Standardized test scores

[Michelle in AL]

My dd's test scores slipped this yr (8th grade) in reading comp, spelling, & grammar. We used the IOWA test for the 1st time this yr. We usually use the CAT. Has anyone else seen a difference in scores between the 2 tests?

 

I'd like to test her with something else in 9th grade. What test would you give? Trial run of ACT, I think the IOWA stops after 8th, but maybe the CAT goes through high school?

[Laurie4b]

Neither the IOWA nor the CAT was developed to say much that is statistically relevant about an individual student's scores except for screening purposes. The IOWA and CAT were developed to compare groups of students to other groups of students, such as School A to School B, School A in 2006 to School A in 2007, state A, to state B. Their only statistically valid use for individual students is as a screening tool (real high scores? test further for giftedness. Real low scores? Test further for LD's etc.) Additionally, all tests have a standard error of measure; statistically speaking, there is a certain probability that the student's true score lies within a certain range and is not due to chance occurrences (such as good guessing). So you need to compare the range in the standard error of measure in the percentile rankings to the range in the standard error of measure in the other test. For instance, the score on one test might be a 96 with a range of 90-99 due to the standard error of measure. If the next year, the score was a 90, the student would not be considered to have actually dropped, but to have tested the same, even though there is 6 point difference.

 

I'd go with the ACT for 9th grade. The more practice, the better.

[Michelle in AL]

Thanks for your help Laurie, the scores were all in Lang arts: reading comp & all parts of grammar. They decreased from high 90's every yr to I think 84 in reading and 86 in grammar, more than a range would allow. I know these are still good scores, but I test her every yr and these are significantly lower.

 

Spelling is the only thing she's consistantly scored average in and it's not improved either. I'm just a little disappointed that we'll be continuing spelling & grammar in 9th grade, something I'd hoped to give up.

[Maura in NY]

I'm waiting to get our test scores back -- my boys took the IOWA for the first time, after taking the CAT for the last few years. I KNOW they did worse in math. Now I'll be worrying about the language arts sections as well. I went into the IOWA this year with the understanding that it is considered more difficult than the CAT. My boys were getting "perfect" scores on many sections of the CAT, so I was curious how they would do with the IOWA. But in retrospect, this really wasn't the year to change things up, because our school year was shaky already due to family stuff...Oh well. It's only testing; I try not to care too much!

 

Did you test through Piedmont Educational Services? How long did it take to get your results?

 

Maura

[Michelle in AL]

Hi Maura, I did use Piedmont. It took 3 weeks to get our test results back and they sent me an email when they were shipped.

 

From looking over the test, I'd have to say it was easier than the CAT in many ways. The questions appeared easier to me.

 

The last test of the math is timed and you had to work very rapidly to get through it. My 6th grade dd did well and finished, my 8th grade dd was unable to finish 7 problems I think, and that affected her overall math score.

 

One difference I did notice on the IOWA is that in the reading comprehension section , there were many more inference type ?'s. The answer was not in the reading portion you had to infer what someone would do.

 

The CAT also had many different types of questions in their language arts. The IOWA had usually one type, so if your child doesn't test well with that type of question, they may not do as well. For example, spelling was all "choose the incorrectly spelled word from the 5 below." The CAT tested spelling in 3 ways if I remember correctly.

 

I think I'll use the CAT for future testing, so I can better compare scores from yr to yr.

[Michelle in MO]

what year the test was made. For example, we've usually done either the Stanford (my prefererence) or the Iowa, but the Iowa test we're allowed in Missouri is still being scored against 1995 norms! You might check with your testing service and see which version of the Iowa your kids were given.

 

Generally speaking, I had heard that the Iowa test was considered to be more difficult than the CAT, although I've only heard that, so I'm not trying to state this as the "gospel truth."

 

Did you do the testing yourself, or have your kids tested by someone else? For example, last year I took my kids up to a homeschool group in St. Louis to be tested (Stanford). I was very unhappy with their testing procedures: the test administrator was extremely rigid with a friend of mine who had asked for an alternative test date (which the group originally had promised to do, but the administrator later reneged on this); plus, I also thought that there was an instance of improper testing procedures. I called BJU, which was the testing service that sold the tests to this group, and BJU said that they could not explicitly moniter every instance of possible misuse of the tests (which is understandable). Nevertheless, I was convinced that there was a possible misuse of the test.

 

I'm not suggesting that you or your testing group did anything wrong, but you might do a little research into finding out how the test is supposed to be administered and if the group followed those procedures. Just a suggestion along those lines.

 

Nevertheless, since we're looking into different options for our kids this year, I'm not going to have them tested. My oldest will take the ACT in June, and all three of mine may be enrolled in a private high school that is a 30-minute drive from our home, so if they have any testing, it may be through that school.

 

Anyway, Michelle, those dips can just "happen" sometimes, too! My older two girls tend to test very well, but my youngest has difficulty. I tested her myself last year, after our test results from the other group, and I found that she was literally racing through portions of the test instead of carefully thinking and answering questions! Although I'm a believer in having someone else test my kids, in this case it was instructive for me to see that she lacks some basic test-taking skills that we can work on for the future.

 

HTH!

[Michelle in AL]

Hi Michelle, I tested them myself. I think the dip was due to being a little careless and hormonal fog. There were literally a few days this yr, when she was so fatigued and hazy (not due to lack of sleep) that she could hardly get school done. I really think it was hormonal and thankfully she seems to be coming out of that. She also has an I know I'm right, I don't need to look over anything attitude, that we need to work on.