Academic
achievement ability
refers to a child's accomplishment level or the extent of learning
that has been achieved upon exposure to a learning environment.
In other words, how much basic academic skills a child
has at any given stage. These skills are often defined as
reading, writing and arithmetic skills.
Since achievement ability is a child's knowledge at any given
time, achievement tests measure accomplishment. The level
of accomplishment is defined by age appropriate averages, or what
is the expected knowledge of a child at a certain age.
For a Kindie student this may be the knowledge of numbers from 1
to 10, whereas for a child in Year 2 it may be adding and subtracting whole
numbers. Performance above the expected level may indicate
superior learning ability, whereas significantly below the expected
level may suggest learning
disability.
General
Achievement
Measuring general achievement ability is in
some ways similar to the measurement of intellectual
ability . Tests of general achievement are
divided into separate subtests that aim to assess different
academic skills. Each skill domain consists of a number of subtests,
as in testing reading ability may include word reading, reading
comprehension and word decoding. General achievement ability is
determined by the calculation of composite scores (skill
domains) and a final average score. Classifications of
achievement
ability
are as follows:
|
Classification |
Range |
Percentile Rank |
|
Very Superior |
130 and above |
98 and above |
|
Superior |
120-129 |
91-97 |
|
High Average |
110-119 |
75-90 |
|
Average |
90-109 |
25-74 |
|
Low Average |
80-89 |
9-24 |
|
Borderline |
70-79 |
2-8 |
|
Extremely Low |
69 and below |
below 2 |
Tests and Specific
Subject Areas
In most
cases, simple achievement tests are appropriate
to screen children's accomplishment levels. For example, the
Wide Range Achievement Test - 3 (WRAT-3) contains one subtest
for each reading, spelling and arithmetic skills, but yields reliable and sound
results. Similarly, the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - 2nd
Edition - Abbreviated version (WIAT-II-A) relies on one
subtest per domain to calculate children's reading, spelling and
numerical operations abilities.
In other cases, especially with learning difficulties
in specific domains, certain subject areas
may need to be tested in detail. For
example, when a general assessment identifies difficulty with spelling it is necessary
to test for associated areas such as written expression and
listening comprehension. It is also appropriate and advised to use more than one test
to assess that specific domain. As each psychological test has
different psychometric properties and standardised on different child populations,
consistency between different test results can greatly improve the
overall accuracy and make final conclusions
more reliable.
Academic Achievement
Ability and Actual School Performance
In most cases
test results of achievement ability reliably predict school
performance. However, there are a number of factors that parents
need to take into account when they think about test results.
First, achievement
ability only reflects a child's academic performance at the time of testing and in some cases can
change over time. Contextual factors, such as family difficulties, relocation, illness,
divorce and so on, can effect children's motivation to learn and
can improve or hinder what they can accomplish. For example, a child
with serious psychosocial difficulties may perform on a level that
indicates low achievement ability, but after
improved circumstances he/she may begin to pay more attention
and develop more interest in academic tasks and perform better.
Second, test results of achievement
ability are based on the performance of children who
comprised the original sample. Yet schools can differ in their
composition of students who may not reliably compare
to a given test's sample characteristics. Hence,
individual children may perform relatively low/high on an
achievement test, but their actual school performance may still be
higher/lower than their peers.
A good advise to parents is to maintain a stable
environment
for their children, and if there are
known risk factors and difficulties, try to
improve them.
What We Offer
At
CPAC we offer efficient assessment of academic abilities. We
prepare professional and detailed reports that
will assist both parents and teachers to plan
for children's academic future. The assessment results may
be used to help decision making about special education programs,
such as enrichment, extension or acceleration programs. We
provide feedback about areas of concern that may need further
attention and about areas of strength that may
represent preferred learning style and academic
interest. For information about learning disability, follow the
link here
.
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