Wechsler vs. Woodcock-Johnson

[Logic Prevails]

I've been doing assessments for a little while now and have tended to choose the Woodcock-Johnson measures over the Wechsler ones (particularly for measuring Achievement) - personally, I think that the WJ-III Cog and WJ-III Ach are stronger psychometrically; a well-known neuropsychologist who supervised me at the time thought so too (even though I recognize that the Wechsler scales have been around longer and are more popular in the mainstream).

However, now I am in "a dilly of a pickle," because I am doing assessments in a different geographical area where it seems that the only measures most mental health professionals are familiar with (i.e. school psychologists) is the Wechsler scales. I am worried that it will throw people off if I were to stick with the WJ instruments (especially the school psychologists and persons deciding whether an individual will receive services). I would bet that someone might even question an LD diagnosis made using the WJ measures (it seems that criteria here are implicitly based on Wechsler discrepancies).

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Should I use what I perceive to be an inferior measure so that others are more familiar with the results (thereby benefitting the client)?

Does anyone have adequate experience with BOTH of these measures and for some reason tend to use the Wechsler (again, my gripe is mostly with the WIAT)?

Thanks,

LP

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[Therapist4Chnge]

I'm not sure how feasible this may be, but it may be helpful to offer a free educational review about the WJ. You can talk about the strengths, how it stacks up against other instruments, etc. Offer a free lunch. If you pitch it right, you can not only help educate them about other assessments, you can probably get some referrals out of it. One referral would more than pay for the lunch and time.

-p

 

[Duckygirl]

I've been doing assessments for a little while now and have tended to choose the Woodcock-Johnson measures over the Wechsler ones (particularly for measuring Achievement) - personally, I think that the WJ-III Cog and WJ-III Ach are stronger psychometrically; a well-known neuropsychologist who supervised me at the time thought so too (even though I recognize that the Wechsler scales have been around longer and are more popular in the mainstream).

However, now I am in "a dilly of a pickle," because I am doing assessments in a different geographical area where it seems that the only measures most mental health professionals are familiar with (i.e. school psychologists) is the Wechsler scales. I am worried that it will throw people off if I were to stick with the WJ instruments (especially the school psychologists and persons deciding whether an individual will receive services). I would bet that someone might even question an LD diagnosis made using the WJ measures (it seems that criteria here are implicitly based on Wechsler discrepancies).

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Should I use what I perceive to be an inferior measure so that others are more familiar with the results (thereby benefitting the client)?

Does anyone have adequate experience with BOTH of these measures and for some reason tend to use the Wechsler (again, my gripe is mostly with the WIAT)?

Thanks,

LP

Hey Logic Prevails~
I know what you've talking about. I think the WIAT is a pain in the rear because the reading comprehension ALWAYS overshoots ability, and it takes like a million and one years to give, and score for that matter. Remember that you can get standard scores and percentiles from both the WJs and the WIAT (but you have to put the WJ scores through the computer scoring program to get the SS and %iles- and the normative updates make using their old booklets harder). Any school psychologist should know how to interpret standard scores and percentiles, regardless of which instrument you use. Also, you could find them a little "proof in the pudding" by doing a side-by-side comparison, time permitting. Give Letter-Word indentification of the WJ and Word Reading of the WIAT and compare the standard scores- you can even show them to the professionals you are working with and explain your take on the discrepancies.
I also thought it was a great suggestion by T4C that you offer to host an info session on the WJ. You might be surprised by the kind of response you'll get. I wonder what part of the country you are in...Around here in the PNW, most school psychs use the WJ- it's much faster to give, and you can score as you go faster as well. You have to also take into account, however, that if the districts you are working for say that in order to provide services, you must use the WIAT, there's no getting around that. I don't think there's a school district out there that will accept scores from an assessment that is out of their acceptable tests. I think when it comes to the WISC IV, you will be hard pressed to find people who would be willing to substitute the WJ TofCog so readily. The WISC appears to be far more a golden standard for cognitive assessment. Good luck with this! It is a pickle...

I'd love to hear what others think of this as well.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I also thought it was a great suggestion by T4C that you offer to host an info session on the WJ. You might be surprised by the kind of response you'll get. I wonder what part of the country you are in...Around here in the PNW, most school psychs use the WJ- it's much faster to give, and you can score as you go faster as well. You have to also take into account, however, that if the districts you are working for say that in order to provide services, you must use the WIAT, there's no getting around that. I don't think there's a school district out there that will accept scores from an assessment that is out of their acceptable tests. I think when it comes to the WISC IV, you will be hard pressed to find people who would be willing to substitute the WJ TofCog so readily. The WISC appears to be far more a golden standard for cognitive assessment. Good luck with this! It is a pickle...

I'd love to hear what others think of this as well.

I am far from an expert on this.....but I did a year at a couple public schools and their standard was the WISC/WAIS (I happen to prefer them, mostly because I can do them in my sleep) I didn't see any trace of WJ's....though I'm not sure if that is just the administrator's preference....or a requirement.

[off-topic]
As for offering 'free' informational sessions....it is one of the best ways to network and gain referrals and get your name out. For the cost of lunch, you can get a ton of 'touches'....if any of them pay off, your costs are covered, and you have a new source of referrals for nothing. Once you get proficient at this, your ROI should be a no-brainer. If you get well enough known, people will find YOU to give talks. [/off-topic]

-t

 

[Duckygirl]

Sorry guys...just for clarification in case I confused anyone...

I was referring to the WJ TofAch as the assessment most school districts around here use for educational assessment (as opposed to the WIAT), and the WISC IV for cognitive assessment (as opposed to the WJ TofCog). I've never seen a school report up here that used the WJ TofCog in place of a WISC. I will say also, however, I find that private schools in my area sometimes ask for students to be tested with the WIAT for educational assessment, and not the WJ- I'm not sure what drives their preferences.

 

[Logic Prevails]

Good feedback - that's why I like posting on this forum 😀

I never would have thought about the free informational sessions - my initial thought is that no one would show up! - but maybe I would be surprised.

I tend to prefer the WISC/WAIS for cognitive assessment as well, but if you are doing discrepancy comparisons, there are some that would argue (myself excluded) that you should stick to the Wechsler achievement measure (WIAT) because the norms are linked. The huge benefit of the WJ instruments is that they are fully co-normed (though the WJ Cog seems a bit cumbersome). I love the WJ Ach though.

My impression is that my jurisdiction uses the WIAT and nothing but (kind-of a shame I think)... I don't know how a WJ Ach would fly... I guess a lunch presentation would be a start though!

Thanks again

LP

 

[Neuro-Dr]

Some decisions are best made on what you "see" rather than the psychometrics. If you want to do gifted testing, use the SB-V or WJ-Cog because you'll get more kids in and parents will be happier. If you do LD, I'm not sure you could compel me as much either way. If you do NP, stop using the SB-V and WJ-Cog because the research on clinical syndromes is done primarily with the wechsler series and thus the modal deficits will be known on those tests regardless of the psychometric preferences you may have.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Great info N-D!

-t