Yes. On the WJIIIACH, pencil skills are necessary for reading fluency, spelling, spelling of sounds, writing samples, writing fluency, punctuation & capitalization, math calculations, and math fluency. Of those subtests, all but spelling of sounds and punctuation & capitalization are required for Broad scores in their respective areas. Reading fluency, writing fluency, and math fluency are also timed, so not only fine motor skills, but also speed and efficiency are important. I don't recommend putting too much weight on these three subtests in young children, as they become tests of motor skills, not academic fluency.

BTW, anyone who is contemplating having the WJ done in the near future, know that a new edition of cognitive, achievement, and oral language (recently separated from the rest of the achievement) sections of the WJIV, is coming out at the end of the summer, which will have updated norms, and will have the capacity to calculate cluster scores without the fluency measures. Make sure to ask your examiner which edition they are using, and balance the value of the potential improvements in the test with the reduced experience with the test of the examiner. (Although administration is essentially unchanged, so I don't think that will be a big factor.)


...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...