WIAT-4 Data Demonstrates Groves Students’ Growth

Lower and Middle school students at Groves Academy are assessed twice a year using the WIAT-4 (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Fourth Edition). The WIAT-4 is nationally normed and measures individual academic achievement compared to their grade-level peers.

Students are assessed using six subtests that measure specific components of reading: phonemic awareness, word reading accuracy and fluency, decoding accuracy*, reading connected text fluently, and reading comprehension. Groves Academy faculty use the WIAT-4 data to understand each student’s unique learning profile, measure individual growth, and tailor instruction. 

Students are assessed in the following subtests:

Students at Groves Academy are instructed using the Wilson Reading System, which is an Orton-Gillingham-based reading curriculum. Literacy instruction is based on the science of reading, applying Orton-Gillingham principles of teaching literacy in a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, and diagnostic manner. Students are taught in small groups of students assigned by reading level.

Based on data provided by WIAT-4 testing across four screening periods obtained during a two-year period, statistical analyses were conducted to provide information about the efficacy of instruction at Groves Academy. These students, many of whom are diagnosed with reading disorders such as dyslexia, demonstrated growth in percentiles across various measures, most prominently in terms of reading comprehension and phonemic proficiency. These are the areas in which the largest rate of growth is expected.

*Pseudoword decoding accuracy results were not statistically significant and therefore not included in these results.

The data demonstrated that national percentiles across the sample of Lower and Middle School students consistently increased, which demonstrates that student growth was greater than what is expected for same-grade, typically-developing, national peers. Students at Groves Academy have worked to reduce the gap between their skills and the skills of their typically-developing peers.

Key Takeaways:

On average, students demonstrated growth in reading skills, most prominently in manipulating sounds (phonemic awareness) and comprehending connected text.

On average, student growth was greater than typical learning trajectories, helping students reduce the gap between their skills and that of their typically-developing peers.

Given that WIAT-4 testing took place across two school years, this indicates that reading skill growth was sustained over the summer months.