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Are you interested in having information about your child's academic levels to assist you in establishing academic
goals for the upcoming year?
Do you want to have some measure or record of performance documenting your homeschool progress?
Do you want to have information about your child's current academic levels? Would it be helpful to know where your child
stands academically based on national averages?
While not everyone feels testing is necessary to validate learning progress, many parents are interested
in having a measurement of progress of student academic performance. To respond to this need we offer
the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) 4th Edition. This test enables parents and educators to
determine the current grade level of students in basic academic skills. This is a practical tool to help in
the planning of academic goals. This testing is available for any parents who wish to use a measurement
of academic performance for their child.
We will be offering the WRAT-4 to any family who would like to use this valuable educational
tool to measure performance or plan their academic goals. The fee is $175, Susan Taite, MA, will be administrating
the test. The test takes the student approximately 45 minutes to complete. The results
will be available within a day or two. If you are interested in having your child take this test, please fill
out the form on the right with a couple dates for scheduling purposes.
Here is more information about the test:
Wide Range Achievement Test 4 (WRAT4)
Purpose: Measure the basic academic skills of reading, spelling, and math computation in ages 5-94 years.
The Wide Range Achievement Test 4 (WRAT4) is used in a variety of settings as a measure of the basic academic skills necessary
for effective learning, communication, and thinking: reading and spelling words and performing basic mathematical calculations.
The interpretation of WRAT4 scores has been enhanced by the addition of grade-based norms, thereby increasing the usefulness
of the test in grades K-12.
Description of the WRAT4
The WRAT4 is a norm-referenced test that measures the basic academic skills of word
reading, sentence comprehension, spelling, and math computation. It was standardized on a representative national sample of
over 3,000 individuals ranging in age from 5-94 years. The normative sample was selected according to a stratified national
sampling procedure with proportionate allocation controlled for age, gender, ethnicity, geographic region, and parental/obtained
education as an index of socioeconomic status.
The WRAT4 includes four subtests:
- Word Reading measures letter and word decoding through letter identification and word recognition.
- Sentence Comprehension measures an individual's ability to gain meaning from words and to comprehend
ideas and information contained in sentences through the use of a modified cloze technique.
- Spelling measures an individual's ability to encode sounds into written form through the use of
a dictated spelling format containing both letters and words.
- Math Computation measures an individual's ability to perform basic mathematics computations through
counting, identifying numbers, solving simple oral problems, and calculating written mathematics problems.
In addition to providing derived scores and interpretive information for the subtests, the WRAT4 also yields
a Reading Composite score, obtained by combining the Word Reading and Sentence Comprehension standard scores.
Uses
of the WRAT4
The WRAT4 is intended for sound assessment of important fundamental academic skills. Such measures are
valuable in initial evaluations or individuals referred for learning, behavioral, or vocational difficulties. The results
of the WRAT4 by themselves are not intended to provide formal identification of learning or cognitive disorders. Use of the
WRAT4 results together with a broad array of comprehensive information such as additional assessment and psychometric data,
background history, behavioral observations, and more formal assessments of behavioral functioning will assist in the identification
and diagnosis of such disorders.
The WRAT4 is useful for assessment professionals who can use the results to:
- Collect initial data for psychological, educational, and vocational assessments,
- Permits time-efficient small group administration in selected math and spelling areas to assist in identification
of individuals requiring a more comprehensive academic evaluation,
- Assess, in conjunction with the WRAT-Expanded, a broader range of academic skills useful in the diagnosis
of specific learning disorders,
- Reevaluate individuals diagnosed with learning and/or cognitive disorders,
- Contribute to research projects needing assessment of basic academic skills for pretesting and posttesting
purposes,
- Evaluate achievement-ability discrepancies to identify specific learning disabilities,
- Assess specific academic skills as part of a more comprehensive study of psychological and neuropsychological
functioning,
- Determine a minimal level of proficiency needed to perform in certain educational and/or vocational settings,
and
- Assess an individual's academic progress over time.
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