At Zer0-19, the following learning and psycho-educational diagnostic tools in Greek and English have been selected and administered by specialized and specially trained professionals aimed at Greek-speaking, English-speaking or bilingual students aged 4 to 19 years.
Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (DASH)
The DASH psychometric tool assesses writing speed. As part of a comprehensive assessment, data from the DASH can help: identify children with writing difficulties, provide a reliable measure of writing speed appropriate for the child’s age, provide a detailed description of writing performance, in the evaluation of intervention programs, but also in research.
It includes five tests (copy best, alphabet writing, copy fast, graphic speed, free writing) each of which examines a different area of the child’s handwriting. Specifically, these five tests examine fine motor and discrimination skills, speed of production of familiar symbolic material, ability to change speed or performance on two tasks with the same content, and free-writing ability.
In conclusion, the above tests cover a fairly wide range of skills involved in the writing process. In fact, since the scores on four of the five tests are highly correlated, they can be summed and converted into a meaningful overall standard score, which can be considered a universal measure of typing speed.
Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing – Second Edition (CTOPP-2)
The CTOPP-2 is a standardized instrument that measures phonological processing abilities related to reading.
This tool was developed to help identify individuals – from pre-school through to higher education – who would benefit from a range of educational activities to enhance their phonological skills. According to the reading-related phonological processing model, these phonological abilities are based on the development of three structures: phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rapid naming, which are all assessed by the CTOPP-2.
The uses of the given tool can be classified into four categories. First, it identifies those students who score significantly lower than their peers in basic phonological skills. It also helps to define the strengths, but also the weaknesses, between the developed phonological processes. Furthermore, the tool offers the possibility to record the progress of individuals in phonological processing, as a consequence of special intervention programs. Finally, the CTOPP-2 can also serve as a measurement device in research studies investigating phonological processing. It meets strict technical adequacy criteria regarding reliability, validity, norm-referenced data, and reporting methods of scores.
Wide Range TM Assessment of Memory and Learning – Third Edition (WRAML3)
The WRAML3 is designed to collect clinical data on the subject’s learning and memory functions. It consists of the following 17 subtests: six immediate recall subtests (including two attention and concentration subtests), four delayed recall subtests, four recognition subtests, two working memory subtests, and one additional sentence recall subtest. Of the 17 subtests above, 11 are supplementary subtests administered when indicated by the referral question or the examiner’s own perception of the assessment as it progresses.
The design of the WRAML3 psychometric tool was guided by a variety of goals, some of which are as follows: to provide a comprehensive and at the same time flexible memory assessment tool that will be appropriate for the specific clinical needs of the setting and the examinee; to provide clinically meaningful findings on memory performance and to allow assessment of multiple levels of performance to address a wide range of clinical needs that may vary according to client needs and expectations.
Finally, many changes have been made from the 2nd to the 3rd version of the WRAML tool to improve the way the test is administered, as well as the measurement of various aspects of memory, and to make the WRAML3 more useful for the entire age range.
The Standard Progressive Matrices (including the Parallel and Plus Versions) – 2000 Edition
The Raven Quantitative Assessment Tool is a literacy-independent non-verbal cross-cultural test that investigates the cognitive ability of people of all ages regardless of the nationality, language and physical condition of the subjects. Overall, through this specific tool, the person’s ability to draw conclusions in a visual-spatial context is also assessed.
The standard test consists of 60 problems divided into five sets (A, B, C, D, and E), each consisting of 12 problems. In each set the first problem is as self-explanatory as possible. The problems that follow build on those that have gone before and become progressively more difficult, in such a way that formal training in working method occurs. The five sets provide five opportunities to understand the method of thinking required to solve the problems and five progressive assessments of a person’s capacity for mental activity.
More specifically, the test consists of sets, or series, of diagrammatic puzzles that exhibit some sort of serial change in two dimensions simultaneously. In each puzzle, then, there is a missing piece that the person taking the test must find among the options provided. To ensure the continued interest of the examinee and to avoid fatigue, each problem is carefully designed and presented as pleasing to the examiner as possible.
Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB)
The CAB tool is a Greek population-standardized ability tool used to identify an individual’s fluency in learning or performing specific tasks.
Specifically, the CAB psychometric instrument assesses numeracy, inductive reasoning ability, understanding of mechanical principles and data, spatial awareness, observation, fluency, object recognition, language ability, idea generation, originality of thinking, memorization using associations, speed and accuracy of perception, memorization in a mechanical way, dexterity, aesthetic judgment and visual creation.
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – UK Fifth English Edition (WISC-V)
The WISC-V is a comprehensive clinical instrument – individually administered – for the assessment of intelligence in children aged 6 years and 0 months to 16 years and 11 months.
It provides primary index scores that represent the child’s cognitive functioning in specific cognitive domains, a composite score that represents the child’s general cognitive ability, auxiliary index scores that represent the child’s cognitive abilities in different groups based on clinical needs, and supplemental index scores that they measure additional cognitive abilities, which are related to academic achievement, but also issues and disorders related to learning.
The revised goals of the 5th edition of the WISC can be grouped into the following five categories: updating and modernizing the theoretical foundations, increasing developmental appropriateness, increasing examiner and examinee friendliness, improving psychometric properties, and enhancing clinical utility.
