WIAT Norm-Referenced Score Interpretation and Reporting 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) represent on the WIAT?
- The total number of scoring errors made by the examiner
- The expected variability in an individual's scores due to measurement error (Correct answer)
- The standard deviation of the entire normative sample
- The average difference between WIAT and IQ scores
Correct answer: The expected variability in an individual's scores due to measurement error
The SEM represents the amount by which an obtained score is expected to vary from the true score due to random measurement error, and it is used to construct confidence intervals.
Question 2: Growth Scale Values (GSV) on the WIAT-4 are primarily designed to:
- Compare a student's performance to same-age normative peers
- Track and measure academic progress across multiple testing occasions (Correct answer)
- Identify specific learning disabilities based on score patterns
- Convert raw scores into standard scores for reporting
Correct answer: Track and measure academic progress across multiple testing occasions
GSVs are equal-interval scores that allow practitioners to measure and document meaningful academic growth over time, independent of age-based normative comparisons.
Question 3: A student earns a WIAT-4 standard score of 130. Which qualitative descriptor applies to this score?
- High Average
- Superior
- Very Superior (Correct answer)
- Gifted
Correct answer: Very Superior
On the WIAT-4, standard scores of 130 and above fall in the Very Superior qualitative range, two or more standard deviations above the mean.
Question 4: Which of the following WIAT standard scores falls squarely within the Average qualitative range?
- 79
- 89
- 95 (Correct answer)
- 110
Correct answer: 95
The Average range on the WIAT spans standard scores of 90–109; a score of 95 is centered within this range.
Question 5: T-scores, sometimes reported alongside WIAT results, have a mean of ___ and a standard deviation of ___.
- 100 and 15
- 50 and 10 (Correct answer)
- 0 and 1
- 100 and 10
Correct answer: 50 and 10
T-scores are a standardized score format with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10, differing from WIAT standard scores which use a mean of 100 and SD of 15.
Question 6: A stanine score of 5 on the WIAT indicates:
- Below average performance
- Average performance (Correct answer)
- Above average performance
- Superior performance
Correct answer: Average performance
Stanines range from 1–9 with stanines 4, 5, and 6 representing Average performance; a stanine of 5 is the center of the average band.
Question 7: Which type of score comparison on the WIAT-4 evaluates a student's own subtest scores relative to each other rather than to an external normative group?
- Norm-referenced comparison
- Criterion-referenced comparison
- Intraindividual comparison (Correct answer)
- Interindividual comparison
Correct answer: Intraindividual comparison
An intraindividual comparison examines differences within the same student's profile across subtests, identifying personal strengths and weaknesses independent of peer comparisons.
WIAT Norm-Referenced Score Interpretation and Reporting 2
What does the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) represent on the WIAT?