148 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT
(Continued)
•Revisions of Numerical Operations Items 49 and 56: Each of these items depicts a triangle with sides of indicated lengths. However, in the original version of the Response Booklet, the lengths do not represent logically possible conditions. In Item 49, the length of one side is greater than the sum of the lengths of the other two sides; and in Item 56, the lengths are not consistent with a right triangle. Replacement items were developed for these items and tested in a special study.
Starting and Discontinuing Subtests
The WIAT-III provides four indicators that examiners must use in order to administer subtests correctly. These include start and stop points, as well as reverse and discontinue rules.
Start and Stop Points
Start points are provided for every subtest on the WIAT-III. Some subtests have one start point for all grades (item 1), and other subtests have multiple start points, depending upon the grade level of the examinee. An examinee who has completed a grade but not yet started the next grade should begin at the level of the completed
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start point is much too easy or di - |
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Beginning Earlier Than the |
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examinee may begin a subtest at an ear- |
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lier or later start point. In most cases, |
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Grade-Appropriate Start Point |
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do not begin more than one start point |
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When testing an examinee who |
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up or down from the grade-appropriate |
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start point. |
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demonstrates significant limitations on |
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A stop point indicates the comple- |
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grade-level material, an examiner may |
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tion of an item set; hence, the only sub- |
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choose to begin earlier than the |
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grade-appropriate start point. Use |
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tests containing stop points are those |
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caution, however, if the examinee later |
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with item sets (i.e., Reading Compre- |
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responds correctly to the |
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hension and Oral Reading Fluency). |
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grade-appropriate start point item and |
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Stop points are labeled according to the |
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the next two items (meets basal |
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grade level(s) associated with each item |
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criteria). In this case, award full credit for |
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set. If the item set reverse rule is applied |
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items that precede the examinee’s |
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and the examinee is administered an |
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grade-appropriate start point—even if |
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item set other than his or her grade- |
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the examinee answered one or more |
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items incorrectly. The earlier items must |
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administers items up to the stop point |
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WIAT®–III 149
Reverse and Discontinue Rules
A reverse rule applies only when administration does not begin with item 1. The purpose of a reverse rule is to ensure that the easiest items administered are not above that examinee’s proficiency level. There are two types of reverse rules in the WIAT-III:
(1) the standard reverse rule and (2) the item set reverse rule.
The standard reverse rule specifies that if the examinee scores 0 points on any of the first three items given, the examiner administers earlier items in reverse order from the start point until three consecutive items are answered correctly (or until item 1 is administered). Alternatively, if the examinee receives credit for the first three items administered, the reverse rule is not applied, and the examiner awards credit for all preceding, unadministered items.
As shown in the Don’t Forget box, the item set reverse rule applies only to the two subtests containing item sets (Reading Comprehension and Oral Reading Fluency). The purpose of an item set reverse rule is to better ensure that the examinee is administered the most appropriate item set for his or her ability level. Item set start points are determined by an examinee grade of enrollment; however, the content within each item set may range from below grade level to slightly above grade level. For this reason, examiners are discouraged from beginning at an item set other than the examinee’s grade-appropriate item set. It is preferable to always begin at the grade-appropriate item set and follow the reverse rule to the most appropriate item set. However, if you believe that the examinee would perform111111111 poorly at the grade-appropriate item set and that beginning at that item set would discourage the examinee, it is permissible to begin one item set below the grade-appropriate item set.
Don’t Forget
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WIAT-III Reverse Rules by Subtest
No Reverse Rule |
Standard Reverse Rule |
Item Set Reverse Rule |
Receptive Vocabulary |
Oral Discourse Comprehension |
Reading Comprehension |
Early Reading Skills |
Math Problem Solving |
Oral Reading Fluency |
Alphabet Writing Fluency |
Numerical Operations |
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Sentence Composition |
Spelling |
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Word Reading |
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Essay Composition |
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Pseudoword Decoding |
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Oral Expression |
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Math Fluency |
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The discontinue rule is applied only to subtests with items of increasing di culty. To minimize testing time and to help prevent the examinee from becoming frustrated
150 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT
or discouraged, the examiner stops administration of a subtest when the item di - culty exceeds the examinee’s skill level. The WIAT-III uses the same discontinue rule across all applicable subtests: Discontinue administration of a subtest if the examinee receives 0 points on five consecutive items. If the examinee never receives 0 points on five consecutive items, continue administration until the last item of the subtest is administered.
