Need help interpreting Woodcock-Johnson scores

[Guest Mirpurlady]

My home-schooled daughter was recently tested to see if she was at grade level when she entered school. After the Woodcock-Johnson III Normative Test of Achievement (Version 3.1), the school said she definitely won't have trouble with the grade 8 class work. They didn't spend much time explaining the test scores, though. I can somewhat figure out what the GE and AE are, but they seem astonishingly high for my Grade 7.9 daughter. I have no clue what the W score is, or East to Diff, or the PR. I know she is bright, but does a GE of 13 or 15 or 17 really mean she is college level? Or an AE of >24 or >30 mean she is at an adult level? I find that a bit hard to believe. What does an age level with a hyphen mean, like 17-2? The only thing that was at grade level was her Passage Comprehension, which surprised me, as she usually reads adult-level books, if she can find ones that are appropriate for her maturity level. I thought her math skills were more average and at grade level, but those came out high, which also surprised me. Can anyone help me understand these scores? The numbers are, from left to right, the

Raw, W, GE, EASY to DIFF, RPI, PR (68% Band) and AE:

 

Brief Achievement - , 554, 15.2, 13.0, >18.0, 100/90, 98 (97-99), >30

Broad Reading -, 534, 13.0, 9.3, 16.4 98/90, 90 (85-93) 20

Broad Math -, 538, 13.0, 11.1, >18.0 99/90, 94 (91-96) >30

Brief Reading -, 539, 13.0, 9.5, 17.2 98/90 90 (83-94) 21

Brief Math -, 545, 13.0 11.6, >18.0 99/90 90 (86-94) >30

Math Calc Skills - , 535, 14.8, 11.3, >18.0 98/90 96 (94-98) >24

Academic Skills -, 554, 16.2, 13.0, >18.0 100/90 >99 (98->99) >30

Letter-Word ID 72, 563, 15.4, 13.0, >18.0 100/90 97 (94-99) >30

Reading Fluency 71, 524, 11.7, 8.8, 14.4 98/90 81 (74-86) 17-2

Calculation 31, 546, 13.0, 13.0, >18.0 99/90 94 (87-97) >23

Math Fluency 135, 524, 15.8, 10.0 >18.0 98/90 95 (93-97) >25

Spelling 53, 554, 17.7, 13.8 >18.0 100/90 99 (97->99) >30

Passage Comprsn. 35, 515, 7.9, 5.3 13.0 90/90 50 (35-65) 13-4

Applied Problems 50, 545, 13.0 10.9 17.5 99/90 81 (75-86) 26

[EKS]

The grade equivalent scores don't really mean much about what your child can do. They say more about what the average adult (or 12th grader, or whatever) *can't* do. For example, based on tests my children have taken over the years, I am convinced that the average adult (meaning an adult at the 50th percentile) has maxed out at prealgebra level math skills. So getting high school level scores in this area is not the same as being *placed* in calculus. Same with reading. My 4th grader scores at the adult level on reading tests. And he reads well, but in no way is he ready for AP Literature. And frankly, neither are most adults.

 

I agree with the school. Your daughter's scores indicate that she will do well in 8th grade, and if she has the organizational skills and motivation necessary, she might even be a top student.

 

As an aside, the passage comprehension is a bit weird on the WJ-III. The kid doesn't actually answer questions about a reading passage. Instead she is given a passage like this:

 

In ---, the leaves fall off of the trees.

 

And she is supposed to supply the correct word.