s/o - Is there a typical pattern of standarized scores that may

[rafiki]

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[merry gardens]

indicate Dyslexia? Do their lower scores tend to be on specific subsections of say the ITBS w/CogAt? Has their been any talk about Dyslexia and test scores other then they typically do better with testing accomodations?

 

Or any SN's, really, can standarized test scores signify anything?

 

I've only read where scores X number of points below the composite are signficiant, but keep thinking there's got to be more specific info out there on what to look for in standarized test results.

We recently finished our state required standardized testing. How did you know that I wanted to talk about standardized tests?:D I don't know about the ITBS w/ CogAt specifically, but I'll share my thoughts based on the testing and results I've seen from my children. I have more thoughts than I have time, so this won't be a neatly organized post.

 

We take the CAT. For the younger grades, they test various reading skills, plus other skills separate from reading. For example, my first grader listened to me read the question and she put a mark that corresponded with a picture for science and social studies. However, by the time the child reaches third grade, most every subject on the CAT involves reading. If a child above third grade can't read well, it will probably affect the results on every subject, unless the dyslexic child is also a very good guesser.

 

My son who I write about mostly on this board took the second grade test last year. He scored impressively high in social studies, science and math. Reading and spelling were dramatically lower. He didn't read much yet at that time, and in the language arts section he just gave up and filled in bubbles randomly. Many of the children who take the test must not be able to finish, because his reading score wasn't that much below average, (especially considering he didn't even read the material.) Spelling was a different matter. He filled in sight words based on the phonic rules that he could remember. Randomly filling in bubbles would have produced better results. :tongue_smilie:

 

Dramatic differences between a child's reading and spelling ability vs. their other abilities is one of the old-fashion markers for dyslexia. That was certainly true for my son's second grade test scores.

 

This year he took the third grade test. He reads better now, but he had to read all the material in science, social studies and even math word problems. We haven't gotten his tests back--and I'm anxiously awaiting the results. I think that since we have done a great deal of remediation, his reading and spelling will be better, but the other areas like science and math may not be as high since they involved reading now.

 

Not all standardized tests require reading and bubble filling, but those that do turn most subjects above the third grade into mini reading comprehension tests and hand-eye co-ordination tests. If a child can't fill in the bubbles correctly or read the questions correctly, their scores may not reflect their true knowledge of a subject.

[rafiki]

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[EKS]

From my own musing, I would guess that a pattern of running out of time combined with getting a high percentage of the answers right up until that point could be a symptom of dyslexia. I've heard that getting the questions requiring inference on the reading comprehension test can be a symptom of autism spectrum issues.

[wapiti]

From my own musing, I would guess that a pattern of running out of time combined with getting a high percentage of the answers right up until that point could be a symptom of dyslexia. I've heard that getting the questions requiring inference on the reading comprehension test can be a symptom of autism spectrum issues.

:iagree: though I'd say that those particular things - running out of time or trouble with inferences/reading comp - may point to LDs generally but not to specific ones. (:lol: :tongue_smilie: I have kids with both of these issues who have neither dyslexia nor autism spectrum issues)

 

Even with individual, professional testing such as the WISC, there is a laundry list of LDs associated with a low processing speed score and low working memory score. IME, depending on how comlicated the kid is, it may take a very experienced psych/neuropsych to look at the whole package and pick it apart, comparing and contrasting subtest scores with each other and with achievement testing, to come up with specific LDs.

 

It seems so common for slow processing speed to be an issue for kids with LDs that I'd hesitate to use any timed test if the goal is an accurate assessment. At some point I may have my kids take such tests anyway to prepare for later standardized testing, to sort of get a ballpark idea of how significant the issue may play out, but not for our testing requirement (our district accepts the MAP, no big deal). I don't believe (though I'm not entirely sure) that my kids' processing speeds measure low enough to allow official accommodations on standardized testing - we'll re-test later.

[merry gardens]

...Susan C. Anthony, author of Spelling Plus has some interesting info on interpreting test scores. I found it on her web site among the samples. Basically if if the composite is between 25th and 75th, differences of 18 points between subtest scores are significant. Between 76th and 87th or 13th and 24th a 12 point difference is signficant. Between 88th and 99th or 1st and 12th, differences of 6 points from composite to subtest score is significant.

That is interesting. According to that, ALL of my children who ever took standardized tests have "significant" differences in their point spreads. Now I'm really glad that I decided. (based on previous test scores and spelling concerns in general) to use Barton and some other special ed materials with my others.