Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment KTEA-3 vs. WIAT-IV vs. WJ-IV Ach

Good morning!
I am trying to understand the difference between these tests for an 11-year-old taking Calculus at university(strong in school and competitive math). When tested four years back, the child's Reading Composite, Math composite, and Reading Comprehension(under Comprehension Composite) were all in the very high range, except the Letter and word recognition, which was in the high range. The child has picked up Math skills tremendously in the last four years since that is the only additional exposure the parents could give.

What test is recommended for such a child to get the best scores: KTEA-3 vs. WIAT-IV vs. WJ-IV Ach?

Welcome, skhaire!

TBH, if this student is already taking university calculus, the achievement tests will not tell you anything you don't already know about math, regardless of which one you use. None of them go beyond very basic differentiation and integration.

The only possible advantage to any of them for your purposes that I can think of is that it is possible (sometimes) to get standard scores above 160 on the WJIV. But I don't have those tables right in front of me, so I couldn't say for sure. And in any case, since the difference in meaning would be minimal up that far in the norms, you might get more real information from an out-of-level measure, such as a college placement test (e.g., Accuplacer, which, I'm guessing, they may already have taken). Or even from the GRE (although never having tried, I have no idea if one could register a child of this age for it).

What is it you are attempting to document with testing? That might give some additional direction to my answer. And are you more interested in understanding the ordinal performance in math or in the other areas? The "best" scores are not necessarily the highest, after all, depending on what the reason for testing is.

Thank you so much for responding! Applying to the DYS program because we have hit a brick wall and hoping to get some support.
Local schools do not have the resources to support the child and our local university will not allow any other courses than a Math placement test. The child is a part of a highly gifted program. interested in CS and Physics but all of these cannot be taken because they are simply not allowed for middle schoolers. Other parents do not understand the need for better schools/programs but sounds like DYS does.
I have noticed that most children apply to DYS when very young, the oldest I have seen is elementary kids applying. I have no clue of what to expect at the middle school level for WIAT-IV or WJ-IV Ach. I am interested in all the areas that DYS requires. I am open to other testing as well that DYS accepts.

Duplicate post!

Ah. If you are testing for purposes of applying to DYS, then I think it does not matter much which one is used, since any one is likely to generate the scores necessary.

I notice, in exploring the DYS eligibility pages, that they have introduced another test option, which is fully remote, for above level-testing on a practice SAT, which appears to include your child's age/grade-level. You might consider that, as a much more affordable and accessible option (cost beside, cognitive and achievement testing by licensed professionals through private, non-school channels can have waitlists on the scale of 6-12 months easily).

If you are attempting to access math beyond univariate calculus, you might also investigate online two- or four-year college courses, even in other states. Depending on your state or region, there may be options. Even if the credits did not end up being transferable, the educational value to the child would remain. Most of the 2-year colleges in our area have math up to at least linear algebra available in online asynchronous formats, and some have differential equations.