IOWA test question

[cmarango]

I just received a level 6 IOWA test to administer to my dd. I am supposed to record what grade she is in, but since she is 4 she is not really in any grade. What should I do?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Crimson Wife]

You're giving a 4 y.o. a 6th grade standardized test? :confused: If this is for real and not a troll, what on earth do you hope to gain by doing so?

[Emilylou]

I believe IOWA level are aged based not grade based.

Level 6 is probably a 1st grade test. ???

 

You're giving a 4 y.o. a 6th grade standardized test? :confused: If this is for real and not a troll, what on earth do you hope to gain by doing so?

[FairProspects]

The IOWA 6 is a K test that tests up to stanine 1.9. I would just list her as K. That is what I did for ds, and then I just listed him as K again the next year.

[abbeyej]

The IOWA 6 is a K test that tests up to stanine 1.9. I would just list her as K. That is what I did for ds, and then I just listed him as K again the next year.

 

I agree.

[cmarango]

No, I am certainly not a troll. I have been struggling with this testing aspect for a while. My motivation is that I am in a profession that has a slightly higher risk level and I am worried about how to document dd's progress in case of my untimely demise.:tongue_smilie: We don't do very many workbook type activities so it would be difficult to show a portfolio. I thought that the ITBS would be a very easy way to provide a snapshot her skill ability. And, she seems quite excited about the novelty of a test.

 

If anyone has other suggestions, then I am more than happy to listen to them. Calling someone a troll is certainly unhelpful.

[cmarango]

The IOWA 6 is a K test that tests up to stanine 1.9. I would just list her as K. That is what I did for ds, and then I just listed him as K again the next year.

 

Thank you.

[LittleIzumi]

Can you give it for non-age grades? Since it asked for dd's birthday I put her age-grade. I wanted to try the year higher up but thought it wouldn't work.

[Embassy]

Will it change how the test is scored? I would put PK for age=grade.

[abbeyej]

Can you give it for non-age grades? Since it asked for dd's birthday I put her age-grade. I wanted to try the year higher up but thought it wouldn't work.

 

Just order whatever test level you want. Put in her correct birthdate -- it won't be a problem.

[EKS]

What you want to do here depends on exactly what type of documentation you are wanting to obtain and for whom.

 

If you're wanting to get documentation that will sway school officials in some way, giving the ITBS at home is not the route I'd take. If you are intending to communicate with school officials, then I would have someone administer the Woodcock Johnson III achievement battery. This test will show fairly well what level she is "at" and it is understood by school types.

 

If you are trying to show someone besides a school official that your daughter is at some high percentile for her age, again I would have someone administer the WJ-III as the norms extend to something like 2 or 3 year olds. She may or may not score in the upper 90s percentile wise compared to K'ers but actually be off the charts for her age.

 

If you want to see how she is doing compared to K'ers, then I would administer the ITBS and say that she is a K'er.

[justasque]

Remember that, should you for whatever reason be out of the picture, whoever is educating your dd would be able to assess her at that time. If she has studied a particular subject, she will presumably retain some knowledge of it that can be demonstrated if needed. If she has attained a particular skill, such as reading at a certain level or doing a certain kind of math problem, that too can be assessed by working with her a bit. A skilled person can usually see the difference between "I have never heard of that" and "That rings a bell but I forget the details - can you give me a hint - oh yeah, I've got it now, it's like this." If she's learning something she's had some prior exposure to, she'll pick things up quicker than if she had never seen the material. If she's given stuff she already knows or already has done, she would likely be able to communicate that, either through polite discussion or through a lack of interest or impatience. At the high school level, credits become an issue, but before that what you've done isn't as important as what you know or can do, which can be assessed on an as-needed basis.

 

Hopefully thinking along those lines might help reduce the need to do standardized testing while she's young.

[radiobrain]

I am pretty sure you don't put a grade on there. I think you just put the birth date. 6th grade level IOWA test is called level 12.

[Dmmetler]

On the registration form for the SAT-10 (group administration), you listed a birthdate and the level you wanted your child tested at, which don't have to match.

 

Now, here's the caveat. The content is the easy part for an accelerated child on a group-type standardized test. Even the 1st grade SAT-10 was about 6 hours of testing. That's a lot of time to ask a 4 yr old to sit there and listen (and since a good part of the test is read aloud, even if the child can read, it is sitting there and listening and responding). Not being able to ask questions and have them answered is very difficult for ANY young child. And having to go through an entire section of EASY questions is interminable. The individually administrated tests like the WRAT or WJ-III are easier because the test is adaptive and the child has the tester to "show off" for. I don't think my DD would have tolerated the SAT-10 Spring gr 1 test at age 4. Not because she didn't know the content, but because of the test format. But she did wonderfully on the KBIT, WRAT, PPVT, and a partridge in a pear tree when she was being tested for early K entry.

[Crimson Wife]

No, I am certainly not a troll. I have been struggling with this testing aspect for a while. My motivation is that I am in a profession that has a slightly higher risk level and I am worried about how to document dd's progress in case of my untimely demise.:tongue_smilie: We don't do very many workbook type activities so it would be difficult to show a portfolio. I thought that the ITBS would be a very easy way to provide a snapshot her skill ability. And, she seems quite excited about the novelty of a test.

