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Oct 24, 2014 | #1
Improving Education Through WISC-IV
Introduction
Education stakeholders are constantly looking for ways to improve teaching methods and make learning more accommodative. Failure to carry out assessment of both teacher and student, however, can be retrogressive to this endeavor. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children fourth edition (WISC-IV) was developed to offer educators and psychologists a means of administering intelligence tests for children. This paper is divided into clearly labeled sub-sections for easy navigation into different areas of discussion. It discusses the use of WISC-IV as an assessment tool for children as well as the teaching personnel. It explores various literary pieces written about the tool to find a common ground on the best way to utilize the instrument. From the literature, some examples will be drawn to review the discussions on the use of WISC-IV. The paper will focus majorly on children with learning disabilities, ADHD and minorities, but children with other issues will be mentioned to find the usefulness of the tool for them. WISC-relevant theories, such as Cattell Horn Carrol (CHC), will also be discussed to explain its practicability. This paper analyzes the potential that lies in the utility of WISC-IV as an assessment tool for academic personnel and child psychologists.
The paper will discuss the best practices to apply in the utility of WISC-IV. Compliance with these practices can help managers to be able to assess and determine their best teachers and child-care providers. Finally, this analysis is aimed at exposing the discrepancies between intelligence and academic performance of children. Similarly, the paper will show how psychologists can use the WISC-IV to identify intellectual giftedness, learning difficulties, and cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Various interventions to address cognitive deficits and learning difficulties will also be discussed (Ward et al., 1995). At the conclusion, recommendations and suggestions are provided for various stakeholders involved in a child's intellectual development.Literature Review
When Wechsler (2004) introduced the first Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), his intention was to produce a tool that would cater for the educational needs of all children. However, many improvements have since been done, and more changes are expected. The latest version of WISC (fourth edition) is seen to be even more sensitive to minorities, such as children with hearing or learning disabilities and females. IQ scores generated from the test can be used in the selection process because it represents students' general cognitive ability (Wechsler, 2004). Interviewees are tested on various areas including vocabulary, similarities, comprehension, information and word reasoning. Other areas of less focus being tested are matrix reasoning, picture concepts and completion, digit span, letter-number sequencing and arithmetic (Cohen, 1997). School managers can use this tool to assess instructors who utilize it effectively for the benefit of their students.
School heads can encourage their staff to administer the WISC-IV tool to classify children according to degrees of achievement, memory, emotional intelligence, adaptive behavior and giftedness. Schools can use the outcomes of these tests to develop curriculum that best suits each child. According to Flanagan & Kaufman (2009), children's backgrounds must be considered when conducting any assessment. Any potentially compromising factor should be noted to prevent making wrong conclusions and biases. If it is administered correctly, this instrument can promote objectivity of teachers when dealing with different kinds of children. Schools can utilize the WISC-IV not only as an IQ test but also as a clinical tool. For example, WISC-IV can be used to diagnose learning disabilities and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) through the process of pattern analysis (Watkins, Kush, & Glutting, 1997).
Cohen (1997) adds that the tool can be useful in assessing the cognitive growth of children. This assessment can be done in relation to the chronological age. The instrument, therefore, can help to provide knowledge about the psychological welfare of children when data comparison is done.
References
Cohen, M. (1997). Children's memory scale. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
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Flanagan, D.P. & Kaufman, A.S. (2009). Essentials of WISC-IV Assessment. Volume 56 of Essentials of Psychological Assessment. John Wiley & Sons. P. 257-259.
Kaplan, R.M & Saccuzzo, D.P. (2009). Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications and Issues (Seventh ed.). Belmont (CA): Wadsworth.
Ward, S.B., Ward, T. J., Hatt, C.V., Young, D.L. & Mollner, N.R. (1995). The incidence and utility of the ACID, ACIDS and SCAD profiles in a referred population. Psychology in the Schools, 32(4), 267-276.
Watkins, M.W., Kush, J., & Glutting, J.J. (1997). Discriminant and predictive validity of the WISC-III ACID profile among children with learning disabilities. Psychology in the Schools, 34(4), 309-319
Wechsler, D. (2004). The Wechsler intelligence scale for children. London: Pearson Assessment.