KTEA™-3 93
Rapid Reference 2.7
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Substeps of Interpretive Step 5
A.Record the standard scores for the two composites or subtests of each comparison in the appropriate boxes of the back page of the KTEA-3 Analysis and Comparisons form.
B.Record the absolute value of the difference between them in the space between the boxes.
C.Determine whether the difference is statistically significant by referring to the appropriate table of the KTEA-3 Technical & Interpretive Manual (G.3 and G.4 for grade norms and G.7 and G.8 for age norms). Find the column for the smallest significance level in which the observed difference computed in Step B above is equal to or greater than the value in the table, and circle the appropriate number (<.05 or <.01) on the record form. Then draw a circle around the name of the composite or subtest having the higher score.
D.If the difference is statistically significant, refer again to the appropriate table in the manual (G.3 and G.4 for grade norms and G.7 and G.8 for age norms) to see
whether the difference is also unusually large, meaning that it occurred infrequently in the norm sample. Find the column for the smallest percentage frequency in which
the observed difference (computed in Step B) is equal to or greater than the value
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in the table, and circle the appropriate number (≤15%, ≤10%, or ≤5%) on the record form.
Subtest Floors and Ceilings
When interpreting subtest standard scores, it is important to consider whether there are floor or ceiling limitations. The theoretical standard score range for all subtests is 40 to 160, but not all subtests reach the minimum and maximum standard score.
Floor e ects occur when the lowest possible standard score is 71 or higher, which is less than 2 standard deviations below the mean. Floor e ects may be inevitable for certain subtests due to a restricted score range with any of the subtests. The distributions of certain subtest scores are slightly skewed in the lower ages and grades due to the natural floor that exists before skills are acquired (see the Don’t Forget box).
Don’t Forget
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Subtests With Floor E ects
The lowest possible standard scores on both Forms A and B of the following subtests will be less than 2 standard deviations below the mean (>70) at the lower ages due to the natural floor that exists before skills are acquired:
Phonological Processing
(ages 4:0–4:2)
Letter & Word Recognition
(ages 4:0–4:5)
Nonsense Word Decoding
(ages 6:0–7:3)
Silent Reading Fluency (ages 6:0–7:3)
Reading Vocabulary (ages 6:0–6:7)
94 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT
Don’t Forget
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Digital Resources
Tables that summarize the minimum and maximum subtest standard scores available for each KTEA-3 subtest are included as digital resources with this book.
Interpretation of Composites
Ceiling e ects occur when the highest possible standard score is 129 or lower, less than 2 standard deviations above the mean. Rapid Reference 3.9 reports the maximum possible subtest score by age. Refer to the Digital Resources for tables that report by age the lowest and highest possible score for each subtest.
Information in the next section, including tables 2.7–2.19, provides an overview of the constructs measured in each composite, possible interpretation for high and low scores, as well as related areas of cognitive processing. As suggested earlier in this chapter, all interpretations of composites should be made in the context of multiple pieces of supportive data.
