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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