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The complete Woodcock Johnson Psycho-Educational battery contains 27 subtests organized into three parts (Woodcock, R, 1978)

Part one - Tests of cognitive ability
1. Picture vocabulary
2. Spatial relations
3. Memory for sentences
4. Visual-auditory learning
5. Blending
6.Quantitative concepts
7. Visual matching
8. Antonyms-synonyms
9.Analysis-synthesis
10. Numbers reversed
11. Concept formation
12. Analogies

Part two - Tests of Achievement
13. Letter-Word Identification
14. Work attack
15. Passage Comprehension
16. Calculation
17. Applied problems
18. Dictation
19. Proofing
20. Science
21. Social studies
22. Humanities

Part three - Tests of Interest Level
23. Reading Interest
24. Mathematics Interest
25. Language Interest
26. Physical Interest
27. Social Interest

In the CDS-I and CDS-II, three subtests were selected as a measure of reading and match achievement: the Letter-Word, the Passage Comprehension, and the Applied Problems tests (Mainieri, 2006)

Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised (WJ-R) is a well-established and respected measure that provides researchers with information on several dimensions of intellectual ability, including current developmental status, degree of mastery in reading and mathematics, and group standing (either age or grade group).
   
In the CDS-I and CDS-II, three subtests were selected as a measure of reading and match achievement: the Letter-Word, the Passage Comprehension, and the Applied Problems tests (the Calculation test was additionally administered in CDS-I). The Woodcock-Johnson Revised (WJ-R) Tests of Achievement have standardized administrative protocols. For respondents under 6 years, the interviewer administered two subtests: Letter-Word  Identification and Applied Problems. For respondents 6 years and older, the interviewer additionally administered the Passage Comprehension subtest.

The Woodcock-Johnson (WJ-R) Test of Achievement is an ‘easel’ test, or a test with a response book that sits in front of the respondent. The interviewers placed the easel at an angle so that they and the respondents could both see the stimuli (pictures) simultaneously. Each test required that the interviewer administer it exactly as described in training and in their interviewer manual. Any deviation from these procedures invalidated the results.

Since the WJ-R can be used for respondents from ages 2 to 90 years, items in the WJ-R were arranged by difficulty for all persons between those ages. The easiest questions were presented first and the items became increasingly difficult as the respondent proceeded through the test. The interviewer started testing at the appropriate starting point based on education level of the child or youth as the general guideline. At the beginning of every subtest, usually on the first page, there was a chart organized by grade in school that informed the interviewer at what item they should start administering the test. To administer the test, the interviewer turned to the page where the starting item is located.

Raw scores were calculated for the WJ-R using basal and ceiling. The basal and ceiling criteria were created to limit the amount of time any one person spends on each subtest. When the respondent got six or more consecutive items correct, then they established their basal. The interviewer continued testing until the respondent established ceiling, which was six or more consecutive items incorrect and the end of the testing page has been reached.

The Woodcock-Johnson Revised (WJ-R) Tests of Achievement have standardized scoring protocols. The tests are designed to provide a normative score that shows the CDS target child’s reading and match abilities in comparison to national average for the child’s age. The normed scores are constructed based on the target child’s raw score on the test (essentially the number of correct items completed) and the child’s age to the nearest month. Raw scores are charted on normative tables based on the child’s age and what percentile the child falls into.

The first step in creating standardized test scores for the Woodcock-Johnson Revised (WJ-R) subtests was to enter all of the hardcopy scoring tables into electronic spreadsheet files so the scoring could be done by computer. The second step was to calculate the subjects’ age at the time of testing. This was accomplished by comparing their birth date with the testing date. The syntax also incorporated commands to properly round days and months per WJ-R scoring rules. This variable was properly formatted to match the values given in the WJ-R scoring tables. The next step was to create a programming loop to choose the correct version of the testing form used, either Form A, Form B, or Form Spanish. Then the raw score for each subtest could be matched to an intermediate number known as the W Score – this intermediate step allows standardization across the different forms of the WJ-R. The W Score is then compared against the Reference W Score, which is the average W Score for a child that age.

The Reference W has to be compared to child's W Score to determine the difference and whether that difference is positive or negative. One of the scoring tables provides the number of a lookup column, and which column is used depends on the child’s age, the magnitude of the difference score, and whether the difference score was positive or negative. Furthermore, the value of the difference between the child’s W Score and the Reference W also determines which lookup row will be used. Since negative difference scores would have been problematic in the look-up tables, their absolute values were taken and then added to 400 to make them easily distinguishable from positive scores. Likewise, a difference score of zero was converted to 900. The standardized score is found at the intersection of the proper row and column, and this information was then transferred back to the main data file.

Mainieri, T. (2006, September 2006). The panel study of income dynamics child development supplement: User guide for cds-ii.   Retrieved August 31, 2007, from http://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/CDS/cdsii_userGd.pdf

Marther, N., Wendling, B., & Woodcock, R. (2001). Essential of WJ III tests of achievement assessment. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Woodcock, R. (1978). Development and standardization of the woodcpck-johnson psyho-educational battery. Allen, Texas: DLM Teaching Resources.