Core Composites
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Table 2.7 Reading Composite
Subtests in |
Constructs |
Score |
Related Areas of |
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Composite |
Measured |
Interpretation |
Cognitive Processing |
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Letter & Word |
Overall reading |
High Score |
Phonological processing, |
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Recognition |
ability, |
Proficiency in reading |
orthographic processing, |
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including skills |
grammatical (morphology |
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Reading |
achievement. |
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in basic reading |
and syntax) processing, |
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Comprehension |
Low Score |
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as well as |
receptive vocabulary, |
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reading |
Weaknesses in basic |
verbal or listening |
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comprehension. |
reading skills, |
comprehension, verbal |
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language |
working memory, |
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comprehension |
processing speed, naming |
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skills, or a |
facility, long-term storage |
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combination |
and retrieval, and |
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of both. |
self-monitoring. |
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KTEA™-3 95 |
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Table 2.8 Math Composite |
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Subtests in |
Constructs |
Score |
Related Areas of |
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Composite |
Measured |
Interpretation |
Cognitive Processing |
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Math Computation |
Achievement in math |
High Score |
Working memory, |
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Math Concepts & |
computation and |
Well-developed |
processing speed, |
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problem solving. |
quantitative |
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Applications |
mathematical |
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abilities. |
reasoning, long-term |
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storage and retrieval, |
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Low Score |
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and self-monitoring. |
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Di culty in math |
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computation |
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and/or math |
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problem solving. |
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Subtests in |
Constructs |
Score |
Related Areas of |
Composite |
Measured |
Interpretation |
Cognitive Processing |
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Written Expression |
Achievement in |
High Score |
Phonological processing, |
Spelling |
expressive |
Proficiency in written |
orthographic processing, |
written |
grammatical (morphology |
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111111111 |
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language. |
expression and |
and syntax) processing, |
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spelling. |
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receptive vocabulary, |
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Low Score |
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verbal working memory or |
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Di culty written |
the orthographic loop of |
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expression and |
working memory, |
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spelling (see related |
processing speed, naming |
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areas of cognitive |
facility, long-term storage |
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processing for |
and retrieval, organization, |
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possible underlying |
and self-monitoring. |
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reasons). |
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Reading-Related Composites
Comparing performance on oral and silent reading tasks provides relevant information for diagnosis and intervention planning. Some examinees may score higher on Silent Reading Fluency relative to Word Recognition Fluency and Decoding Fluency.
96 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT
Silent Reading Fluency requires examinees to read well enough to understand the gist of what they read; however, it does not require the same level of articulation, precision, and accuracy that oral reading requires. As a result, examinees with good compensatory strategies may benefit from the contextual clues provided by reading connected text (as opposed to single words) and the reduced demands on precise and accurate articulation.
Table 2.10 Sound-Symbol Composite
Subtests in |
Constructs |
|
Score |
Related Areas of |
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Composite |
Measured |
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Interpretation |
Cognitive Processing |
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Phonological |
Phonological |
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High Score |
Phonological decoding |
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Processing |
processing and |
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Strong phonological |
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(the process of using |
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decoding skills, |
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grapheme-to-phoneme |
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Nonsense |
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processing and |
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which makes it |
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conversion rules to |
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Word |
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decoding skills. |
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particularly useful |
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sound out a word). |
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Decoding |
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Low Score |
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for documenting a |
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phonological core |
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Weaknesses in |
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deficit (a common |
phonological, |
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underlying cause |
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orthographic, |
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of dyslexia). |
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and/or |
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morphological |
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awareness; and |
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111111111 |
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the phonological |
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loop of working |
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memory. |
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Table 2.11 Decoding Composite |
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Subtests in |
Constructs |
Score |
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Related Areas of |
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Composite |
Measured |
Interpretation |
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Cognitive Processing |
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Letter & Word |
Broad basic reading |
High Score |
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Orthographic and |
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Recognition |
skills. Recognizing |
Well-developed basic |
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phonological |
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Nonsense |
and decoding real |
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reading skills. |
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processing, |
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(regular and |
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morphological |
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Word |
Low Score |
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irregular) words as |
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awareness; long-term |
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Decoding |
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well as decoding |
Weaknesses in phonological, |
storage and retrieval, |
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novel words. |
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orthographic, and/or |
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receptive vocabulary, |
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morphological awareness; |
and the phonological |
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long-term storage and |
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loop of working |
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retrieval, receptive |
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memory. |
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vocabulary, and the |
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phonological loop of working memory.