Sample, Teaching, and Practice Items
Sample, teaching, and practice items are intended to communicate the nature of the task by showing how to respond correctly to an item (sample), giving feedback to explain why a response was incorrect (teaching), or presenting an unscored item that gives the examinee an opportunity to practice and receive feedback (practice). Most WIAT-III subtests do not require instructional feedback because they resemble familiar academic tasks. However, five subtests include sample, teaching, or practice items: the Receptive Vocabulary component of Listening Comprehension (teaching item), Early Reading Skills (teaching item), Sentence Composition (sample items), Pseudoword Decoding (practice items), and the Expressive Vocabulary and Sentence Repetition components of Oral Expression (teaching items). Instructions for administering the sample, teaching, and practice items are printed on the record form.
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Recording Responses
Recording demands for the examiner range from minimal to very extensive, depending on the subtest (see Don’t Forget box for an overview). Accurately recording responses during administration of WIAT-III subtests is very important—especially if you intend to conduct skills analysis after scoring the subtests is complete. On eight of the 16 subtests, the examinees write their responses, requiring minimal recording on the examiner’s part until scoring is conducted. Receptive Vocabulary, Expressive Vocabulary, Early Reading Skills, and Math Problem Solving require simple recording of either a zero for incorrect or a one for correct, or recording a one-word response. Reading Comprehension and Oral Discourse Comprehension require that the gist of the examinee’s responses are recorded with as much detail as possible, but the Oral Word Fluency and Sentence Repetition components of Oral Expression and Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) require that an examinee’s response (or errors, for Sentence Repetition and ORF) are recorded verbatim. Word Reading and Pseudoword Decoding require careful listening in order to correctly record the examinee’s responses. Mispronunciations on these two subtests should be recorded using the phoneme key provided on the record form or by writing the examinee’s response phonetically. Recording responses either by the phonetic key or by phonetically spelling the examinee’s response takes some practice. Chapter 3 of the WIAT-III Examiner’s Manual (Pearson, 2009b) describes in more detail how to record responses for use with the skills analysis system.
WIAT®–III 151
Don’t Forget
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Subtest Recording Demands
Recording Demands |
Subtest |
Audio Recording |
Minimal. Examinees |
Alphabet Writing Fluency |
No |
write their responses. |
Sentence Composition |
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Essay Composition |
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Numerical Operations |
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Spelling |
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Math Fluency subtests (Addition, |
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Subtraction, and Multiplication) |
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Score 0 or 1, record a |
Receptive Vocabulary (LC subtest) |
No |
brief response |
Expressive Vocabulary (OE subtest) |
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Early Reading Skills |
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Math Problem Solving |
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Record the gist of the |
Reading Comprehension |
Helpful, but not |
examinee’s response, |
Oral Discourse Comprehension |
typically needed |
including key details |
(LC subtest) |
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Verbatim recording of |
Oral Word Fluency (OE subtest) |
Yes, strongly |
entire response |
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recommended |
Verbatim recording of |
Letter & Word Recognition |
Yes, strongly |
errors or incorrect |
Nonsense Word Decoding |
recommended |
responses |
Sentence Repetition (OE subtest) |
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Oral Reading Fluency |
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Timing
Nine of the 16 WIAT-III subtests require timing with a stopwatch. The following subtests/components have strict time limits: Alphabet Writing Fluency, Essay Composition, Oral Word Fluency, Math Fluency—Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication. In these speeded tasks, the examinee’s performance within the specified time is the basis of the score. Word Reading (Speed Score) and Pseudoword Decoding (Speed Score) require timing to determine the item reached at 30 seconds, although the overall subtest score is based on accuracy rather than speed. Oral Reading Fluency requires examiners to record completion time, the time taken by the examinee to read each passage.
Queries and Prompts
Occasionally, examinees’ responses may be missing an essential detail or qualifier to be 100% correct. These responses will most commonly occur during Reading