Middle Years Ability Test (MYAT)

Range: Middle Years students (last two years of primary, first two years of secondary)

Purpose: To provide a measure of general ability.

Administration: 45 minutes — group

The Middle Years Ability Test (MYAT) is a test of general ability designed to assist teachers in their assessment of students aged 10–15 years.

As well as verbal and numerical reasoning items in the tradition of the ACER Intermediate Tests, MYAT includes non-verbal (or abstract) reasoning items, giving a more complete picture of students’ general ability.

MYAT Test Booklet A and Test Booklet B are parallel forms – each is pitched at roughly the same level of student ability.

 Key Features:

• Excellent group test of general ability
• Contains literacy, numeracy and non-verbal items in two parallel forms
• Up-to-date Australian norms
• Can be used to help in identification of gifted and talented students
• Machine scored through ACER’s test scoring service or handscored
• The MYAT Report provides an overall ability score and a profile of the student’s performance in each of the three sub-scale areas.

Assessment Content: 75 multiple-choice items:

• Numeracy – 25 items which provide information about the extent to which a student can exercise basic numeracy skills, is a discriminating and accurate user of mathematical methods, and can reason, solve and construct meaning from number problems.
• Literacy – 25 items which provide information about the extent to which a student can exercise basic literacy skills, is a discriminating and accurate word user, and can reason and construct meaning from text.
• Non-verbal – 25 items which provide information about the extent to which a student can discover principles and rules, and apply them to solve problems using abstract visual patterns rather than numbers or words.