Stanford 10 Test Scores -- Need Encouragement

[Forgiven]

My three kids took the Stanford 10, and I just received the results. My oldest two scored exactly how I expected them to score. I wish my second child did better in some areas, but overall, he did well. My third child, however failed everything. Literally, everything. It was all below average. I just don't understand. I know how he's doing at home. He does well with Math at home (usually helps his older brother do his 5th grade math), and he can parse a sentence quickly and accurately. I expected Math and Language Arts to be his strong subjects. Nope. Nothing was strong. Everything was just horrible. 

 

I really have no idea what to do or where to go from here. The idea to send him to P.S. is circulating through my mind, but my heart aches at the idea. It aches from his scores too.

 

I'm in tears over here. :(

 

Any advice or encouragement is greatly appreciated!

[AggieMama]

Some kids don't do well taking the standardized tests. Some things you need to consider are: was this the first administration of a test like this; did they really try; was there adequate preparation in test taking; was the child sick/upset/anxious? If you want another opinion have your child take another test and see how they do. I wouldn't do anything in my opinion and just chalk it up to one day.

[freesia]

I'm running out-but it's my opinion (and Debra Bell of Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling) that before fifth grade children don't really show what they are capable of. When I taught, I also thought the Stanford was worded oddly (or differently than our books). One thing young bright children would do is speed through the test and refuse to check it b/c they thought finishing quickly meant they were smart. Take a deep breath.

[EKS]

Are you sure he took the test seriously and did his best?  Is it possible that he just guessed on everything that required any thought or work at all?  Did you administer the test yourself or did someone else?  

 

Generally my feeling is that if a test score does not confirm what you know to be true about the child, there is something wrong with the score.  

 

How about ordering the PASS test from Hewitt and trying again?

[Sahamamama]

How old is he? Is this the first time he's taken a standardized test? FWIW, I would not put too much trust in the test, but rather in what you do know about him from his work at home with you. There could be so many factors affecting the final score(s) on that test.

 

All those scores really tell you is how he did on that test for that testing. KWIM?

[Arcadia]

Test taking is a skill. Was this online or paper form? If it is online, it would be hard to tell where his mistakes are unless you were watching while he did the tests. If it is the paper version, would you have the chance to look over his marked script assuming your kids took the tests as a group somewhere.

 

By the time my oldest took the stanford 10, he had two years of state testing in public school. His results were close to my guesstimate. My youngest however had never done a standardized test before so he guessed his way through science and social studies. It was hilarious watching him guess by elimination for most of the social studies section.

 

For a first time test taker, I really won't worry about lower than expected scores. If the child is a seasoned test taker, I would worry a little over carelessness or complacency when doing the tests.

[Haiku]

You can't fail a standardized test. They tell what percentage of students scored above and what percentage scored below you. They are not a pass/fail thing. For example, my middle dd once took a standardized test on which she didn't miss any questions. She was in the 92nd percentile. Why? Because 8% of the students also didn't miss anything. They couldn't do any better than scoring higher than 92% of the other students. So the percentile score is not how many you got right or wrong; you can get all questions right and still not be in the 99th percentile. 

 

I used to work for a textbook development company. One of the things I did was develop standardized tests. I can tell you honestly that the reliability (are a student's scores generally stable over multiple test attempts?) and validity (does the test actually measure what it is purported to measure?) of standardized tests are very poor. I always tell people that standardized tests do not measure what a student knows or how well they can succeed. They measure how well a student answered those particular questions on that particular day.

 

My oldest dd does not test well. She got an extremely poor ACT score even after multiple attempts at the test. This fall she will be a senior in college with a biology major and a chemistry/English double minor, and she has a GPA in the mid 3-point range. The ACT was completely useless at predicting whether she was college-ready or whether she would succeed in college.

 

Honestly, don't sweat a young kid's standardized test score.

[bethben]

It depends on the age.  My daughter was similar in a lot of things.  She is in 2nd grade.  Part of the reason is that a good portion of the test is oral instead of read at that age.  She is easily distracted and could easily get medicated for ADD if we wanted.  I did give her a practice test and here is an example of  a test question (not actual, but they do go something like this):  Mary has 5 apples and 6 oranges.  She gives 3 apples to her friend Sue.  How many apples does she have now?  Now, if my daughter saw that on paper, she may still get a little tripped up, but at least have a chance.  With that question, by the time the proctor gets to the end, she has forgotten everything but "How many apples does she have now?"  Reading is similar with the oral confusion.  She also failed on punctuation.  I choose to just work on basic sentence structure in 2nd grade -- start with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark.  The test went way beyond that.  

 

Also, I know where she's at and she's doing just fine for her grade.  Could she have better listening skills.  Yes.  Will she need to know more than basic punctuation?  Yes, and we'll get there eventually.  But I know what she needs and I'm pretty sure you know the abilities of your child also.  Don't do what the schools do and base your entire year on one test.  

[RootAnn]

Was this the online or fill-in-the-bubbles?

 

Regardless, I would never, NEVER change everything because of one test result. I'd also never change something just because that one test showed vastly different results than what I see at home. It doesn't make any sense to do that.

