Administering the Davidson-Bruce Word Meaning Test (WMT)

The WMT is an assessment of expressive vocabulary rather than receptive vocabulary, so the test is given orally and individually to learners. The scores are given as Grade Equivalents. Following is the set of instructions for how to administer the Word Meaning Test with a learner. The instructions are also available in a PDF below.

Modified Davidson-Bruce Word Meaning Tests

Modified Administration Guidelines

1. Start at or one grade level below the student’s TABE or CASAS Reading GLE.

2. Say to the student: “I’m going to say a word and ask you to tell me what it means.”

3. Then, beginning with the first word on the list, say: “Tell me what ____________ means.” DO NOT show the student the word (this changes the purpose of the test from expressive vocabulary to reading vocabulary). Also, do not tell the student the part of speech.

4. Write down as much of the student’s response as you can in the space provided after each word for later review and consideration.

5. Sometimes, a student will misunderstand a word you have pronounced. (For example, a student might misunderstand “connect” as “correct.”) If this happens, stop the student and say, “I will say the word again. ______________. Tell me what ____________ means.” If the student still does not understand the target word, write down the response and note on the test that the student misunderstood the word.

6. If you are not sure whether the student knows the meaning of the word, you may use the prompt, “Tell me more” to get additional information. Please do not use any other prompts. The student’s definition does not have to be dictionary quality but does need to establish familiarity with the word’s meaning.

7. In order to master a level—and go on to the next level—a student must give correct meanings OR use the words appropriately in sentences for 4 or 5 of the presented words. Continue with higher-level words until you finish a list on which a student does not give at least 4 correct meanings, appropriate contexts, or use in full sentences.

Modified Davidson-Bruce Word Meaning Test Guidelines.pdf

How Do I score the WMT?

For the WMT, you score the test in “real time”; that is, you will have to decide whether a learner has given a correct response while you are giving the test (this is so because the number correct on each level determines which level you will give next, as explained in the section above).

For this reason, it is very important that you familiarize yourself with the acceptable responses before you give the test. Feel free to keep the list of acceptable responses near you when you give your first few tests; you can then refer to it if you are not sure about a response.
Occasionally, a student will give a meaning that is extremely difficult to judge while you are giving the test. You’ll need more time to decide if the meaning is acceptable. If this happens to you, make sure that you don’t let that response be the one to stop the test. Keep going to the next level! It is better to push the student a little bit than to stop testing too soon.
Because the test is scored in real-time, you will have the student’s score as soon as you have finished. The score is the highest level on which a learner correctly gives 4 or more correct responses.