Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment DYS and WJ Achievement Test question

I am wondering at what age it becomes possible to get a DYS qualifying score via the WJ Achievement test.

The criteria for DYS are:
Standard score 145+ on at least two of the following:

Broad Reading
Broad Math
Broad Written Language
Total Achievement

I know that 4 years olds cannot get a 145 - is it possible for a 5 year old or 6 year old to score this high?

On the WJIII Achievement, you can obtain Broad Reading scores at age 6.5, Broad Math at 7.5, and Broad Written Language at 8.0. Those are the minimum ages for the respective fluency measures, but not necessarily the recommended ages for reliability.

On the WJIV Achievement, I believe the minimum age is 7 across the board, for a similar reason.

4 and 5 year-olds can score very high, but cannot obtain Broad Reading/Math/Written Language scores. Instead, they obtain Brief Reading/Mathematics/Written Language (WJIII) or just Reading/Mathematics/Written Language (WJIV) composite scores.

Thanks aeh (as always!). Can a 5 or 6 year old qualify for DYS with any of the other 2 achievement tests? We did an WPSSI-IV before DS turned 4 so we can't use that for DYS anymore. If we spend money on more testing I would rather do achievement testing to get the feedback on how school is going.

Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement -
Second or Third Edition (KTEA-II or KTEA-3)
**Standard score 145+ on at least two of the following:

Reading Composite
Math Composite
Written Language Composite
Comprehensive Achievement Composite

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - Third
Edition (WIAT - III)

** Standard score 145+ on at least two of the following:
Total Reading Composite
Mathematics Composite
Written Expression Composite
Total Achievement Composite

A 5 or 6 year-old can obtain the following Composites:

WIAT-III

Total Reading (6 only)
Written Expression
Mathematics
Total Achievement

KTEA-3

Reading
Mathematics
Written Language
Academic Skills Battery (total)

As always, aeh is correct.

Just after he turned 6, DS took the WIAT and had qualifying composites in Reading and Math. I do not think that Written Expression was administered and he did not get a "Total Achievement" composite. Still, along with qualifying IQ (he applied under the old system), his qualifying reading and math scores were sufficient for DYS. HTH!