Customer Reviews

Woodcock-Johnson III: Reports, Recommendations, and Strategies

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This is a very powerful reference that can be a helpful tool for school psychologists and private practice clinicians. Mather and Jaffe divide this book into four helpful sections. The first has much to do with the Woodcock Johnson-III tests of cognitive abilities and academic achievement. They provide guidelines for assessment interpretation, including hypotheses of origins for varied subtest combinations. The second section of the book provides the reader with samples of varied examples of comprehensive psychological reports. These can help provide guidelines for report writing that includes (but is not limited to) the Woodcock Johnson-III.

The third and fourth sections are what make the book marketable to all practicing clinicians, not only those who use the WJ-III. The third section provides pages of recommendations for varied cognitive and academic weaknesses (such as problems with memory, auditory processing, reading, etc.) The fourth section provides practitioners with a series of strategies or programs that one can implement to help with documented referral concerns. Colleagues of mine who do not use the WJ-III have this book at the ready for the recommendatons and strategies alone.

As can be seen, Mather and Jaffe have created a comprehensive text that will undoubtedly be helpful to any practitioner in psychological assessment. I have not yet found someone who owns the book who has not found it to be extraordinarily helpful. Thank you Dr. Mather and Dr. Jaffe for creating a reference that will assuredly be indirectly helpful for our students.

Woodcock-Johnson III: Reports, Recommendations, and Strategies (Nancy Mather & Lynne Jaffe, New York: Wiley, 2002) is an essential resource, not only for evaluators who use the Woodcock-Johnson III and teachers who use the results of Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ III) assessments, but also for anyone involved in educational evaluation or planning individual educational programs.
The first section of the book begins with a collection of extremely well-designed forms, worksheets, and tables that make it much easier to organize and report WJ III evaluation findings so the findings will be understandable and helpful to teachers and parents. It continues with the clearest explanations I have seen of scores and levels of interpretation, including "sample statements for reports scores and score discrepancies." The section ends with valuable information on interpretation of comparisons between tests and patterns of errors, including a tremendously helpful, three-page table of "task analysis and comparison of selected tests."
The 31 sample reports (27 for children of ages 4 through 17 and 4 for adults) in the second section provide a variety of instructive models, including the use of 41 other tests to supplement the WJ III. Many different report formats are offered with a mixture of disabilities (including none).
The 158 pages of specific, practical, clearly explained recommendations, organized by categories, are a treasure chest for any evaluator or teacher. They include suggestions for further evaluation, accommodations and modifications, and teaching methods. This section could stand alone as a special education textbook. Including appropriate recommendations from this section will tremendously enhance the value of an evaluation report.
Finally, there are 85 pages of specific instructional strategies, some self-contained with needed materials printed in the book and others clear summaries with references to published materials. This clear, detailed presentation will provide even the most experienced evaluator or teacher with valuable, new information and will allow the evaluator to show teachers precisely how to carry out recommended instructional strategies with which the teachers may not be familiar.
The myriad resources in Woodcock-Johnson III: Reports, Recommendations, and Strategies achieve the seemingly contradictory goals of making it easier to write evaluation reports and making the reports much more useful to parents, teachers, and administrators.
The breadth, depth, clarity, and overwhelming utility of Woodcock-Johnson III: Reports, Recommendations, and Strategies make it an essential resource for even the most experienced evaluator or special education teacher as well as an ideal textbook for assessment courses. I enthusiastically recommend it.
John O. Willis, Ed.D.
Senior Lecturer in Assessment,
Rivier College;
Assessment Specialist,
Regional Services and Education Center, Amherst, NH.

Run to buy this book if you do psychoeducational testing. Not only does it explain the Woodcock-Johsnon III in detail, it also gives a plethora of wonderful recommendations that you can use in your reports. In addition, it actually contains about 20 or more actual reports. You can't lose!

I have several of the Essentials series books, which are very helpful. For the WJIII this book is invaluable. When I started using the WJIII, I borrowed a colleagues copy of this to really get into the depth of the instrument. Didn't take long to know I needed to buy my own copy! There is so much helpful information and guidance in this book, I encourage you to "Look Inside!" and see for yourself. The recommendations section is great, particularly if you are assessing for intervention in schools.

Can any of us ever agree with 100% of the opinions and recommendations of another professional? No, it just doesn't happen. However, we can appreciate well written and organized reports with detailed recommendations that make implementation a breeze for the reader (be they parent, teacher, therapist, etc.). This CD can significantly add to your library of precise and detailed recommendations. It works well with WORD and other word processors, is searchable, and transferred without a hitch. Will it make you competent in areas you weren't competent in before you got it? No, again. But it will improve your options and offer you new material to consider incorporating. Give it a try, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Great seller and great book for the series WJIII student. It has case examples that are essential to put the pieces together from testing to recommending accommodations. I used this text to give presentations in class and to figure a lot of things out on my own. If you are in a program and you feel you are own your own learning the WJIII you need this book.

I already had the book, but this cd was recommended as you could actually cut and paste the recommendations, etc. It is a fantastic resource and worth the money.

I found this book very helpful in developing strategies and interpreting data from the WJ-III. It's a great tool for anyone who assesses children or adults.

This help me to understand better the WJ both cognitive and achievement. There is an updated version with a CD, but double the price. This book helps me in my report writting and was affordable. Dr. Cabrera

This manual is extremely useful when preparing for PPTs and when you are writing reports. I have found the new forms very useful. I would recommend this manual for every special education teacher.