 

:grouphug:

 

I'd keep doing what you are doing & the next time they take a standardized test, I'd keep an eye on that child to see what is going on.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I'm running out-but it's my opinion (and Debra Bell of Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling) that before fifth grade children don't really show what they are capable of. When I taught, I also thought the Stanford was worded oddly (or differently than our books). One thing young bright children would do is speed through the test and refuse to check it b/c they thought finishing quickly meant they were smart. Take a deep breath.

 

I frequently saw students who were the first or second person through the section, but who had answered a significant number of questions incorrectly.

 

The first year one of my kids tested he was the kid who took twice as long as everyone else in the room.  In fact the head of testing at the coop pulled him from the room and put him in a room with his own proctor, just so he could take all the time he needed.  Where his brothers scored off the charts high, he was middle of the pack or below average in several sections, particularly those involving reading or writing.

 

Five years later and I can say that he reads adult length novels, is very mechanically inclined, really understands his math, asks insightful and curious questions about science and history, and is generally developing well, though on his own timeline.  

 

I think you take the results onboard as an indication of what could be improved, whether that is understanding or demonstrating the knowledge.  Think about what you might want to modify and move forward.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

FWIW, I've found that released Standard of Learning tests can be really helpful in identifying gaps.  I used to use the tests from Virginia, because I was familiar with them and there are several years available online for free.  Sometimes it revealed areas that we hadn't covered but should (yeah, I should make sure the kids know what an amphibian is).  Sometimes we had covered it, but they didn't remember.  Sometimes it had unfamiliar wording.

 

There are a couple test items on the Stanford that I think are particularly schoolish.  Students who don't separate school and home or who aren't so familiar with standard icons for various government buildings might not get those items right.  (For example, a test might have an item that required knowledge of what the White House and the Capitol Building looked like, but might not ask which branch of government the President was the head of.)

[Junie]

There are so many things that could cause test scores to be "off".

 

One year, one of my dc did really poorly on the reading comprehension test.  I was confused because she reads really well.  The next year when I was reading her the instructions for that particular test, she got a strange expression on her face.  Then she asked, "Am I allowed to look at the reading passage while I answer the questions?"  Apparently the year before she thought that she was allowed to read the passage once and then answer all of the questions from memory.  It completely explained her poor test scores from the year before.

[Kathleen.]

Keep in mind that the publisher of the Stanford 10 is also the publisher of the math books used by most schools. So in a sense the students have been prepping all year for the wording and types of questions. Also, the math you are using may not follow the same sequence. Students are expert test takers since they are constantly being tested. I would not waste time being upset over the score. Maybe just read their suggestions on the results page and see if it applies. Schools use these tests mainly for placement and to see if the teachers are doing their job.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Kathleen.

[73349]

There are so, so many things that could cause a low test score--because a test tests more than the content on the test. Don't let it freak you out!

Here are some causes of a low test score:

- distraction (child is hungry, getting sick or getting over being sick, thinking about something interesting; something going on nearby, such as a leaf-blower....)

- confusion about test format (not understanding directions or procedures; finding it hard to fill in bubbles or choose the answer on the computer; inability to keep track of rows of questions/answers on sheet)

- difficulty reading or understanding the wording of questions, including questions asked orally, even in tests like math that are not really supposed to be reading/listening tests

- performance anxiety or disinclination to comply (e.g., the child thinks the test is too hard for him or that there is a serious penalty for scoring poorly, or feeling that he's running out of time)

- poor use of time, such as rushing, because young children don't have a good sense of how much time something takes

- weak reasoning skills for selecting the desired answers from a set of four choices, even though the child has knowledge on the topic that could be elicited in conversation

- test design that asks for something student has not done before or has no direct application to skills being used in school (ITBS Word Analysis, I'm looking at you!)

- test design that omits topics that are the student's strong areas (e.g., my DS is pretty good at identifying parts of speech for his age, but weak on punctuation rules, and the test only asked about the latter)

- content that was not covered in the student's curriculum yet (because it is in the book to be used next year in this series, for example), or that was covered a long time ago and has been forgotten.

 

Please keep in mind that percentiles reflect the number of students who score at that level, not whether the level is adequate for their grade. For example, one in five test-takers will score at or below the 20th percentile--by definition, because that is what the percentile scores mean. That doesn't mean they haven't learned enough. And another fifth will be at or above the 80th percentile, but that doesn't mean they have learned enough. Percentiles compare the child to a group of children, not to the benchmarks of achievement.

[boscopup]

Did you administer the test yourself? When I administered this test to my son a couple years ago, I looked over his answers after he took the test so I could get an idea of what he did right and wrong. That gave me a better idea of what his weak areas were than looking at the scores, which basically told me nothing I didn't know already.

 

I suspect your child either wasn't serious about the test (possibly randomly filling things in) or didn't understand specific wording of the test. I would not change your homeschooling based on the one test. Maybe try another test or practice test that you give yourself and see what exactly is going on when he takes it.

[Shellydon]

I might get a  different test like the IOWA and watch him take it.  Sit with him and watch him fill in bubbles, remind him to slow down, ready carefully etc.  If those scores are in line with what you think he knows, then it was poor test taking skills on the Stanford.  If IOWA scores are low too, then I would consider remediation in low areas.