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KTEA™-3 97 |
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Table 2.12 Reading Fluency Composite |
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Subtests in |
Constructs |
Score |
Related Areas of |
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Composite |
Measured |
Interpretation |
Cognitive Processing |
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Silent Reading |
Reading automaticity |
High Score |
Orthographic and |
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Fluency |
across a range of |
Automaticity in basic |
phonological |
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conditions (all of |
processing, |
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Word |
reading skills. |
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which are |
morphological |
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Recognition |
Low Score |
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speeded): reading |
awareness; |
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Fluency |
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real and novel |
Weaknesses in |
long-term storage |
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Decoding |
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words, reading |
phonological, |
and retrieval, |
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Fluency |
words in isolation |
orthographic, and/or |
receptive vocabulary, |
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and in context, |
morphological- |
and the |
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and reading with |
syntactic processing, |
phonological loop of |
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both oral and |
long-term storage |
working memory. |
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silent responses.a |
and retrieval, |
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processing speed, naming facility, and the phonological loop of working memory.
aPikulski and Chard (2005) described fluency as a bridge from word recognition accuracy to
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text comprehension. Reading with fluency does not simply mean reading fast; rather, it refers to the ability to read with automaticity and appropriate prosody—and prosody implies comprehension (Rasinski, 2012). Prosody is not directly measured by the KTEA-3; however, the Silent Reading Fluency subtest requires a basic level of comprehension to perform well.
Table 2.13 Reading Understanding Composite
Subtests in |
Constructs |
Score |
Related Areas of |
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Composite |
Measured |
Interpretation |
Cognitive Processing |
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Reading |
Comprehension of |
High Score |
Acquired knowledge |
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Comprehension |
literal and |
Strong vocabulary |
and achievement: |
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inferential |
word recognition |
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Reading |
knowledge and ability |
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information |
and decoding, |
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Vocabulary |
to comprehend |
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from written |
vocabulary |
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written passages. |
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narrative and |
knowledge, |
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Low Score |
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identifying or |
language |
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inferring the |
Weakness in vocabulary |
comprehension. |
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meaning of |
knowledge or weak |
Verbal working |
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words that are |
ability to comprehend |
memory. |
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read. |
written passages |
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or both. |
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98 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT
Oral Composites
Table 2.14 Oral Language Composite
Subtests in |
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Constructs |
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Score |
Related Areas of |
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Composite |
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Measured |
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Interpretation |
Cognitive Processing |
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Oral Expression |
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Ability to |
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High Score |
Vocabulary knowledge, |
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Listening |
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comprehend literal Fluent and |
verbal working |
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Comprehension |
and inferential |
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well-developed |
memory, |
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information from |
discrimination of |
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Associational |
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ability to |
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oral narratives, |
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essential and |
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comprehend formal |
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Fluency |
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ability to orally |
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nonessential details. |
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speech and orally |
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describe a picture, |
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express oneself with |
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and ability to |
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appropriate |
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fluently name |
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pragmatics and |
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words in a |
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grammar. |
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semantic category. |
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Low Score |
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Oral expression |
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di culties in areas |
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of fluency, |
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pragmatics, and |
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111111111 grammar. Di culty |
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comprehending |
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relatively formal |
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speech. |
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Table 2.15 Oral Fluency Composite |
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Subtests in |
Constructs |
Score |
Related Areas of |
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Composite |
Measured |
Interpretation |
Cognitive Processing |
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Associational |
Ability to fluently |
High Score |
Processing speed, |
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Fluency |
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name words in a |
Strong rapid autonomic |
verbal fluency, verbal |
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semantic category |
working memory, |
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Object |
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naming skills and |
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and name pictured |
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cognitive flexibility, |
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Naming |
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fluent word naming. |
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object as quickly |
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and vocabulary |
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Facility |
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Low Score |
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as possible (Rapid |
knowledge. |
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Automatic |
Weak word retrieval |
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Naming). |
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ability or ine cient |
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retrieval of words from |
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long-term memory. |
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Note: Substantial research supports Rapid Automatic Naming, a skill needed for Object Naming Facility, to identify children at risk for reading and spelling di culties (Moats, 1993; Neuhaus & Swank, 2002; Savage Pillay, & Melidona, 2008; Stahl & Murray, 1994;
Wolf, 1991).