The following Assessment Service Bulletins (ASBs) provide education professionals and clinicians with supportive technical data, feature comparisons, and practical applications of the Woodcock-Johnson® family of assessments. Each ASB features a different topic that, when reviewed carefully, will help professionals maximize the breadth of information and depth of diagnostic utility available through the WJ assessment system. Print and read the bulletins as needed, and share with colleagues who use WJ IV™ to diagnose learning disabilities, plan educational programs, provide psychometric training, conduct research, or more.
This bulletin is an executive summary and discussion of all extant alternate-forms equivalence data gathered for the WJ IV Tests of Achievement.
The WJ IV Technical Manual (McGrew, LaForte & Schrank, 2014) contains information about how the three forms of each test were constructed to be equivalent in content coverage, difficulty, and measurement error. A summary of these procedures is included in Part A of this bulletin. Part B includes the descriptions and results of two recently completed alternate-forms studies.
These studies contribute to the accumulation of evidence regarding the equivalence of the WJ IV ACH Standard tests. Additionally, these studies present an example of methodology appropriate for evaluating empirical evidence for alternate-forms equivalence in the context of individually administered assessments.
This bulletin provides a summary of the procedures followed in developing and validating the WJ IV.
Throughout the development and design of the WJ IV, the test standards outlined in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association [AERA], American Psychological Association [APA], and National Council on Measurement in Education [NCME], 2014) were followed carefully.
Information in this bulletin is abstracted from the Woodcock-Johnson IV Technical Manual (McGrew, LaForte & Schrank, 2014) and is intended as an overview to highlight important aspects of the WJ IV test design, reliability, and validity. Readers who are interested in more detailed information should consult the WJ IV Technical Manual.
The authors of the Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ IV; Schrank, McGrew & Mather, 2014a) discuss the WJ IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities' Gf-Gc Composite, contrast its composition with that of the WJ IV COG General Intellectual Ability (GIA) score, and synthesize important information that supports its use as a reliable and valid measure of intellectual development or intellectual level. The authors also suggest that the associated WJ IV COG Gf-Gc Composite/Other Ability comparison procedure can yield information that is relevant to the identification of a specific learning disability (SLD) in any model that is allowed under the 2004 reauthorization of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA).
This bulletin provides an overview of the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Early Cognitive and Academic Development (ECAD™; Schrank, McGrew & Mather, 2015) and highlights important technical aspects of ECAD that establish its validity for measuring emergent cognitive and expressive language abilities and early academic skills.
Information in this bulletin is abstracted from the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Early Cognitive and Academic Development Comprehensive Manual (Wendling, Mather, LaForte, McGrew & Schrank, 2015). Additionally, because ECAD was developed and normed simultaneously with the Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ IV;Schrank, McGrew & Mather, 2014a), much of the technical information relevant to the WJ IV also applies to ECAD tests.
Readers who are interested in more detailed information should consult the Woodcock-Johnson IV Technical Manual (McGrew, LaForte & Schrank, 2014).
The authors of the WJ IV Interpretation and Instructional Interventions Program™ (WIIIP®; Schrank & Wendling, 2015b) discuss the features of the WIIIP, a web-based program that helps examiners interpret WJ IV™ assessment results and link test and cluster scores from any of the Woodcock-Johnson® IV (Schrank, McGrew & Mather, 2014a) batteries to associated instructional interventions.
In addition, the WIIIP includes a number of qualitative checklists that, when completed, provide context to an individual's WJ IV scores and result in a more comprehensive WJ IV evaluation.
Example excerpts as well as a complete sample report are provided to illustrate Comprehensive Report options, checklist options, and ways in which the WIIIP links WJ IV assessment results to intervention.
The purposes of this Assessment Service Bulletin are to (a) describe the useful features of the Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ IV; Schrank, McGrew, & Mather, 2014a) that may be included in an evaluation for dyslexia, (b) present the WJ IV Dyslexia Profile of Scores, and (c) describe the WJ IV Dyslexia Summary Report.
The authors begin with a brief discussion of the characteristics and definitions of dyslexia, and then describe how the various clusters and tests of the WJ IV may be used in the WJ IV Dyslexia Profile of Scores to assist in the organization of assessment data and in the determination of dyslexia.
The WJ IV Dyslexia Summary Report provides an overview of the characteristics of dyslexia, the possible contributing factors, and the strengths that may exist. The WJ IV Dyslexia Summary Report and WJ IV Dyslexia Profile of Scores were developed from concepts presented in Essentials of Dyslexia: Assessment and Intervention (Mather & Wendling, 2012) and The Dyslexia Handbook: Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders (Texas Education Agency, 2014).
Composite scores are more extreme than the average of the test scores used to compute them. Because few other kinds of measurement behave this way, it is a frequent source of confusion to assessment professionals. Several analogies and technical explanations are offered to help readers understand this phenomenon.
This Assessment Service Bulletin describes how to use the WJ IV in a core-selective evaluation process (C-SEP) for identification of a specific learning disability (SLD). Information provided in this bulletin can be used to support professional judgment in determining what tests, beyond the core tests, to administer in an evaluation.
The purpose of this Assessment Service Bulletin is to provide general guidance for understanding the relationship between executive functions and cognitive constructs measured in the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities (Schrank, McGrew, & Mather, 2014b).
Executive functions are higher-order neurocognitive abilities involved in goal-directed actions and are important for planning, judgment, reasoning, and problem solving. Executive functions have been one of the most studied constructs in neuropsychology over the past 20 years, and executive dysfunction has been implicated in a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The degree to which executive functioning (EF) influences the ability to complete tasks varies on different measures of intelligence and cognition.
The purpose of this Assessment Service Bulletin is to present WJ IV scholastic aptitude (SAPT) data for the following age groups: 6 to 8 years, 9 to 13 years, 14 to 19 years, 20 to 39 years, and 40 to 90+ years, based on the WJ IV standardization sample.
Click here to see ASBs for WJ III.
WIIIP® (WJ IV Interpretation and Instructional Interventions Program™ and Woodcock Interpretation and Instructional Interventions Program™), WJ IV™, Woodcock-Johnson®, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt™, and HMH® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.