[mschickie]

It could have just been an off day, not feeling well, test anxiety, not caring, not able to focus or just needs some more test taking practice.  I would not worry too much about 1 test.  With standardized test the best way to use them is over several years.  If this was his first time doing the Stanford then use it as a base line test, next year you can compare the results and see where he is truly having trouble.  I would also say before doing the test next year get one of the test prep books and just do some practicing and go over some test taking skill (narrowing your choices, educated guessing...).  You know how he is actually learning so do not worry about one test result.

[Tsuga]

You can't fail a standardized test. They tell what percentage of students scored above and what percentage scored below you. They are not a pass/fail thing. For example, my middle dd once took a standardized test on which she didn't miss any questions. She was in the 92nd percentile. Why? Because 8% of the students also didn't miss anything. They couldn't do any better than scoring higher than 92% of the other students. So the percentile score is not how many you got right or wrong; you can get all questions right and still not be in the 99th percentile.

 

I used to work for a textbook development company. One of the things I did was develop standardized tests. I can tell you honestly that the reliability (are a student's scores generally stable over multiple test attempts?) and validity (does the test actually measure what it is purported to measure?) of standardized tests are very poor. I always tell people that standardized tests do not measure what a student knows or how well they can succeed. They measure how well a student answered those particular questions on that particular day.

 

My oldest dd does not test well. She got an extremely poor ACT score even after multiple attempts at the test. This fall she will be a senior in college with a biology major and a chemistry/English double minor, and she has a GPA in the mid 3-point range. The ACT was completely useless at predicting whether she was college-ready or whether she would succeed in college.

 

Honestly, don't sweat a young kid's standardized test score.

This this this this this.

 

My daughter has taken many tests (public school, short but still). Her variance is like 20 percentile points depending on mood! She scores from "basically average" to the cusp of profoundly gifted. She is probably in the middle of that.

 

Don't pay attention to that number. Perseverance and confidence, not IQ or test scores, are key.

[Ellie]

My three kids took the Stanford 10, and I just received the results. My oldest two scored exactly how I expected them to score. I wish my second child did better in some areas, but overall, he did well. My third child, however failed everything. Literally, everything. It was all below average. I just don't understand. I know how he's doing at home. He does well with Math at home (usually helps his older brother do his 5th grade math), and he can parse a sentence quickly and accurately. I expected Math and Language Arts to be his strong subjects. Nope. Nothing was strong. Everything was just horrible. 

 

I really have no idea what to do or where to go from here. The idea to send him to P.S. is circulating through my mind, but my heart aches at the idea. It aches from his scores too.

 

I'm in tears over here. :(

 

Any advice or encouragement is greatly appreciated!

 

It's only a standardized test. *One* standardized test. There's no way I would send a child to public school because of *one* standardized test. Actually, I'm not sure I would ever send my dc to public school based on standardized test scores, so there's that. :-)

 

If you're happy with your ds's progress at home, then continue doing the same thing. :-)

[Garga]

I haven't read everything, so forgive me if I repeat someone:

 

My kids took the Stanford 10 as well.  I'm still waiting for the official results.  However, since it was a paper test, after they took it and before I mailed it back, I checked their work.  Then I went over the problems that they did wrong.

 

I was really surprised at how many they got wrong that I KNEW that they knew.  And they knew that they knew.  When we went over the ones we got wrong, my oldest kept saying, "Oh, I read that one wrong."  I could tell that for some of them he just wasn't putting on that thinking cap and thinking.  He was skimming and going for the quickest answer.

 

I posted a thread about it for advice on what to do. Taking everyone's advice, I'm going to work on test taking skills over the next couple of years.  I think he was just rushing through to get it done.  I think he wasn't used to the format of sitting there answering question after question.  

 

If you know your son knows the material and he did poorly on the test, then it's not the material that's the problem.  It's the test...or the lack of test taking skills.  Hopefully other people have chimed in on how to address that.  I'm still figuring that part out for myself: how to help someone with test taking skills.  For my oldest I'll have him use SAT prep books, but I'm not sure what to use for the youngest yet.

[Garga]

P.S.  I'm glad we are supposed to take tests in my state every couple of years.  It would have been devastating to find out my kids need direct instruction on test taking the day AFTER they take things like SAT tests.  I'm glad I know years in advance and can gently work on this issue.

 

It's a good thing that you are able to look into this now.  If you know that your son knows the materials, then start teaching how to take tests.

[Mrs Twain]

It sounds like your child either filled in the bubbles wrong or else just needs test taking practice.

 

I do standardized tests every year with my kids, and they always confirm what I already know about each child. One child scors low in spelling, another scores lower on the math computation, etc. Since I teach them daily, I am aware of each child's strengths and weaknesses and am not surprised at the test results.

 

My opinion of your situation is a little different in that I think you should take these results seriously. Standardized tests are a huge part of education and many fields of study, and children need to know how to perform well on them. Your child will need to learn test taking skills and practice taking these sorts of tests in order to have the test reflect his true ability.