Annoyed about standardized tests!

[Snowfall]

DH and I are interested in giving DD a standardized test, because we're considering a charter next year and she would then be required to take one, so we thought it would be easier to do the first one at home with us. That way her first experience would be no pressure, and we could decide if we were ready to subject her to that sort of thing in a situation where she HAD to do it - a higher pressure situation. However, I'm just annoyed by them all at this point. I've always felt they aren't a great way to tell how much a kid knows or how good they are at applying that knowledge, but I also don't subscribe to the theory that they're the worst idea EVER, when used responsibly. :tongue_smilie:But geez...I don't want to use one that was normed in the '70s, because I'm not sure that those norms would still be valid. But it seems like the newer ones might just be garbage. This sort of changed my mind about the TerraNova:

 

True to current trends in academics that so favor the visual over the analytical, there turn out to be far fewer problems involving numerical calculation than those involving "geometry". Of the 40 problems in the practice math booklet, just 8 require calculation, while 12 ask students to identify or define particular types of shapes, observe whether pairs or shapes are "similar" or "congruent," say whether a shape is symmetrical, or say what it looks like when flipped, rotated, viewed from a different perspective, or combined with another shape.

 

Another 7 problems involve charts and graphs.

 

Then there were the ones that ask students to reflect on best strategies, which presumably aim to measure "higher level thinking", and which also manage to further marginalize calculation. Consider, for example:

 

 

Morgan has 29 jelly beans, Paige has 52 jelly beans, Greg has 34 jelly beans and Melissa has 18 jelly beans. Which of the following would be the fastest way to find out how many jelly beans they have altogether?

 

 

 

a. count all the jelly beans

 

b. add the numbers in your head

 

c. use a calculator

 

d. write down the numbers of a piece of paper.

 

From here: http://oilf.blogspot.com/2009/04/terra-nova-test-marginalizing-standard.html

 

DH is very, very opposed to using the CAT due to that whole norming thing. I don't want to do the Stanford because then we have to pay an extra $30 or whatever to buy the stupid video, and this really isn't worth all that trouble!!! Is there a standardized test that won't waste my first grader's time on nonsense like the above? I want to know how well she can do basic math, not answer stupid questions about strategies. I remember why I hate standardized tests so much now. lol

[Targhee]

The Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test is what we've used in and out of public school. What I like about it:

 

1) I could administer it at home (this may have been because I used an umbrella school, but check into it), because it is computer (web) based.

 

2) The test was adaptive - if you answer questions correctly you receive harder questions. This is to assure you are testing the complete limits of your student

 

3) The scores are a growing number (ie this year your child scores a 150 in reading so next year you want to see progress - a score of 170 say. And the scores keep getting larger the more your child knows and understands). There is also a percentile given based on a norm group (district, state, or test-wide)

 

As far as the questions included, I don't get to see them much. As a proctor I try not to hover, and I am not allowed to help. But, my children haven't complained about the testing ever.

[threehomeschoolers]

I personally don't think you should put too many "eggs in your basket" with the testing. Each test you could give will be different, meaning, IMHO, that there really is no national standard. :confused: Even if you did pay the extra money for the Stanford, would it make a difference for your particular child? If so, then it may be worth the money. ;) We are required to test in our state, however, the test scores are not reported to anyone other that the parent. We are choosing to view the testing requirement as practice tests for the ACT and/or SAT. My oldest is only in 4th grade, so he will have had many opportunities to overcome his test anxiety before he has to take any test(s) that really matter. Good luck with your decision and your students potential testing!:grouphug:

[ElizabethB]

The ITBS doesn't have that kind of problem on it, it just focuses on the basics in math.

 

A few of the social studies questions are wacky, but the rest of the questions are fine. (Also, some of the reading questions have some strange pictures where you're not sure if the object in question that you're supposed to be matching rhymes to is--is it a shirt or a blouse, for example, but that should be accounted for in the percentages.)

[Crimson Wife]

What about just getting a test prep book that includes a sample test? If it's just prep for next year, that's what I would do.

[sevknorr]

we use testing as an opportunity to "learn how to take a test".

otherwise it just irritates me (esp in the younger years)

 

check out the pass test by hewitt

 

http://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/test/tmain.asp

 

we have used many and we finally settled on this as the least

nonoffensive.

[Carol in Cal.]

She's too young for this, I think.

 

State testing doesn't start until 3rd grade in most states. One or two start in 2nd. That's because it is worse than useless before that.

 

I would wait and maybe do some test prep or 'sample questions' shortly before the first test that she MUST take.

[TracyR]

I hate to say it but if your going to send her to public school next year you might as well get used to stupid useless testing. That's all public schools do now a days is teach children to learn how to take insane tests. So if your ' offended' by the Terra Nova, just wait until your child encounters state testing!

[LisaKinVA]

Here in VA, we are required to either submit a portfolio or standardized tests the year they turn 6 before the cut-off. Really chaps me.

 

For the state purposes, I send in the CAT. It's (imo) the most "worthless" of the three. Easy to administer. Gives the state the least specific information.

 

I can give the ITBS at home as well (through BJU as a certified tester), with no extra fees. I do this in the fall for me (benchmarks), and usually out of grade level to look for weak areas. It has a lot more subtest information to pinpoint specific areas of reading, grammar, math, etc.

