Very low ITBS scores

[maggiemay]

:glare:If your child scores in bottom percentage on ITBS, what does it mean? LD? poor homeschooling?

[Perry]

:glare:If your child scores in bottom percentage on ITBS, what does it mean? LD? poor homeschooling?

 

 

Could mean several things:

 

LDs

Low aptitude

Poor effort on the test

Test anxiety

Poor teaching

Curriculum not aligned with the test

 

I'm sure there are other explanations too

 

It would help to know if they are low across the board, or if there is variation between subjects. Also it would help to know if this was the first standardized test, if this is a change from previous years, or if it is consistent with previous tests.

[maggiemay]

It was his first ITBS test. It was pretty much across the board. He had a few variations. He only had a couple of areas above 50%tile. No, it is not consistantent with other tests. He is a child who has always been homeschooled. He has always seemed bright, but not a highly motivated student. I am very disturbed by these results. Thank you for your response.

[Orthodox6]

Please don't laugh at my thought, because I offer it seriously.

 

You don't say how old your son was when he took the test. How are his fine motor skills ? He may have had trouble colouring in the bubbles on the test form.

 

Many years ago, the only time that I had one of my sons take the ITBS, we knew that he had some motor problems. (Fast forward a decade later, and we learned that he has NVLD, which explains it.) I had him tell me his choice of answer, and I filled in the bubbles. I didn't care if anybody ever found out. These days, he would have had a doctor's certification for "accommodation."

[abbeyej]

...He only had a couple of areas above 50%tile. No, it is not consistantent with other tests. ...

 

I just wanted to mention that anything between the 25th and 75th percentiles would be considered "average". So maybe that would influence your perception of what "very low" is?

 

Did you do any preparation before the test? Especially for a child taking a standardized test for the first time, familiarity with the test *format* can be a factor.

 

If I were you, I would probably get a test prep booklet at some point, go over the samples, and have him work through the book section by section. As you go over his answers with him, perhaps you will get a better view of why he scored as he did and whether there were test-taking issues or academic weaknesses that can account for lower-than-expected scores.

[Renee in NC]

It was his first ITBS test. It was pretty much across the board. He had a few variations. He only had a couple of areas above 50%tile. No, it is not consistantent with other tests. He is a child who has always been homeschooled. He has always seemed bright, but not a highly motivated student. I am very disturbed by these results. Thank you for your response.

 

I have a ds (who shall remain age-less:D) who has always scored between the 19th and 22nd percentile. In his case, yes, he does have an LD *and* he doesn't test well. He misses stuff on the standardized tests that he gets correct in his day to day work.

[Mrs Mungo]

Did the child actually try? Was it in a new setting? Did you have the child tested with a group instead of at home? How did he do in the new setting? What did the test proctor tell them?

 

The first year my middle daughter was tested in a group she did horribly on the ITBS. Turns out, the proctor had told them if they didn't understand something to just skip it. My daughter took it as permission not to try. There were entire sections of the test that she didn't even attempt *any* of the questions.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I just wanted to mention that anything between the 25th and 75th percentiles would be considered "average". So maybe that would influence your perception of what "very low" is?

 

Did you do any preparation before the test? Especially for a child taking a standardized test for the first time, familiarity with the test *format* can be a factor.

 

If I were you, I would probably get a test prep booklet at some point, go over the samples, and have him work through the book section by section. As you go over his answers with him, perhaps you will get a better view of why he scored as he did and whether there were test-taking issues or academic weaknesses that can account for lower-than-expected scores.

 

I would agree with the idea of working through a test prep booklet or a state's released tests (I use the Virginia Standards of Learning exams a lot because there are so many of them available online now). Many booklets would have you do the test prep first and then the sample exam. I might suggest that you do the sample test first, watching him without commentary as he takes it to see how he approaches things.

 

I've been a proctor a few times for the Stanford exams. Things I've noticed include students who go through the test very quickly and confidently, but who are actually getting many questions wrong.

Students who are really lost by the instructions and are stopping when they see that others are done, even if they haven't finished yet.

Students who are confused by some key term or concept and miss several questions based on this. As an example a reading section might be testing a student's ability to match vowel sounds. I had one kid who was reading on a high school level, but didn't really know what a vowel was. Another example is money (we've lived outside the US quite a bit, so now I know that this is a hidden trap for my kids).

Another of my sons seemed to forget everything he'd ever learned about capitalization.

 

In short you will need to put some time in to determine what is due to the test conditions or attitude, what is something you've studied but he didn't retain and what are things you haven't covered yet.

 

And it is worth remembering that average is 50%, not 90%. It isn't like a spelling test, where you hope the student gets everything correct. There should be questions that the student can't answer as this will give you the most accurate sense of his ability.

 

One final thought is to double check what grade level he is listed at at the time of the test. The tests are normed for what the average student at that particular grade level would do with the questions. If this wasn't recorded correctly, then it could effect the percentages.