Jane's Academic Performance: Tests and Strengths/Weaknesses - Essay Sample

Introduction

Students at the k-12 level of education usually take a number of tests throughout their education process. The purpose of the tests is to measure the progress of the students in their academic performance. From Jane's case study, Jane is experiencing academic difficulties in performing well in timed tasks and mathematical problems. However, Jane performs well in vocabulary and comprehension subjects. In order to measure the strengths and weaknesses of Jane, it is important to perform intelligence and achievement tests. The purpose of the paper is to create an evaluation plan to measure Jane's strengths and limitations.

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Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test

The purpose of conducting an intelligence test is to measure Jane's intelligence potential for academic achievement. In this cases study, the effective intelligence test is the Stanford-Binet tests. The Stanford-Binet test is an examination, which is purposed to measure the intelligence of Jane by gauging her cognitive abilities (Martin & Kubzansky, 2005). The cognitive abilities measured by the Stanford - Binet test include; Knowledge, fluid reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and memory (Kaplan, 2015). Additionally, both verbal and verbal skills are measured. The score from each test is combined, and the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is calculated. I will employ the Stanford-Binet intelligence test because it is effective in determining the cognitive functioning and intelligence of Jane and, it will help in the diagnosis of her learning difficulties in mathematics. Additionally, the Stanford-Binet is a reliable test because it has undergone a series of validity tests and, it has been found to give accurate results.

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test

In Jane's situation, I would use the Wechsler individual test (WIAT) to measure her academic skills. The Wechsler test proposes to measure the students learning through gauging their skills and knowledge of a particular subject. The WIAT consists of a series of tests aimed at measuring a variety of skills including speaking, listening, reading, mathematical skills, and writing. After the tests, the scores from various tests are combined and the average score calculated. The average score in the Wechsler test is 100 with a standard deviation of 15 (Canivez, Watkins, & Dombrowski, 2016). Therefore, if Jane scores115, then Jane achievement abilities would be above average, and if she is scored below 69, then her achievement abilities would be extremely low. I would employ the Wechsler achievement test because the results are reliable to diagnosis Jane's strengths and weaknesses.

The Spearman Intelligence Theory

There are different theories of intelligence including the spearman's Two-factor, Sternberg's Triarchic, and Gardner's theories of intelligence. All three theories are useful in gaining a better understanding of the brain. However, in Jane's case, I would use Spearman's theory of intelligence. Spearman's theory of intelligence suggests that students who performed better in one subject tend to perform better in other subjects as well (Kaplan, 2015). According to Charles Spearman, humans have a generalized intelligence referred to as g-factor and it leads to other special intelligence measured by s- factor. The g-factor score measures an individual's abilities, while the s-factor measures intelligence through memory, attention, reasoning, and verbal comprehension.

On contrary to spearman's intelligent theory, the Sternberg Triarchic intelligence theory suggests that human intelligence is divided into three forms of intelligence: creative, practical, and analytical intelligence. According to Sternberg, a person with a balanced measure of the three forms of intelligence achieved best results (Kaplan, 2015). On the other hand, the Gardener's theory of intelligence suggests that there multiple forms of intelligence. According to Gardner, intelligence is divided into many parts including musical, naturalistic, mathematical, linguistic, and interpersonal intelligence (Kaplan, 2015).

Conclusion

To conclude, the best way to identify Jane's strengths and limitations are to employ the Stanford-Binet intelligence test and the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test. The Stanford-Binet test would measure intelligence potential, while the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test would measure academic skills. Both tests would measure Jane's intellectual and achievement potential which will explain her academic difficulties in mathematics and times tasks.

References

Canivez, G. L., Watkins, M. W., & Dombrowski, S. C. (2016). Factor structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition: Exploratory factor analyses with the 16 primary and secondary subtests. Psychological Assessment, 28(8), 975.

Kaplan, R. M. (2015). Psychological testing: Principles, applications, and issues. Pearson Education.

Martin, L. T., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2005). Childhood cognitive performance and risk of mortality: A prospective cohort study of gifted individuals. American Journal of Epidemiology, 162(9), 887-90. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/235891960?accountid=776