Standardized tests -- do you share the results with your kids?

[Kate in Arabia]

We do the Terra Nova tests each year; it isn't a requirement, more for my own information and to have for the kids' permanent records. I just got the results back (well, I just got back and they were here waiting for me); overall they were fine, a couple of highs and lows that were expected.

 

For me, that's enough and I'm ready to file them away and move on. Dh was suggesting I go over the results with the kids. I have never done this, and they have only asked maybe once or twice over the years I've been doing it and I've always said they "did fine" (which they have). He thinks it will be both rewarding and encouraging, that they will feel good where they did well and inspired to do better where they didn't. I don't want them to take them too seriously at this point; we don't do any test prep or anything, they just know that one week each year they have these tests they do.

 

How do you handle test results -- do you go over them with your kids? Give them a general "you did great" and file away? Other?

[Jean in Newcastle]

The kids see them, rip them open and read their own results. Then I get to see them and share them with dh.

[AngieW in Texas]

I go over the results with the kids. I use the results to help me figure out where I need to beef things up.

 

I'm looking forward to retesting my youngest in November. Last year she tested very low in spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. We've done a lot of work in those areas and I expect her to have a very good score this year.

[MomsintheGarden]

I share the results with each child privately. I always find something positive to say, tell them what a great job they did, and make mental notes on what to focus on for next year.

 

Without exception, until about 8th grade or so, my children couldn't care less about the results. That has always surprised me!

 

GardenMom

[NanceXToo]

I don't. If they asked, I'd tell them they did fine. If there were trouble spots, I wouldn't want them to have to worry about it or feel stressed next time testing came up, I'd just make a mental note as to whether I needed to work on anything with them, and then I'd just file it away, submit to the district as required by law, and forget about it.

[Jen in PA]

DD took her first standardized test in May, and I shared the results with her. In every section of the test she took she either got them all right or missed only one question, with the glaring exception of an area that she is very resistant to working on. I wanted to praise her for her hard work, and give her an incentive to work harder on that problem area.

[Laurie4b]

I always have shared them. I think it's important for kids to know how they are doing. I have two kids with learning disabilities. When they see the disparity between those scores and their other scores, it is a reality check for why we have to work harder in those areas. Doing it that way has led to elevation in all but one subscore for both my kids with LD's. Knowledge is power.

[Margo out of lurking]

I give them a general idea and will tell them what they scored particularly well or not so well in. I do not share specific results because, frankly, my kids are competitive with each other, and either would take great satisfaction in "knowing" he/she was "smarter" than the other. It's not fair to compare. They of course are different kids, have different strengths, and my dd has an early birthday for her grade, and my ds has a later birthday.

 

When they used to do SWR together, I never gave the assessment results either, for the same reason. One is a good speller, one is very good.

[Cinder]

We let our kids see the score sheets. At first we didn't because we didn't think the scores were that important. But our ds's have competitive natures and they wanted to know how they did. So we showed them. We explained they had lower scores for social studies because we don't do social studies--we do history. I remember some particular "social studies" type questions--a picture with the question, What holiday is this family celebrating? Ds didn't know because it wasn't a holiday we celebrate.

 

Funny that they didn't compare their scores with each other's. They wanted to know how they compare to all those other kids taking the test.

 

Cinder

[abbeyej]

My older kiddo insists on seeing his results and wants to talk to me about the relative highs and lows, etc, and perhaps compare to past years. I had not *intended* to go over the results with him, but I figure if he spends a week working on the test without complaint, it's fair to let him see and discuss the results with me. My daughter took hers for the first time this year, and she didn't beg for results (and maybe he didn't at her age?). I gave her a very brief synopsis, "You did well and I was pleased overall. You did especially great on the spelling, and the math was actually better than I expected, but clearly we still need to keep working hard..." etc. She was satisfied with that. Ds did ask to see his sister's scores as well, but I declined, simply giving him an even briefer synopsis of hers.

[Mom0012]

I always have shared them. I think it's important for kids to know how they are doing. I have two kids with learning disabilities. When they see the disparity between those scores and their other scores, it is a reality check for why we have to work harder in those areas. Doing it that way has led to elevation in all but one subscore for both my kids with LD's. Knowledge is power.

 

And I don't share the scores because I have one child with lds and one child who everything comes to so easily. The disparity is already obvious, so I don't want to rub it in even more with the scores.

 

I just tell them they both did very well, and in my opinion, they did both do well based on their abilities.

 

Lisa

[May]

For the first couple years of homeschooling, I didn't share the results. In many ways dd has never felt she's as smart as other kids. When I started to share the results with her, I could see how this helped to challenge that perception. She also seemed more willing to work on areas that I thought needed improvement.

[ereks mom]

I sit down with each kid and go over the scores and discuss their progress.

[southcarolinamom]

Since they were 9 or 10, I would show them the results and we talked about when they meant.

[iammommy]

I don't. If they asked, I'd tell them they did fine. If there were trouble spots, I wouldn't want them to have to worry about it or feel stressed next time testing came up, I'd just make a mental note as to whether I needed to work on anything with them, and then I'd just file it away, submit to the district as required by law, and forget about it.

 

 

Same here. That's just what we do.

 

Nan

[2cents]

We've always shared the results. The kids like to see how they did. :)

[74Heaven]

Oh boy, my 10yo son is asking me daily "when those Iowa tests are coming back" because they get a candy bar or Wii time coupon for each test score over 92% and he is sure he will get quite a few. We'll see, the tests are prob. 2-3 weeks away since we tested in early June?

 

I've always shared the results and the kids are always curious. I always go over them individually and the news always travels fast because there is very little "private" info around here ;).

lj

[EKS]

Yes.

[hmdavis02]

I jus did standardized testing with my oldest for the first time. I went over the results with him, beginning with his strengths and praise. I hit the weaker areas last, reminding him that the tests were meant only to show us which areas we need to work harder on and which areas we can kind of lighten our load on. That worked well for us, anyway!

[Kate in Arabia]

Thanks everyone! We're traveling again in a few days, but I think when we get back I'll go over the results with them individually before we get into our school year..