136 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT

Materials

The WIAT-III kit components di er from the WIAT-II in three important ways:

(1) Only one stimulus book is required to administer the WIAT-III, and the stimulus book contains stimuli on both sides of the pages. During administration, both examiner and examinee view the same side of the stimulus book. (2) All administration directions are included in the record form rather than the stimulus book. (3) Two new components are included: the Oral Reading Fluency booklet and the Audio CD.

Scoring and Reporting

Automated scoring of the WIAT-III is currently available on Q-global, Pearson’s web-based scoring and reporting platform. Q-global is automatically updated as new editions of tests release and new features become available. When the WIAT-III originally published in 2009, the kit included a Scoring Assistant CD for automated scoring and reporting. The original Scoring Assistant may still be used by customers, although it is no longer commercially available and will not be updated to include AAD and PSW analyses with new editions of cognitive ability tests.

DESCRIPTION OF THE WIAT-III

The WIAT-III subtests combine to form eight composites, as shown in Figures 3.1

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and 3.2. The WIAT-III Examiner’s Manual (2009b) does not di erentiate composites as part of a core or supplemental battery because examiners are encouraged to utilize the WIAT-III within a flexible, customized approach to assessment. For examiners who prefer to design a comprehensive assessment around a core academic battery, four of the WIAT-III composites are typically used as the core battery (Oral Language, Total Reading, Written Expression, and Mathematics) while the remaining three may be considered supplemental (Basic Reading, Reading Comprehension and Fluency, and Math Fluency).

As a broad measure of overall achievement, the Total Achievement composite is typically used as an indicator of an examinee’s level of achievement in all academic areas relative to his or her ageor grade-matched peers. The 13 subtests that correspond to the 8 IDEA areas of achievement (as shown in Table 3.1) also contribute to the Total Achievement composite, although not at every administration grade level. With the exception of the three Math Fluency subtests, every subtest contributes to the Total Achievement composite. Also, notice that the subtest administration grade levels do not always correspond to the composite grade levels. For example, Alphabet Writing Fluency is administered at grades Pre-K through 3 but contributes only to the Written Expression composite for grades K through 2 and contributes only to the Total Achievement composite for grades Pre-K through 1. Rapid Reference 3.2 displays the Total Achievement composite subtests by grade level.

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Rapid Reference 3.2

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A total of 13 subtests contribute to the Total Achievement composite, but at any given grade level this composite includes between five and 11 subtests. Three subtests are included in the Total Achievement composite at every grade/age: Listening Comprehension, Oral Expression, and Math Problem Solving. The other 10 subtests are restricted to younger or older examinees due to developmental or curricular limitations.

Total Achievement Composite by Grade

Don’t Forget

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The biggest difference between the WIAT-III and KTEA-3 overall achievement composites is that the WIAT-III Total Achievement composite includes oral language subtests, whereas the KTEA-3 Academic Skills Battery composite does not. The correlation between the WIAT-III Total Achievement composite and the KTEA-3 Academic Skills Battery composite range is .95 (Pearson, 2014b). The number of subtests and approximate administration times for each overall composite is included in the table below.

Comparing Overall Achievement Composites

138 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT

Don’t Forget

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When to Use the Reading Comprehension and Fluency Composite

Most of the WIAT-III composites refer to one primary achievement area. However, the Reading Comprehension and Fluency composite is different in that it combines two reading domains into one composite score. This composite score indicates how well an examinee reads with fluency and comprehension. For some examinees, comprehension and fluency performance are positively related. The Reading Comprehension and Fluency composite is most useful for estimating these reading skills when an examinee performs similarly across the Reading Comprehension and Oral Reading Fluency subtests.

Subtests With Component Scores

Four of the WIAT-III subtests are made up of two or three subtest components, as shown in Table 3.2. These subtests include Listening Comprehension, Oral Expression, Sentence Composition, and Essay Composition. In addition to the overall subtest standard score, standard scores are provided for each component of the subtest. Subtest component standard scores allow practitioners to evaluate strengths and weak-

Mapping WIAT-III to Common Core State Standards

The WIAT-III was not designed as a measure of Common Core State Standards (CCSS; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School O cers, 2010). Rather, the WIAT-III is intended for use in all 50 states, regardless of whether a state has adopted or rejected CCSS.

For practitioners interested in mapping the WIAT-III to CCSS, the tables in Rapid Reference 3.3 show that the WIAT-III measures many of the skills identified by the CCSS as important for meeting grade level expectations. The WIAT-III was primarily

Table 3.2 WIAT-III Subtests With Component Scores

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designed to measure skills that are clinically sensitive, some of which may also correspond to CCSS. Certain CCSS are not measured by the WIAT-III because the standards are not relevant to the purpose and intended use of the WIAT-III, or the skill would be di cult to measure with a norm-referenced clinical assessment.

Rapid Reference 3.3

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WIAT-III and the Common Core State Standards

WIAT-III Content Map to English Language Arts CCSS

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140 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT

(Continued)

Phonics and Word

Recognition

Vocabulary Acquisition

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and Use

Spelling

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Conventions of Standard

English

Note: If a cell is shaded, no Common Core State Standard is available for that domain at that grade level.

WIAT-III Content Map to Mathematics CCSS