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Lauren Fox
Professor Bernstein
December 9, 2012
WIAT-III Final Evaluation

Confidential Psychoeducational Assessment

EXAMINEE:
Liam
AGE AT TESTING:
9 years 9 months
DATE OF BIRTH:
03/07/2003
DATE OF EVALUATION: 11/5, 11/14, 11/18

REPORT DATE:
GRADE:
SCHOOL:
EXAMINER:

12/09/2012
4th Grade
Elementary
Lauren Fox

Background Information
Liam is nine years old in fourth grade. He lives in Yonkers, NY with his parents and two
older brothers. His brothers are in the seventh and tenth grades. His father works for
Skanska and his mother is a nurse. The family is middle class.
Liams mother reports that he is an average student. She says he does pretty well in
school but he does rush through his work sometimes. She also reports that he does not
elaborate much when talking about school, so it is hard to learn about what is going on in
school from Liam. Liams mother also reports that compared to his brothers, academics
do not come as easy to Liam, but still he does perform well. Based on my initial
conversations with Liam, I learned that his least favorite subject is science and his
favorite subjects are math and social studies (following lunch and recess).
Outside of school, Liam is involved in football and basketball. Football has ended for the
season and his basketball season just started. According to his family, Liam is very
competitive (in all aspects of his life, not solely sports). Liam informed me that he loves
playing football, baseball, basketball, and lacrosse. He also loves to play junkyard
baseball, ultimate Frisbee, capture the flag, and other athletic activities outside with
friends or cousins. Liam also says he loves to watch football games on television and
loves to play video games with his two older brothers.
Behavioral Observations
Liam was very cooperative in taking the tests. He willingly sat down and completed the
subtests without complaint or objection. As each subtest started, Liam seemed to become
very fixed and focused on the task at hand. As items increased in difficulty, Liam
appeared to get increasingly uncomfortable. As the difficulty increased, he seemed to
fidget and shift around a lot. His gestures also seemed to indicate frustration as the level
of difficulty increased (i.e. furrowed brow, placing head in hands, whispering quietly to
himself, and sighing deeply). On the other hand, when asked questions he was sure of,
Liam displayed what seemed to be a great deal of confidence. He exclaimed things like,

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So easy, Im so good at ____ (whatever skill), etc. Liam never got off task during the
assessment.
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test- 3rd Edition (WIAT-III)
The WIAT-III is an individually administered clinical instrument designed to measure the
achievement of students who are in grades Prekindergarten (PK) through 12, or ages 4
years 0 months through 19 years 11 months.
Individual Subtest Scores
Subtest

