January 7, 2021: Article first published. January 4, 2023: Article updated.
Is the Kaufman Test of Education Achievement (KTEA-3) being administered to your child?
If yes, do you know if the Brief Form or the Comprehensive Form is being administered?
Do you know the difference between the Brief and the Comprehensive Forms?
If your child has Dyslexia or is suspected of having Dyslexia, are you aware of the Dyslexia Index?
Do you know if your school is cherry picking subtests to administer, what each subtest measures, and if they are appropriate for assessing your child’s needs (or suspected needs)?
A Bit of Background
I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, where (at the time of this writing) the KTEA-3 is the test Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) uses as the core test—and often the only test—when conducting educational evaluations.
FCPS denied my son an evaluation three times between first and sixth grades. After I paid for a private assessment in sixth grade, he was assessed with Dyslexia and was reading on a third grade level, even though he still had good grades and passing state exams.
After I presented the private evaluation to Silverbrook Elementary School (SES) staff, and after SES insisted on doing its own “comprehensive” initial evaluation, I assumed FCPS would do a comprehensive evaluation—as in identify and assess all of his needs.
I was wrong.
The Many Definitions of “Comprehensive”
FCPS educators administered portions of the KTEA-3 to my son four times in a period of three years.
In 2016, an FCPS educator administered eight subtests and areas if need were identified. A few weeks later, she administered eight additional subtests, at which point more areas of need were identified.
In 2017, an FCPS educator administered 12 subtests (not the exact same subtests as 2016), at which point more areas of need were identified.
In 2019, an FCPS educator administered 18 subtests, at which point areas of need still were identified.
With the exception of the second go-around in 2016, each educator stated her evaluation to be comprehensive, even though data collected indicated a need to probe other areas. For example, it shouldn’t have taken a re-evaluation, just three weeks after the initial evaluation, to probe additional areas. That could have been done during the initial evaluation and the data collected, to include parental concerns, indicated all these areas needed probing.
During a 2020 due process hearing, a procedural support liaison (PSL) and the educator who administered the 2017 KTEA-3, called all the evaluations comprehensive, while the educator who administered the KTEA-3 in 2019 termed the 2016 evaluation to be “focused”, rather than terming it “comprehensive” after being asked if it was comprehensive.
So, which is it?
What’s the difference?
And, what do the experts say?
The Brief Form
The Brief is just what it sounds like. Brief. Among other things, it takes less time to administer and has flexible administration options.
The Brief Form has five composites and six subtests.
The five composites are:
- Academic Skill Battery
- Reading
- Mathematics
- Written Language
- Brief Achievement
The six subtests are:
- Letter & Word Recognition
- Reading Comprehension
- Written Expression
- Spelling
- Math Concepts & Applications
- Math Computation
KTEA-3 Dyslexia Index
Comprehensive is a chameleon in school divisions.
If your school chooses to administer the Brief Form—and your child has Dyslexia or is suspected of having Dyslexia—the school needs to know there are limitations to using the Brief for Dyslexia or SLD screening. It will not be a comprehensive assessment if Dyslexia or an SLD is suspected.
Per Essentials of KTEA-3 and WIAT-III Assessment (page 119, 2016 paperback edition):
Limitations for Using the KTEA-3 Brief Form for Dyslexia or SLD Screening
Oral Language measures are not included in the Brief Form. Hence, the Brief Form will not identify:
(a) Weaknesses in oral language that may be hindering academic performance, or
(b) Critical discrepancies between oral and written language areas (Listening Comprehension vs. Reading Comprehension, Oral Expression vs. Written Expression).
One key symptom of dyslexia/reading disorder is that reading comprehension skill are lower than listening comprehension skills (RC < LC). If both reading and listening comprehension are low, then either a language disorder or a global reading impairment (characterized by low overall ability) may be suspected.
Reading Fluency, writing fluency, and math fluency subtests are not included in the Brief Form. Hence, specific fluency deficits may not be detected.
Subtests to identify processing deficits in phonological processing and naming facility are not included in the Brief Form.
The school must know, too, that the index is different depending on the age and/or grade of the student. Again, per Essentials of KTEA-3 and WIAT-III Assessment (page 281, 2016 paperback edition):
The KTEA-3 Dyslexia Index for grades K-1 includes measures of naming facility, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, letter-sound correspondence, and word recognition. . . .
The KTEA-3 Dyslexia Index for grades 2-12 includes measures of oral word reading fluency, decoding, and spelling. . . .
KTEA-3 Composite Structures of the Dyslexia Index Scores
| Grades K-1 or Ages 5-7 | Grades 2-12+ or Ages 7-25 |
| Phonological Processing + Letter Naming Facility + Letter & Word Recognition | Word Recognition Fluency + Nonsense Word Decoding + Spelling |
The Comprehensive Form
The Comprehensive Form has 14 composites and 19 subtests.
The 14 composites are:
- Academic Skill Battery
- Reading
- Mathematics
- Written Language
- Sound-Symbol
- Decoding
- Reading Fluency
- Reading Understanding
- Oral Language
- Oral Fluency
- Comprehension
- Expression
- Orthographic Processing
The 19 subtests are:
- Letter & Word Recognition
- Reading Comprehension
- Nonsense Word Decoding
- Phonological Processing
- Word Recognition Fluency
- Decoding Fluency
- Silent Reading Fluency
- Reading Vocabulary
- Math Concepts & Applications
- Math Computation
- Math Fluency
- Written Expression
- Spelling
- Writing Fluency
- Listening Comprehension
- Oral Expression
- Associational Fluency
- Object Naming Facility
- Letter Naming Facility
The Comprehensive, like the Brief, is just what is sounds like. It’s comprehensive.
