TECHNICAL MANUAL
DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSESSMENTS
The WMG assessment produces a GE and AE score. Similar to the GE, an AE score indicates the age level at which a student’s performance matches the average performance of students at that age. It is most often used to communicate a student’s vocabulary or literacy abilities in relation to typical age-based expectations. We recommend focusing on the AE score when reporting on student achievement and growth on the WMG. This is because these score types also reflect how skills develop. Vocabulary development begins at birth and is strongly correlated with a student’s age. Because of this developmental connection between language, vocabulary levels, and age, the WMG provides an AE score. Understanding the GE and AE score types There are a number of other reasons why A2i uses the GE and AE scores for reporting assessment results as well. First is a logistical consideration; mathematically, the GE and AE values are needed to accurately run the A2i recommendation algorithms .Think of it like this: The A2i recommendation algorithms are essentially complex algebraic equations, and they can only operate if the correct data for each variable is entered. This means that if the equation was created to operate with numerical inputs from approximately 0 to 7 (like the A2i GE scores), and it receives a score of 3.2 to input it will operate correctly. In contrast, if you used standardized scores that usually include values ranging from 80 to 120, these scores could technically still be entered into the algorithm equations, but the output would be uninterpretable and A2i would not produce accurate instructional minute recommendations. The A2i algorithm equations were designed to work specifically with GE and AE scores because student performance was originally captured using the GE and AE values calculated using the Woodcock-Johnson III Test of Achievements. Once the assessment portion of A2i needed to be moved online and made automatic, the A2i assessments were designed to generate the same score types. A secondary benefit of GE and AE scores is interpretability . They are easy for teachers to understand and connect back to performance level. For example, a third-grade teacher who has a student b eginning the school year at a second-grade reading level (GE = 2.0) can immediately recognize that the student is performing about a year behind what would be considered on level for the third grade. Finally, the GE and AE scores generated by the A2i assessments were created using national norms, meaning that the scores produced by the assessments align to a large and representative body of students. This means the GE and AE scores on the A2i assessments don’t just represent how an individual student is doing relative to peers in their class or school—their GE and AE values provide information on how a student’s performance compares to students across the United States.
Back to Top
Scholastic.com/A2i
Page 13
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs