Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT 5)
The Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT 5) is a standardised assessment measure of reading, spelling and maths.
Age range
Age five to adult.
Who can use it?
Requires qualified teaching status and a further post-graduate qualification in Special Educational Needs, eg a Post-Graduate Diploma or Masters. WRAT 5 is therefore available to Teachers of the Deaf but not to most mainstream teachers.
How is it used?
Participants are asked to carry out reading tasks involving Word Reading (letter and word decoding), Sentence Comprehension (meaning, ideas, information), Spelling (encoding of sounds into written form), and Maths Computation. Parallel forms are available.
The tasks take 15-25 minutes for children aged 5–7 years, and 35-40 minutes for children over the age of eight and adults.
The WRAT 5 can be administered using paper manuals and record forms, or digitally using Q-interactive.
What can it tell us?
The WRAT 5 produces age- and grade-equivalent scores: a standard score, and percentiles. This means that the child’s score can be compared with that of hearing children of their age and grade.
Pros
- Is well standardised using a large sample from the USA.
- Can function for individual assessment and as a small group screening instrument.
- Parallel forms interchangeable or can be combined.
- Test learners of all ages using the same assessment.
- Option to administer only the subtests that are needed.
- Option to administer with paper and pencil or digitally with Q-interactive.
- Online scoring and reporting available.
Cons
- Standardised on American children, meaning that interpretation of age scores should be made with care, but it is helpful for measuring progress over time.
- Long duration for participants above eight years of age.
Is there a cost?
Yes.