 

Our state standardized tests, though (SOL's) are worse than useless. 35 questions. No issues with the math or the essay writing. But, on history and science? From what I gleaned last year, most of the history was matching up quotes with the people who said them... covering US history until 1865 (and our state-mandated history course only went thorugh 1855...oops!). I would much rather have the CAT than the SOL's.

[....]

TracyR - that's what teachers here (in TX) say about the schools. They are peeved at the amount of testing the districts are putting the classes through. One teacher told me that her kids were tested 5 times one year - and she ended up getting fired because she raised a huge stink about it.

 

I also have a teacher-neighbor who lost her class due to the students' TAKS scores. She has to teach a non-TAKS-dependent class.

 

In January, I gave my 3rd grader the TAKS. Just out of curiosity...and so she could see what test questions look like (yes, she's never taken a test)... She only missed a couple of questions. And she took it 5 months earlier than the public school kids. :glare: My point is, compared to homeschool curricula, standardized testing is a lot easier - LOL! :lol: The TAKS was a joke. I could've given it to my 2nd grader and he probably would have scored on par with the ps kids. I couldn't believe how easy it was.

 

Unless you see a problem area, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Also, ps kids are massively prepped to take these tests. We don't even cover the same material the public schools cover.

 

I agree with all the other posters. :D As usual. :tongue_smilie:

[mom31257]

I give my children the ITBS and purchase it through BJU Testing Services. The test seems to be a good test of overall skills and abilities. I don't remember seeing any math problems as you listed above. I like that I can give it myself, so I can look through and see what they missed and why. Our state requires testing every 3 years starting in 3rd grade. Dd had been in private school and had it every year in K-2nd, so she was used to testing. I give it to our kids every other year, and even gave it to my ds in K. He actually enjoyed it.

 

While I don't think tests should be the only measure of a child's intelligence, I do think it is a good tool to understand their recall and ability to process information quickly. Public schools are placing too much emphasis on the results, but I feel testing has much too negative a connotation in the homeschool community.

[mnllj7]

I honestly HATE testing students. What does it prove. You may not have taught a particular subject that year that is being tested, Does that mean they are behind, You may use a math curriculum that doesn't cover the same as another math curriculum, and yes they are different. Does that make them not knowledgeable in math. I have alot of friends who take tests each year. Our Homeschool League does testing each year in march, Parents seem to get in an uproar every hear, worrying if their children are on target. my words are "On target for what, and for who" Who are "THEY" that says this is where a child should be. Should be compared to what. If I am going to compare my child to a public school child, well I should say there is no comparison. That is not a condescension, it is merely stating, public school and homeschool are and should be night and day. I want my daughter to love to learn, to seek learning for herself, to grow in her God given bent. I do not want her to learn to take a test, and learn to take another test, and so on and so on as the cog turns. It seems insanity to me. I am an older homeschool mom, I went to the Government Schools. I learned nothing, however, i would have had an A+ in socializing, but that was not because of the school that was my God given personality. Academically I learned NOTHING!!! My oldest two daughters now 26 and 27 went to the same Highschool and they Learned Absolutely NOTHING!!!!! my oldest decided to teach school in Houston Texas, and was against me homeschooling my youngest daughter who is 10. Since she has taught in Government schools, she has totally changed her mind and said they are nothing but a waste. Praise the Lord for homeschooling and the choices each individual parent can make. I am totally against testing until highschool to prepare for college. HTH. nancyt.

[Snowfall]

Thank you all for your input. I think maybe we'll do the ITBS instead. It doesn't really matter, and I totally understand all that, but if we're going to have to test her from now on, I'd rather her first experience be at home with us, and since we're going to bother to do it at all, I might as well get results that are worth something. Otherwise it's just a wasted day. I don't believe standardized tests tell you a whole lot about your kid, but I'm interested to see what it says. Nothing more, nothing less. :)

 

I hate to say it but if your going to send her to public school next year you might as well get used to stupid useless testing. That's all public schools do now a days is teach children to learn how to take insane tests. So if your ' offended' by the Terra Nova, just wait until your child encounters state testing!

 

I'm not going to send my child to public school next year. The charter we were looking at is nothing like actually attending public school. You choose your own curriculum, you don't have to go to classes, etc. The only real requirements for the charter we were looking at was that they complete the required number of school days, you turn in samples of work, and they take a standardized test. :) I realize some charters aren't like that, but the one we were considering isn't overly intrusive.

 

Anyway, the situation has changed and we're moving somewhere else now, where even independent home schoolers are required to take a yearly standardized test, so I'm still going to have to test her. That doesn't mean I have to teach to the test. It just means I have to test her.

 

While I don't think tests should be the only measure of a child's intelligence, I do think it is a good tool to understand their recall and ability to process information quickly. Public schools are placing too much emphasis on the results, but I feel testing has much too negative a connotation in the homeschool community.

 

I completely agree. I don't really know how worthwhile it is for first grade, but again, we're going to do it for reasons I already explained, so we might as well get some good info from it. And like your son, I think my daughter will actually like it. She's had about 3 tests, all in math, and she has gotten downright excited every time she heard there was a test that day. lol