Standard Score

Percentile Rank

Qualitative
Description

Receptive Vocabulary

79

Below Average

Oral Discourse
Comprehension

96

39

Average

Reading
Comprehension

95

37

Average

Math Problem
Solving

101

53

Average

Word Reading

94

34

Average

Pseudoword
Decoding

100

50

Average

Numerical Operations

82

12

Below Average

Expressive
Vocabulary

104

61

Average

Math Fluency
Addition

112

79

Average

Math Fluency
Subtraction

112

79

Average

Math Fluency
Multiplication

106

66

Average

Reading

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According to the WIAT-III, Liams reading skills are generally in the average
range as compared to same-age peers. The Listening Comprehension subtest has two
parts Receptive Vocabulary and Oral Discourse Comprehension. Liams receptive
vocabulary skills were below the average range (Standard Score 79) as compared to
same-aged peers. The receptive vocabulary subtest required him to look at/compare four
different pictures and point to the one that showed the vocabulary word (i.e. point to jar).
Liam was doing well with this subtest until he was no longer recognizing the words.
When he did not know the word, he would say I dont know what that is so Ill just
guess. While his guesses ended up being wrong, he did have some logic behind his
guesses. Even when he did not know the word, he did not just point to any picture. For
each picture he picked, he had some sort of logic he had worked out in his head. On the
other hand, his oral discourse comprehension skills (Standard Score 96) were within the
average range for his age. This subtest required him to listen to an audio recording of
different messages, including simple sentences/statements, advertisements, and
commercials and answer one or two questions based on what he had heard. As the
recordings became lengthier, that is when Liam started to struggle. When asked the
questions he would not remember what he had heard.
Liams reading comprehension skills also fell within the average range (Standard
Score 95) for his age. The reading comprehension subtest required Liam to read three
stories on his own and then answer 6-8 questions about the story. Liam was allowed to
look back in the story to answer the question if needed. Liam did better on the stories
labeled grade 5 and grade 6 than he did on the grade 4. The grade 4 reading was a story,
the grade 5 reading was an advertisement, and the grade 6 reading was a procedure for a
science experiment.
His expressive vocabulary also fell within the average range (Standard Score
104). This subtest required Liam to listen to a sentence and give a word to satisfy the
description (i.e. tell me the word that means not crooked). Liams performance on this
section was consistent until the evaluator said Tell me the word that means the place
where two roads cross. Liam said crossroad and when asked if he could come up with
another word he was stumped. After this item, Liams performance was inconsistent,
answering one question correct and the next incorrect, until he eventually incorrectly
answered four consecutive items.
Liams word reading skills also fell within the average range (Standard Score 94).
This subtest required him to read as many words as he could from a list in 30 seconds. If
he mispronounced four consecutive words before the 30 seconds was up, the subtest
would end there. Liam read 45 words in 30 seconds. His word reading was pretty
consistent until he reached the word tough. Liam mispronounced the next word,
garnish but read the word ridiculous correctly. The rest of the thirty seconds went on
this way.
Liams pseudoword decoding also fell in the average range (Standard Score 100).
The subtest required him to do the same as the word reading subtest, but with
pseudowords. Liam read 30 words in 30 seconds. He was very consistent in the subtest.
He seemed hesitant when reading some words, but managed to pronounce most of the
words correctly.

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Thus, based on the different subtests, Liams reading skills are average compared
to other students at his grade-level. He was below average in one subtest (receptive
vocabulary), but he was in the average range for the rest of the subtests.
Mathematics
Based on the WIAT-III, Liams mathematic skills generally fall within the
average range as compared to students in fourth grade. His math problem solving skills
(Standard Score 101) fell in the average range for his grade. This subtest had a bunch of
different math questions which are read out loud by the evaluator. The subtest goes along
with the Stimulus Book, which presents the student with a visual of the question being
asked. Liam was able to work with place value, money, time, addition, multiplication,
and reading graphs. However, he demonstrated difficulty with fractions, angles, and
averages.
The Numerical Operations subtest required Liam to answer math questions related
to addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, order of operations, fractions, algebraic
equations, negative numbers, etc. in the response booklet. He was given a pencil with no
eraser and asked to move from left to right in answering the questions. Liam was able to
add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers, and use the order of operations.
However, he exhibited difficulty in solving math problems involving fractions, algebraic
equations, and negative numbers. He was also unfamiliar with the pi sign. Liams
performance fell in the below average range (Standard Score 82).
The Math Fluency Addition subtest had two pages of one-digit addition
problems. Liam was to answer as many as he could in 60 seconds. Liam got through 32
questions and answered them all correctly. His performance was on the higher end of the
average range (Standard Score 112).
The Math Fluency Subtraction subtest is the same as the Math Fluency
Addition, but with subtraction. Liam solved 28 subtraction problems and solved them all
correctly. His performance on this subtest also fell on the higher end of the average range
(Standard Score 112).
The Math Fluency Multiplication subtest is the same as the Math Fluency
Addition and Math Fluency Subtraction, but with multiplication. Liam solved 20
multiplication problems and solved them all correctly. His performance on this subtest
was in the average range as compared to other students in his grade (Standard Score 106).
Thus, based on the results of the math subtests in the WIAT-III, Liams math
skills are average. He has his basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication)
down with one-digit numbers. His performance on the Numerical Operations subtest was
below average but it was at the high end, close to average. Aside from this subtest, his
performances on the math subtests all fell in the average range.
Summary
Liam was assessed using the WIAT-III to examine his strengths and weaknesses in order
to determine ways in which to improve Liams academic performance. Liam and the
evaluator met a few times before administering the WIAT-III to become acquainted in an
academic setting. During these sessions, Liam and the evaluator worked on his

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homework together and the evaluator learned more about Liams life (both inside and
outside of school). According to the WIAT-III, Liams overall reading and math scores
are within the average range. Liam was very comfortable from the very start. Each
meeting, he willingly agreed to sit down for as long as needed to complete the WIAT-III
subtests.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Liams academic program will be discussed once educational
testing results, parental input, and classroom performance have been are shared to discuss
what the best way to meet his educational needs.