ IV ACH. All the tests are individually administered to examinees.

The Weschsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition (WIAT-III) is a comprehensive achievement test. It assessed the academic achievement of children, students, and adults between 4 and 50 years old. The WIAT-III is used to identify academic strengths and weaknesses and, if repeated regularly, can be used to measure progress. The test can be administered by educational diagnosticians and school psychologists with suitable formal training and experience. The WIAT-III consists of 16 subsets to cover all 8 specific learning disability areas (Breaux et. Al, 2016).

Similarly, The Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement-Third Edition (KTEA-3) provides information on the examinee’s oral and reading fluency and phonological awareness. The Woodstock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievements (WJ IV ACH) is scored by a computer and cannot be marked by hand. It can be administered to children, students and adults between 2 and 90 years old. Just like WIAT-III, the test can be used for progress monitoring. Note that this test is also suitable for the assessment of intelligence and is accepted by high-IQ societies such as Intertel and Mensa.

What does the achievement test assess?

Note: WIAT-III and KTEA-3 do not assess intelligence, but WJ IV ACH does.

If you suspect your child may struggle with a learning disability, the WIAT-III will help to identify whether and in which areas your child needs additional support. Consult your school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator if they carry out the WIAT-III test. Alternatively, WIAT-III can also be administered privately by certified psychologists.

WIAT-III lasts between 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the examinee’s age. The WIAT-III is not testing intelligence. The test structure is explained below (note that the following was adapted from Rapid Reference 3.1 of the Essentials of KTEA-3 and WIAT-III assessment, (2016)):

Composite	Subset	Example Task
Oral Language Measures: listening vocabulary and comprehension, short-time memory, and flexibility of thought	Oral Expression	Say a word that best relates to a given picture and definition
	Listening Comprehension	Select a picture that best suit a word you will hear
Written Expression Measures: writing ability, sentence formulation skill, compositional writing skill	Alphabet Writing Fluency	Write letters of the alphabet in 30 seconds
	Sentence Composition	Combine 2 or 3 sentences into 1 and keep the meaning unchanged
	Essay Composition	Write an essay in 10 minutes
	Spelling	Spell words as dictated to you
Basic Reading Measures: speed and accuracy of word recognition and ability to decode nonsense words	Early Reading Skills	Given a word, say one that rhymes
	Word Reading	Read words from a list. The words increase in difficulty.
	Pseudoword Decoding	Read nonsense words from a list. The words increase in difficulty.
Reading Comprehension and Fluency Measures: reading comprehension, accuracy and fluency of reading aloud	Oral Reading Fluency	Read passages aloud and answer comprehension questions about each passage
	Reading Comprehension	Read passages silently and answer comprehension questions about each passage
Mathematics Measures: written math calculation skills	Numerical Operations	Calculate an answer to an algebraic problem
Mathematics Measures: written math calculation skills	Math Problem Solving	Solve a problem that focuses on the application of mathematics to a real-life scenario
Math fluency Measures: speed and accuracy of mathematical operations	Addition	Write answers to as many problems as possible in 60 seconds
	Subtraction
	Multiplication
	Division

After the assessment of children, a parent report is made. The report provides descriptions of the subsets and composites and summarizes the examinee’s performance in each section. The Total Achievement Score indicates overall academic functioning. Note: the results also consist of age-based standard scores and percentile ranks. All test results are standardised, making the tests suitable for comparisons between children and adults in the same age category.

Although WIAT-III, KTEA-3 and WJ IV ACH are very similar, there are some important differences to keep in mind. KTEA-3 contains 18 tests. In addition to composite and subsets scores, KTEA-3 provides an error analysis which might be useful in planning support for the child and advising on the next steps.

WJ IV ACH contains 20 tests for measuring four domains: reading, written language, mathematics, and academic knowledge. Although similar to WIAT-III, the test score is calculated by a computer and cannot be marked by hand, hence it is difficult for the evaluator to verify the accuracy of the scores. It is often pointed out that the test should be supplemented by writing tests that require longer writing samples. It can, however, be used for children as young as 2 and adults up to 90 years old.

How are the results of the achievement test used?

KTEA-3 and WIAT-III results can be used by parents and school counsellors. They help to understand what special arrangements are needed to support a student affected by a learning disability. The results are also suitable for exam access arrangements such as Extra Time. For this purpose, an appropriately qualified professional must perform assessments for public examinations within 26 months of the exam date.

In addition to WIAT-III, you can also choose to conduct a WISC-V, a well-established intelligence test for children. WISC-V helps to determine if your child uses their full intellectual potential at school and aids in choosing suitable access arrangements if needed (refer to our page on IQ tests here)

The WJ-IV ACH score can be used as proof of intelligence and is accepted by high-IQ societies such as Intertel and Mensa.

How to prepare for the achievement & literacy testing?

No preparation is necessary for the assessment. If your child is taking the assessment, good sleep and breakfast before the test will certainly be helpful.

Achievement Testing Services in London at Mayfair Consultants

Mayfair Consultants offers WIAT-III tests, administered by our educational psychologists in our London office.

Our team consists of exceptionally skilled specialists, with many holding postgraduate degrees, ready to support your child at each step of the way. If you would like to arrange the test or have any questions about our services please call us on tel: +44 (0) 207 665 6606 or you can send us an email via our contact form.

References:

Breaux, Kristina C., and Elizabeth O. Lichtenberg. Essentials of KTEA-3 and WIAT-III Assessment. Somerset, 2016. Essentials of Psychological Assessment Ser. Web.