STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III 327

although pocket-size audio recorders are now readily available. Given that the Oral Discourse Comprehension subtest requires the use of a separate CD player, examiners should transport to testing sessions both a CD player and an audio recorder or a machine with both functions.

FINAL COMMENT

Although we have identified some concerns with the new WIAT-III, we definitely consider it a significant improvement over the WIAT-II and, on balance, find it to be a very valuable instrument with significant strengths.

CONTENT COVERAGE OF THE KTEA-3 AND WIAT-III

Perhaps the most striking di erence between the WIAT-III and KTEA-3 is the approach to assessing written expression. In addition to the Spelling subtest, which is included in the written language composite on both instruments, the KTEA-3 o ers a single Written Expression subtest, which for all but the youngest examinees requires the examinee to write missing letters, words, punctuation, and sentences according to the examiner’s instructions given while the examiner reads a multi-page story book with the examinee. At the end, the examinee writes a summary of the entire story. Many, but not all, examiners find this format to be very e ective and consider it a strength of the KTEA-3. However,111111111 although there is a detailed error analysis, the Written Expression subtest yields only a single normative score. The WIAT-III provides Alphabet Writing Fluency for grades K through 2 and, for grades 3 through 12+, includes a Sentence Composition subtest with separate scores for Sentence Combining and Sentence Building. The WIAT-III Essay Composition subtest for grades 3 through 12+ involves a single, 10-minute essay with very specific instructions. The essay yields a total subtest score based on standard scores for Word Count and for Theme Development and Text Organization. There is also an optional standard score for Grammar and Mechanics based on the highly e ective measure of Correct Word Sequences minus Incorrect Word Sequences (Breaux & Frey, 2009). Some examiners find the WIAT-III Written Expression subtests to be extremely useful. Others dislike or have di culty mastering the Essay Composition scoring even with the aid of the WIAT-III Examiner’s Manual (Pearson, 2009b), WIAT–III Essay Composition: “Quick Score” for Theme Development and Text Organization

(Pearson, 2010b), the clear and e cient WIAT-III Scoring Tutorial (Lichtenberger & Breaux, 2010), and helpful archived Webinars (Pearson, n.d.). Examiners, in our experience, tend to have very strong opinions about and preferences between the KTEA-3 and WIAT-III measures of written expression.

The WIAT-III and KTEA-3 provide very broad coverage of academic achievement and cover many of the same achievement domains, but there are important di erences between the two instruments. Rapid Reference 5.3 attempts to show those di erences by listing the measures that provide normative scores on each instrument. Examiners

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

may want to compare the skill coverage of the KTEA-3 and WIAT-III before selecting one test or the other for a particular examinee. For example, both instruments provide a normative score for math fluency, but only the WIAT-III provides separate scores for addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Both instruments include assessment of foundation reading skills, but only the KTEA-3 o ers separate scores for phonological processing, associational fluency, object naming facility, and letter naming fluency. Both instruments assess reading fluency, but the WIAT-III gives scores for both rate and accuracy as well as total fluency for reading passages and a composite reading comprehension and fluency score, while the KTEA-3 gives scores for speed of accurately reading lists of words and lists of nonsense words, for speed of silently reading sentences, and a reading fluency composite. A thoughtful examiner will often have a good reason for selecting one instrument or the other on the basis of the examinee’s history and the referral questions and concerns.

Rapid Reference 5.3

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Scored Measures on the KTEA-3 and WIAT-III

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III 329

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

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TEST YOURSELF

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1.The revised discontinue rules for the WIAT-III are

(a)A strength because they provide a consistent discontinuation rule of four consecutive failures for most subtests.

(b)A strength because they provide a flexible discontinuation rule based on the examinee’s overall level22222222111111111 of performance.

(c)A weakness because they provide a consistent discontinuation rule of four consecutive failures for most subtests.

(d)A weakness because they provide a flexible discontinuation rule based on the examinee’s overall level of performance.

2.A strength of the WIAT-III scoring program is that it offers which of the following among its useful features?

(a)An enhanced skill analysis for core subtests.

(b)Intervention goal statements to assist with IEP development.

(c)A research-supported pattern of strengths and weaknesses discrepancy analysis.

(d)All of the above.

3.The specification of an audio recorder for recording the student’s oral responses to several WIAT-III subtests is

(a)A strength because the audio recorder is included in the WIAT-III kit.

(b)A strength because an accurate record of responses is essential for correct scoring.

(c)A weakness because it adds to the equipment the examiner must schlep around.

(d)a and b.

(e)a and c.

(f)b and c.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III 331

4.A strength of the KTEA-3 is that, unlike error analyses on many tests, the categories of weakness-average-strength are based on the test norms.

(a)True

(b)False

5.Having subtests and/or composites that measure all eight areas of achievement specified by IDEA legislation as important for identifying and classifying specific learning disabilities is a strength of

(a)The WIAT-III.

(b)The KTEA-3.

(c)Both the WIAT-III and KTEA-3.

(d)Neither the WIAT-III nor the KTEA-3.

6.Norms for examinees of ages 26 through 50 is a strength of

(a)The WIAT-III.

(b)The KTEA-3.

(c)Both the WIAT-III and KTEA-3.

(d)Neither the WIAT-III nor the KTEA-3.

7.Correlations of KTEA-3 subtest scores with the WISC-V (for calculating predicted achievement) are found in the technical manual for

(a)The KTEA-3.

(c)Both tests.

(d)Neither test; more research is needed.

8.Correlations of WIAT-III subtest and composite scores with KTEA-3 subtest and composite scores are found in the technical manual for

(a)The KTEA-3.

(b)The WIAT-III.

(c)Both tests.

(d)Neither test; this is a weakness of both tests.

9.Availability of alternate forms for retesting is a strength of

(a)The KTEA-3.

(b)The WIAT-III.

(c)Both tests.

(d)Neither test.

10.Separate subtest scores for sentence composition and essay composition is a strength of

(a)The KTEA-3.

(b)The WIAT-III.

(c)Both tests.

(d)Neither test.

332ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT

11.Composite scores for Expression (oral and written) and for Comprehension (oral and written) are a strength of

(a)The KTEA-3.

(b)The WIAT-III.

(c)Both tests.

(d)Neither test.

12.Confidence bands for age-equivalent and grade-equivalent scores can be calculated, but are also directly available in tables in the technical manual of

(a)The KTEA-3.

(b)The WIAT-III.

(c)Both tests.

(d)Neither test.

13.A state-of-the-art norming sample is a strength of

(a)The KTEA-3.

(b)The WIAT-III.

(c)Both tests.

(d)Neither test.

14.A weakness is that oral language subtests have lower reliability than most other subtests on

(b)The WIAT-III.

(c)Both tests.

(d)Neither test.

Answers: 1. a; 2. d; 3. f; 4. a; 5. c; 6. a; 7. b; 8. a; 9. a; 10. b; 11. a; 12. d; 13. c; 14. c.