Running head: WIAT-III ADMINISTRATION REPORT

Report on the Administration of the WIAT-III

Lizbeth Ramirez
Sarah Daniel
Spring 2014
California State University, Chico

WIAT-III ADMINISTRATION REPORT

Introduction
On April 12th 2014, Lizbeth Ramirez, a School Psychologist in training
administered the WIAT-III to Quinton Sorci. At the time of administration, the
boys age was 14 years and 0 months. Because of his age, Quinton was not
administered the Early Reading Skills, or Alphabet Writing Fluency Subtests.
The boy was pleasant and cooperative during the administration. He was
interested in performing well and he seemed concerned when he struggled.
The test was administered in one sitting. Standard scores for this test have
an average score of 100 with the average range between 85 and 115.
Percentile scores have an average of 50. The students scores are as follows:
Total Reading
Quintons composite reading standard score is 95 which is at the 37th
percentile rank. This is in the average range but it is at the lower end. The
boy did not seem to have difficulty with his reading fluency when he read out
loud but he did have some difficulty responding to some of the questions
regarding the content which indicates he may have had difficulty
comprehending. Below are the subtests which made up this composite score.
Reading Comprehension
Quinton was to read short sentences and passages and then answer
questions about the reading. He was allowed to refer back to the passages
when answering the questions. His standard score for this subtest is 92
which puts him in the 30th percentile rank. This is at the lower end of the
average range.
Word Reading
For this subtest, Quinton was asked to read a list of words as quickly as
he could. He started off at a fast pace and he slowed down as he came
across words he could not read automatically and thus he had to sound
out. His score for this subtests is 100 which is at the 50th percentile rank.
This score is in the average range.

WIAT-III ADMINISTRATION REPORT

Pseudoword Decoding
The child was asked to read unfamiliar made up words. Quintons
standard score for this subtest is 98 which is at the 45th percentile rank. This
is in the average range and slightly below his word reading score.
Oral Reading Fluency
For this subtest, Quinton was to read some stories out loud and answer
a question about the passage. His standard score is 103 which means he
scored in the 58th percentile rank. This is in the average range. Quinton
made few mistakes in his reading and his score is slightly above what would
be expected for his age.
Written Expression
Quinton scored in the 55th percentile rank on his written expression
composite score. His standard score is 102 which is in the average range.
Sentence Composition
For this subtest, Quinton was to combine and build sentences. He
scored at the higher end of the average with a standard score of 107 which is
in the 68th percentile rank. The student was able to independently build
correct sentences and combine sentences with minimal errors.
Essay Composition
This subtests required that the student compose an essay within 10
minutes. His performance on this subtest is in the 45th percentile rank which
is in the average range. His standard score is 96 and this is just slightly lower
than what is expected of a student his age. Quinton spent almost 7 minutes
on this subtest and was able to write an introduction, some supporting points
and a conclusion. However, he did not use any transition words and wrote
only one paragraph.
Spelling
Quinton was read words and sentences using those words. He was then
to spell the words on an answer sheet. His standard score is 103 and his
percentile rank is 58th percentile which is in the average range.

WIAT-III ADMINISTRATION REPORT

Mathematics
The student ranked in the 47th percentile rank in the mathematics
composite score. This is in the average range given his standard score of 99.
Quinton performed better in the math problem solving and numerical
operations subtests than in the math fluency subtests.
Math Problem Solving
During this subtest, I read the student math problems that he could
also see on the stimulus book. He was allowed to use paper and pencil but
for the most part he did not use these. His standard score for this subtest is
98 which is in the average range, ranking at the 45th percentile rank.
Numerical Operations
This subtests required the student to work out mathematical problems
on an answer sheet. He was to complete as many problems as he could until
he scored 0 on four consecutive problems. His standard score for this subtest
is 100 and his percentile rank is in the 50th percentile which is in the average
range.
Math Fluency
The math fluency composite score was in the 16th percentile rank with
a standard score of 85. This score is very close to the below average range.
There were three subtests for this score: addition, subtraction and
multiplication. The student was to complete as many problems as possible
for each subtest with 60 seconds allowed per subtest. For the addition
subtest, the standard score is 85 (16th percentile rank). For the subtraction
subtest the standard score is 90 (25th percentile rank). For the multiplication
subtest the standard score is 84 (14th percentile rank). Quintons lower
scores in math fluency may be due to fatigue as he did not take a break in
between subtests and these subtests where administered last, after an hour
and fifteen minutes of testing.
Analysis

