Academic Achievement Tests

Academic achievement tests are used to assess academic skills, most often in the areas of reading, writing, and math. They serve many purposes, but the two most common are diagnosing academic learning disabilities and identifying patterns of strengths and difficulties within academic skills. Academic achievement tests can also be used to determine specific assistance an individual may need in daily living, such as help with reading directions or handling finances.

Academic achievement tests can be used as an adjunct to intellectual or neuropsychological assessment. Traditionally, learning disorders were diagnosed based on the discrepancy between a person’s intelligence and academic skills. Therefore, academic achievement tests and intelligence tests were often administered together. However, more recent theories of learning disorders have found that the discrepancy model is too ...