Assessment of Academic Achievement

Chapter Eight

CHAPTER OBJECTIVESCHAPTER OBJECTIVESUnderstand the purpose of achievement tests

Understand why individually administered achievement tests are preferred rather than group achievement tests

Discuss oral reading and miscues associated with it

Understand the different types of reading comprehension

Understand word recognition and word attack skills

CHAPTER OBJECTIVESCHAPTER OBJECTIVESThoroughly evaluate the various reading assessment measuresUnderstand written composition and the tests associated with itDifferentiate between mathematics and arithmeticIdentify and thoroughly evaluate the various arithmetic testsIdentify and thoroughly tests that measure spelling abilityIdentify and thoroughly evaluate the various comprehensive achievement tests

ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

• Tests designed to assess the academic progress of a student.

• When doing an evaluation for identification and/or placement in special education, achievement tests will be individually administered.

READING

ORAL READINGCommon errors seen on oral

reading tests…• Omissions• Insertion• Substitution• Gross mispronunciation of a word• Hesitation• Inversion• Disregard of punctuation

Analyzing Oral Reading Miscues

An oral reading error is often referred to

as a miscue.

Analysis of miscues can be of two types:

1. Quantitative miscues

2. Qualitative miscues

Miscues are significant when…

• The meaning of the sentence is altered and the student does not correct the miscue.

• A nonword is used in place of a word• A partial word is substituted for the word

or phrase• A word is pronounced for the student

Miscues are not significant when…

• The meaning of the sentences undergoes no change or minimal change

• They are self-corrected by the student• They are applicable in the student’s

dialect• They are later read correctly in the same

passage

READING COMPREHENSION

1. Literal comprehension

2. Inferential comprehension

3. Listening comprehension

4. Critical comprehension

5. Affective comprehension

6. Lexical comprehension

Diagnostic testing often assess six kinds of reading comprehension skills:

Word Recognition Skills

The purpose of word recognition tests are to

explore the student’s ability with respect to sight

vocabulary.

Word Attack Skills

Word attack skills are those used to derive meaning and/or

pronunciation of a word through context clues, structural

analysis, or phonics.

READING ASSESSMENT MEASURES

• Gates-MacGinitie Silent Reading Tests, 4th Edition

• Gray Oral Reading Test- 3 (GORT-3)• Durrell Analysis or Reading Difficulty

(DARD)• Gates-McKillop-Horowitz Reading

Diagnostic Tests

READING ASSESSMENT MEASURES

• Gilmore Oral Reading Test• Slosson Oral Reading Test- Revised

(SORT-R)• Spache Diagnostic Reading Scales (DRS)• Woodcock Reading Mastery Test- Revised

(WRMT-R)• Test of Reading Comprehension, 3rd Edition

(TORC-3)

WRITTEN EXPRESSION

Handwriting refers to the actual motor activity that is involved in writing.

Most students are taught manuscript (printing) initially and then move to cursive writing (script) in later grades.

Handwriting skills are usually measured through the use of informal assessment measures.

The term writing refers to a variety of interrelated

graphic skills including:

• Composition• Spelling• Handwriting

TESTS OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE

• Test of Early Written Language- 2 (TEWL-2)

• Test of Written Language- 3 (TOWL-3)• Test of Written Expression (TOWE)• Written Expression Scale (WES)• Writing Process Test (WPT)• Mather-Woodcock Group Writing Tests

(MWGWT)

MATH

Mathematics refers to the

study of numbers and their

relationships to time, space,

volume and geometry.

Arithmetic refers to the

operations or computations

performed.

Three types of classifications are involved in diagnostic math tests:

• Content• Operations• Applications

Analysis & Interpretation of Math Skills

Four error types in computational analysis:

1. Incorrect operation

2. Incorrect number fact

3. Incorrect algorithm

4. Random error

ASSESSMENT OF MATHEMATICAL ABILITIES

• Key Math Diagnostic Arithmetic Tests- Revised (Key Math-R)

• Test of Early Mathematics Ability- 2 (TEMA-2)• Test of Mathematical Abilities- 2 (TOMA-2)• Diagnostic Mathematics

Inventory/Mathematics Systems (DMI/MS)• Stanford Diagnostic Mathematical Test- 4

(SDMT-4)

SPELLING

Spelling is the ability to

use letters to construct

words in accordance

with accepted usage.

Analysis of Spelling Skills

• Does the child have sufficient mental ability to learn to spell?

• Are the child’s hearing, speech and vision adequate?

• What are the child’s general level of spelling ability according to teacher comments, past evaluations, or standardized tests?

Several questions should be addressed before one begins to analyze the results of the spelling subtest:

Spelling Errors Primarily Due to Auditory or Visual Channel

Deficits

• Auditory discrimination problems or cultural problems

• Auditory discrimination problems• Auditory acuity or discrimination problems• Auditory-visual association• Auditory-visual associative memory

Certain spelling errors may be evident in students with certain auditory channel deficits:

Certain spelling errors may be evident in students with certain visual channel

deficits:

• Visual memory problems• Visual memory sequence• Visual discrimination problems• Visual memory

ASSESSMENT OF SPELLING

• Diagnostic Word Patterns• Test of Written Spelling- 4

(TWS-4)• Spellmaster Assessment and

Teaching Systems (SATS)

COMPREHENSIVE TESTS

• Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Basic Skills

• Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement (KTEA)

• Peabody Individual Achievement Test- Revised (PIAT-R)

• Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-2 (WIAT-2)

COMPREHENSIVE TESTS

• Wide Range Achievement Test-3 (WRAT-3)

• Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Test-III (WJ-III)

• Test of Academic Achievement Skills- Revised (TAAS-R)

CHAPTER OBJECTIVESCHAPTER OBJECTIVESUnderstand the purpose of achievement tests

Understand why individually administered achievement tests are preferred rather than group achievement tests

Discuss oral reading and miscues associated with it

Understand the different types of reading comprehension

Understand word recognition and word attack skills

CHAPTER OBJECTIVESCHAPTER OBJECTIVESThoroughly evaluate the various reading assessment measuresUnderstand written composition and the tests associated with itDifferentiate between mathematics and arithmeticIdentify and thoroughly evaluate the various arithmetic testsIdentify and thoroughly tests that measure spelling abilityIdentify and thoroughly evaluate the various comprehensive achievement tests

THE END