In 2016, my son was administered what FCPS called a “comprehensive evaluation” that consisted of the following eight subtests:
- Letter and Word Recognition
- Reading Comprehension
- Nonsense Word Decoding
- Math Concepts & Applications
- Math Computation
- Written Expression
- Spelling
- Silent Reading Fluency
His scores ranged from below average to above average, with a 36 standard score point discrepancy between the lowest and highest scores.
Although additional subtests are recommended if the KTEA-3 subtest scores are low—or if there’s a significant difference between the different subtests’ scores—FCPS considered the eight subtests to be the definition of “comprehensive”.
During the evaluation process, the wonderful advocate Janice Armstrong schooled me on the KTEA, so when SES presented its final report for its initial “comprehensive” evaluation, I stated that FCPS didn’t do a comprehensive evaluation and asked FCPS to administer the entire KTEA-3.
FCPS agreed to administer additional subtests, and within a few weeks of his initial evaluation being presented, FCPS initiated my son’s first re-evaluation, and administered the following KTEA-3 subtests:
- Phonological Processing
- Silent Reading Fluency
- Word Recognition Fluency
- Decoding Fluency
- Reading Vocabulary
- Associational Fluency
- Object Naming Facility
- Listening Comprehension
The result?
Three additional areas of need were identified and he scored on the borderline of average/below average for two addition subtests—even though FCPS maintained the previous evaluation was “comprehensive”.
I continued to state that FCPS did not provide a comprehensive initial evaluation.
In 2017, FCPS Procedural Support Liaison Jean Massie suggested doing a reevaluation. I agreed.
The result?
Summer of 2017, FCPS educator Suzanne Gowe administered the following 12 KTEA-3 subtests:
- Phonological Processing
- Nonsense Word Decoding
- Writing Fluency
- Silent Reading Fluency
- Reading Comprehension
- Written Expression
- Spelling
- Word Recognition Fluency
- Decoding Fluency
- Reading Vocabulary
- Listening Comprehension
- Letter and Word Recognition
The result?
My son scored below average on a subtest FCPS failed to administer in 2016, thus another area of need was identified.
FCPS continued to maintain that the 2016 evaluation was comprehensive and Suzanne and FCPS maintained that her 2017 evaluation was comprehensive, too.
In 2019, my son was reevaluated again. FCPS educator Kelly Brady administered the the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI-6), Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA) and the following 18 of the KTEA-3’s 19 subtests:
- Letter & Word Recognition
- Nonsense Word Decoding
- Reading Comprehension
- Reading Vocabulary
- Word Recognition Fluency
- Decoding Fluency
- Silent Reading Fluency
- Math Concepts & Applications
- Math Computation
- Math Fluency
- Written Expression
- Spelling
- Writing Fluency
- Listening Comprehension
- Associational Fluency
- Phonological Processing
- Object Naming Fluency
- Letter Naming Facility
The result?
My son scored below average on a subtest FCPS failed to administer in 2016 and 2017, thus another area of need was identified.
And yet, FCPS maintained the 2016, 2017, and 2019 evaluations were all comprehensive.
Enter Due Process
And then we went to due process and things changed up.
During the due process, I showed Kelly Brady the 2016 evaluation and asked if it was comprehensive. She replied:
“I would call this more of a focused evaluation.
Callie Oettinger: And what’s the difference between a focused evaluation and a comprehensive evaluation?
Kelly Brady: Sometimes, a IEP team or eligibility committee may only require certain information — so they would do a focused evaluation.
Callie Oettinger: Okay. So this is actually [Student]’s initial evaluation — the first evaluation that he was given.
Kelly Brady: Mm-hmm.
During the same hearing, Kelly and Suzanne spoke to FCPS not administering the KTEA-3 Oral Expression subtest. As with FCPS’ various forms of “comprehensive”, Kelly’s and Suzanne’s explanations resided in different forms, too.
From Kelly:
Kelly Brady: I did not evaluate [STUDENT]’s oral expression.
Callie Oettinger: Okay. Does the publisher recommend that an expression composite be administered?
Kelly Brady: We don’t administer the oral expression subtest part of the KTEA at FCPS.
Callie Oettinger: Why not?
Kelly Brady: It’s not approved by the test committee.
Callie Oettinger: Who is the test committee?
Kelly Brady: I don’t know.
From Suzanne:
Suzanne Gowe: One of the tests that one of the subtests on the oral language composite is not a test that we give.
Callie Oettinger: And why not?
Hearing Officer Rhonda Mitchell: Is that Fairfax County policy?
Suzanne Gowe: Yes.
Callie Oettinger: Why?
Suzanne Gowe: It’s the oral expression composite — and as, as far as I know — the reasoning is because the — there are other assessments that better test for the oral expression — tests that, say, a speech and language clinician would have.
Callie Oettinger: Did they give those to [STUDENT]?
Suzanne: I’m not a speech and language clinician — so I did not give those to [Student]. Are you asking if — the oral expression was not given. The oral expression was not given.
And yet, a “speech and language clinician” did not do an assessment in 2016 or 2017 or 2019, during the periods when the KTEA-3 was administered to my son—even though Suzanne maintained that there were better tests for oral expression.
Lessons Learned
Comprehensive is in the eye of the beholder and whomever the definition benefits during due process hearings.
An investment in the “Essentials” series of books edited by Alan S. Kaufman and Nadeen L. Kaufman is a must. For the KTEA, start with Essentials of KTEA-3 and WIAT-III Assessment.
Parents are the best advocates for their kids.
Reading through manuals and learning about standard scores, t scores, percentiles, bell curves, and so on, can be intimidating, but you have to know them—and you need an understanding of the tests to which they relate.