Is there a list of what is covered on ITBS for each grade?

[Perry]

I am wondering what science and social studies would be covered in the middle school years.

[clementine]

Because all school districts vary on what they teach when, I would just do a couple searches for scope & sequence to see what is 'normally' taught in each grade.

 

We know that there may be things we haven't covered on the ITBS each year, but it's never shown up on our results that we're lacking in any certain area. We were low on capitalization in our results last year, but that's only because we weren't studying it til this year. Now we're right where we should be again.

 

I would discourage 'teaching to the test' only because it disrupts the continuity of what they've learned so far & making a smooth transition (especially in terms of history dates & info) is so important.

 

Just my .02 not meant to sound bossy :)

[Ailaena]

I am wondering what science and social studies would be covered in the middle school years.

 

 

Dd has been taking the ITBS since Kindergarten, and I kept it up when we started homeschooling. Her science/SS has always slightly lagged behind everything else, and I never knew why. This year, we had some time conflicts with the local testing people and I decided to give the test at home (7th grade level). For the first year, I actually had a chance to look at these sections and try and figure out what the problem is.

 

My conclusion was that there is no problem. The questions are totally random and totally basic. I will not give specific questions, obviously, but it was things like, "What is the weather like in summertime Tokyo?" And, "Which of the following things does a plant cell have that an animal cell does not?" The history questions on her form did not include any dates at all, only time references (civil war, WWII, etc).

 

The breakdown of topics on the scoring sheet (in case that is the slightest bit helpful) were:

Science: Scientific Inquiry, Life science, Earth and Space Science and Physical Science

Social Studies: History, Geography, Economics and Government and Society

 

 

I definitely agree with clementine, though, about not teaching to a test. Just do what you do because eventually, everyone covers the same stuff!