WIAT-III, KTEA-3, and WJ IV Achievement Tests Compared

WIAT-III, KTEA-3, and WJ IV: A Detailed Comparison of Achievement Tests

Reading Skills Assessment

WIAT-III: Early Reading Skills, Reading Comprehension, Word Reading (called Letter and Word Recognition on KTEA), Pseudoword Decoding (nonsense words), Oral Reading Fluency.

Comparison with KTEA-3:

• Instructions are in a book rather than on the back side of the easel.
• KTEA Age Range: 4-25
• WIAT Age Range: 4 years - 19 years 11 months

WJ IV Achievement: Letter and Word Recognition (Identify and read letters and words), Passage Comprehension (read the word(s) and identify picture/complete sentences), Word Attack (read nonsense words), Identify pictures/letters that begin with a specific sound, Sentence Reading Fluency (read the questions and circle yes or no).

Comparison of WJ IV and KTEA-3:

• Word Attack is the same as Nonsense Words in KTEA but uses a different name.
• Letter and Word Recognition is the same in both tests.
• Both assess phonological awareness and nonsense word decoding.
• Scoring in both is a 1 or a 0.
• Basal and ceiling are established differently.

Writing Skills Assessment

WIAT-III: Alphabet Writing Fluency, Sentence Composition.

Comparison with KTEA-3: Only has writing fluency in common. Similarly scored with 0, 1, or 2 based on the student's response. However, this assessment does give extra credit that the KTEA does not, which goes into the student's raw score. The writing fluency is similar to the picture prompt in the KTEA, only in the WIAT, they utilize single-word prompts instead. KTEA utilizes written expression and spelling, whereas the WIAT does not. However, the spelling subset in KTEA is similar to the alphabet writing in WIAT.

WJ IV Achievement: Spelling (to write words that are presented orally), Writing Samples (measures the student's skill in writing responses to a variety of items), Sentence Writing Fluency (writing simple sentences quietly and quickly).

Comparison of WJ IV and KTEA-3: The layout of the items is similar. Both tests have sentence writing fluency.

Math Skills Assessment

WIAT-III: Math Problem Solving, Numerical Operations, Math Fluency (addition, subtraction, and multiplication). Students are asked to identify objects, count, identify numbers, and interpret graphs. They are also asked to solve math problems in a response book.

Comparison with KTEA-3: There is a response booklet for students to solve math problems. The directions are not in the flipbook. There is a basal and a discontinue rule. You have to circle DK for "don't know" and 0 if they get it incorrect and circle Y if the student uses paper or pencil.

WJ IV: Applied Problems, Calculation (math computation), Math Facts Fluency, Number Matrices.

Comparison of WJ IV and KTEA-3: Math Computation, Math Fluency, Math Concepts and Applications. Similar content to WJ IV. Examiner script for both. Examiner manual for both. Tests are called different names. No Number Matrices in KTEA.

Oral Language and Reading Fluency

WIAT-III: Subtest: Oral Language, Oral Listening Comprehension, Oral Discourse Comprehension.

Comparison with KTEA-3: Similar: Word Recognition Fluency and Decoding Fluency.

WJ IV: Reading Fluency.

Comparison of WJ IV and KTEA-3: Word Recognition Fluency, Decoding Fluency.