Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Updated with a ? WJ-III achievement scores for DD5

Had DD5 tested today with the WJ-III achievement test. Super bummed there was a miscommunication about which subtests the tester has access to. I had said before making the appointment that I wanted to get Broad Reading, Broad Math, Broad Written Language, and Total Achievement scores, along with a full written report. The tester confirmed she could do that and gave me a flier that explained that the cost of testing included the administration of the "Standard Battery- 13 tests." (And I see now that the standard battery is actually 12 tests so maybe I should have done more research before jumping into this.)

Turns out she does not actually give everything in the standard battery because she doesn't have all of the tests- she has a mix of tests from the standard and extended battery that she thinks are most helpful for parents to get a picture of their child's achievement. (She mostly does testing for home schoolers). Anyway, this meant that she didn't have test 11, Writing Samples, which is used to calculate both the Broad Written Language and Total Achievement scores.

I'll post her scores here. The surprises for me were that her Broad Reading doesn't qualify for DYS, and that her Broad Math does. If you'd asked me this morning I would have said she'd be a shoo-in to get >99.9 on reading but probably between 90-95th percentile on math. Shows what I know. It was her comprehension that pulled the reading score down. Spelling/Writing Fluency were also surprisingly high to me. I didn't know she would be given the some of these subtests, like Academic Knowledge and Editing so I didn't have any expectations there.

Standard Score Percentile
Brief Achievement-------------163------------------- >99.9
Brief Reading-----------------152------------------- >99.9
Brief Math--------------------151------------------- >99.9
Broad Reading-----------------139-------------------- 99.6
Broad Math--------------------156------------------- >99.9
Basic Reading Skills----------148-------------------- 99.9
Basic Writing Skills----------160------------------- >99.9
Academic Skills---------------160------------------- >99.9
Academic Fluency--------------168------------------- >99.9
Math Calculation Skills-------148------------------- 99.9
Reading Comprehension---------140------------------- 99.6

Academic Knowledge------------138------------------ ?
Letter-Word Identification----153------------------ >99.9
Reading Fluency---------------154------------------ >99.9
Passage Comprehension---------137------------------ 99
Word Attack-------------------135------------------ ?
Reading Vocabulary------------127------------------ ?
Spelling----------------------148------------------ 99.9
Writing Fluency---------------139------------------ 99.5
Editing-----------------------200------------------ ?
Punctuation & Capitalization--132------------------ ?
Calculation-------------------139------------------ 99.6
Math Fluency------------------147------------------ 99.9
Applied Problems--------------164------------------ >99.9

Edited to add the final subtest we finally got:
Writing Samples---------------144------------------ 99.8

Your tester sounds really poor. I would insist on getting the full written report you contracted for, then send copies of everything she gave you with the application.

I think that for a five-year-old, even though you might have a different feeling about her math abilities, early advancement can really boost scores a lot on a test like the WJ-III Ach, but it might also be that you don't have an accurate yardstick when it comes to your daughter. Meanwhile, even though she might be really as advanced in reading as you think, it might not show up well on a standardized test for some reason. I wouldn't sweat the differences.

Well, I don't think there is a written report. I asked her about that again as I was dropping DD off and she just said, well I don't really do that, I just print out the reports from the program. So yeah maybe she wasn't the best choice of tester but it was very affordable and I'm hoping what we have is enough. I plan to contact DD's school to ask if they can give her the Writing Samples subtest to get those other scores DYS accepts and see if they also qualify. I'm not super hopeful that they would since writing doesn't seem to be that much of a strength but who knows.

I see now why you asked about complete copies. I'd follow up with Davidson to verify, but I'm guessing that the term may refer to all written test materials, since complete copies are to be sent in lieu of the full written report.

I feel strongly that you should demand a refund, and I'd threaten to enter a complaint-- and follow through-- if the tester doesn't promptly refund at least a good part of your money. You specifically told her what you needed in terms of both particular test results and the written report, she agreed, she gave you a written flyer promising certain subtests, and then failed to deliver. Maybe you could work out a deal where you wouldn't complain about her to any state agencies or sue her, she'd refund part of your money, and in return you'd get "complete copies" of whatever you need.

I'm not sure whether someone else can administer the Writing Samples subtest and have the results calculated together, but it's a creative solution to try. The problem would be, of course, that it wasn't part of the same testing, but maybe it will be close enough in time to work that way.

You only need one qualifying achievement score to have qualifying achievement, luckily. The Writing Samples subtest wouldn't alter the picture that much either way, so I think you will be roughly as well off either way, although I still think it's a decent idea to ask the school about administering it. The main things to focus on seem to be the achievement test "complete copies" and IQ testing or portfolio.

I got a really quick answer back from Davidson- they said the parent report I have should be enough but they'd let me know if it's not. DD's school is checking to see if someone can give her the Writing Samples subtest. (I know they wouldn't have given her the whole battery because they only do that to identify learning disabilities.)

Argh, I just looked in DD's take-home folder and the school sent home a paper saying they finally gave her Writing Samples a few days ago. Wish I'd seen this before the weekend so I could contact them or the tester we paid earlier so they could try to add in her scores & see what Broad Written Language and Total Achievement would be.

I wonder, does anybody here know if the Writing Samples score can just be plugged in with her other scores to get BWL and TA? Or is it not possible since this one subtest was taken later?

And one more question, hopefully somebody knows. Would we get different standard scores when using age norms vs grade norms? DD is a bit toward the young side for grade. Our paid tester gave us a report with grade norms and the school did the Writing Samples score based on age norms.