I am looking for a “good” testing tool to evaluate a student with a specific learning disability’s written language ability. Or to use for the initial evaluation. I don’t like the results I obtain when using the WJIII. I don’t think the WJIII gives an accurate indication of their ability. What are others using?
My district stopped using WJ when it was WJII. Our director said it did not stand up in court when testing results were challenged using that test. It was a long time ago…I think he said something about the population used to validate the WJ did not represent any individuals with a learning disability. Anyway…we use the WIAT-II and the Brigance when we assess for a triennial eval. Between the two of them I’ve felt pretty good about assessing writing ability. I have to add that I always back up testing with classroom examples of their writing. We have written responses to their reading program, a weekly mini prompt and, when I show a movie, I always require written responses in the form of re-tells, book report forms or formal instruction of writing strategies using the subject/character/theme of the movie as a base.