WIAT-III ADMINISTRATION REPORT

Quintons scores are all in the average range. He seems to be

performing at the level expected for his age in most subtests with the
exception of the math fluency subtests. The scores on these subtest are still
in the average range but closer to the below average end of the curve. With
that said, these subtests were administered last and thus Quinton may have
been fatigued which could have adversely affected his performance.
The students strongest score is his written expression composite
score. His sentence composition score was particularly strong compared to
his essay composition and spelling scores. His second strongest score is his
mathematics composite score. He did particularly well in the numerical
operations subtest. Although these scores are in the average range, they are
all at the level expected for his age and grade level. In addition, Quinton
responded to the items at a fast rate which indicates quick processing and
understanding of what is being asked of him. This was apparent during the
math problem solving subtest. Although Quintons reading composite score is
at the lower end of the average range (37th percentile) he did not have much
difficulty with the fluency of his reading. In fact he scored lower on the
comprehension subtest (30th percentile) than in the fluency subtest (58th
percentile). I have few concerns regarding Quintons performance on this test
as he seems to be performing at the appropriate level for his age and grade
level.
Recommendations
Because of Quintons lower scores on the math fluency subtests, I
would recommend that perhaps he get more practice working on math
problems in an effort to increase the speed with which he can work out
simple math problems. Given he scored higher on math problem solving (47th
percentile) and numerical operations (50th percentile) it seems his difficulty is
the speed at which he solves the problems.
Furthermore, it seems that Quinton could use some help with his
reading comprehension. He is able to read fluently but he seems to have
difficulty extracting the main points and important details in what he reads

WIAT-III ADMINISTRATION REPORT

as he had difficulty accurately answering comprehension questions. This

was interesting given than he had the option to go back to the passages and
look for information to help him answer the questions posed to him. It may
be helpful to have the student read more often in order to get more practice
reading to learn. It is particularly important to find books with content that he
will find interesting in order for him to focus his attention on the content as it
does not seem he is using many resources decoding. This will likely help
increase his comprehension when reading.
Finally, the student may benefit from additional help in writing
composition given his score on the essay composition portion of the test (39 th
percentile). His sentence composition score was in the higher average range
(68th percentile). His spelling is also at the level expected for his age. If
Quinton gets more practice with his reading as recommended above, this
may also help improve his writing. It seems his difficulty is not in sentence
structuring, grammar or spelling but in organizing his ideas and providing
support for his main points. He may benefit from working in smaller groups
where he can get extra help in developing his ideas and structuring an essay.
Analysis of Performance
Overall, I think that given this was my first time administering this or
any standardized test, I did a decent job. There are some things I would do
differently but I think the things I would change are bound to improve the
more I practice administering tests. One of the issues I had during the
taping of the test administration was that the video stopped recording an
hour into the test. This interrupted the process as I then had to get up and
press record again which may have been distracting for Quinton. This
however will not be a problem once I am working in the schools as I will not
be recording my assessments. I also think I could have practiced the
administration a few more times so that I would not have stumbled over my
words. I think memorizing the words to the instructions may have been
helpful.

WIAT-III ADMINISTRATION REPORT

During the test administration I felt that I sounded somewhat robotic in

how I was reading the directions. I think I really need to improve on saying
the directions verbatim without sounding mechanical. I had a difficult time
balancing that during this administration. It would also likely be beneficial for
me to be more confident while I administer the test. I think this will likely
change as I become accustomed to administering these tests and as I learn
the directions for the tests I will administer most often. Lastly, I mistakenly
started administering the test one level higher on the reading
comprehension subtest and I realized this when Quinton was not responding
accurately to any of the questions regarding the passage. Unfortunately this
may have negatively impacted the students performance. In the future I
should make certain of the starting point for the student I am testing. I think
the things I need to improve on will certainly improve with time and practice.