 

If anyone has other suggestions, then I am more than happy to listen to them. Calling someone a troll is certainly unhelpful.

 

Sorry, I just hadn't ever heard the Kindergarten ITBS called "level 6" before. Typically when people reference the ITBS, they call it by the grade level.

 

This particular subforum has an unfortunate tendency to attract trolls from time to time- people bragging about how extremely advanced their children supposedly are (such as taking a 6th grade test as a 4 y.o.)

[LittleIzumi]

On the registration form for the SAT-10 (group administration), you listed a birthdate and the level you wanted your child tested at, which don't have to match.

 

Now, here's the caveat. The content is the easy part for an accelerated child on a group-type standardized test. Even the 1st grade SAT-10 was about 6 hours of testing. That's a lot of time to ask a 4 yr old to sit there and listen (and since a good part of the test is read aloud, even if the child can read, it is sitting there and listening and responding). Not being able to ask questions and have them answered is very difficult for ANY young child. And having to go through an entire section of EASY questions is interminable. The individually administrated tests like the WRAT or WJ-III are easier because the test is adaptive and the child has the tester to "show off" for. I don't think my DD would have tolerated the SAT-10 Spring gr 1 test at age 4. Not because she didn't know the content, but because of the test format. But she did wonderfully on the KBIT, WRAT, PPVT, and a partridge in a pear tree when she was being tested for early K entry.

 

To quote dd, "You said I'm supposed to ask you when I don't know!" :confused:

That part was rough (IOWA/ITBS). The K test is designed to be given over 2 days with breaks between each section, and they are sorely needed. Dd WANTED to take it all at once, but it was way too much.

[AngieW in Texas]

ITBS levels correspond more to age than grade.

 

Level 5 is for K

Level 6 is for 1st

Level 7 is for 2nd or 8 for advanced 2nd graders

Level 9 is for 3rd or 8 for delayed 3rd graders

after that it's one level/grade up to level 14 which is 8.0-9.9.

[AngieW in Texas]

You can do out-of-level testing with ITBS. You have to list a grade for your child for them to rank the scores by percentile. If you give a 6th grade level test (level 12) to a 4th grader, you can list the grade for your child as 4th, 5th, or 6th. The percentile scores are all that will change. When I was doing out-of-level testing for my dd, I listed her as the same grade as the test. Later I decided to go ahead and call her that grade in general. Her birthday is one month after the cutoff, but I put her in the higher grade.

[zaichiki]

This particular subforum has an unfortunate tendency to attract trolls from time to time- people bragging about how extremely advanced their children supposedly are (such as taking a 6th grade test as a 4 y.o.)

 

There really do exist kids like that (not mine). If their parents homeschool (and they probably do in a situation like that), this would be a *great* place for them to go for support.

:001_smile:

 

They'd also like the Davidson's forum. http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/forum_summary.html

 

Where would be another place they could go for on-line support?

[MinivanMom]

What you want to do here depends on exactly what type of documentation you are wanting to obtain and for whom.

 

If you're wanting to get documentation that will sway school officials in some way, giving the ITBS at home is not the route I'd take. If you are intending to communicate with school officials, then I would have someone administer the Woodcock Johnson III achievement battery. This test will show fairly well what level she is "at" and it is understood by school types.

:iagree:

Out of level testing can be useful in certain situations, but it isn't something that school administrators are accustomed to using for academic placement. I think the WJ-III would be the best choice for your situation.

[tarahillmom]

I agree. The Iowa has limited application, where as the individual tests such as the Woodcock will give you much better information. We have to take the Iowa for our accountability group annually, but to document in case anyone ever wanted to know why I am teaching far above grade level (colleges, Davidson, or any other high achiever group for instance) the individual tests administered by a professional are the testing needed. There is also the Brigance test that you can administer and find out exactly where your child is at and has a 8th grade ceiling for most on the tests and there are a lot of subtests. I have it and have found it to be much more useful than the Iowa with a child who is performing above grade level.

[Crimson Wife]

There really do exist kids like that (not mine). If their parents homeschool (and they probably do in a situation like that), this would be a *great* place for them to go for support.

:001_smile:

 

They'd also like the Davidson's forum. http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/forum_summary.html

 

Where would be another place they could go for on-line support?

 

It's been my observation that parents with PG children (especially those on the very extreme end of the spectrum) don't usually go around bragging about it, and if anything, tend to downplay the fact.

 

A parent of a PG child would tend to ask the question in more general terms (e.g. "when taking an above-level ITBS, do I put the grade of the test or the grade that corresponds to my child's age?") leaving the specifics out.

[cmarango]

I do not think that we would ever need the information for a school setting. My dh would most likely use tutors in his native country. I am really just looking for a test that says that she has mastered K info and maybe some first grade stuff (hence level 6). I had planned on giving a test once a year to document her approximate grade level.

 

Would the WISC still be a better test? If it is superior then I will try to find someone to administer it.

 

I tend to worry about this too much, but then again, my children's education is very important.

 

As a side note, I did not know that people routinely ask about the ITBS in grade level terms since I had to order a certain level of a test. I am certainly sorry if anyone misinterpreted that as bragging. My dd is not PG, just slightly accelerated.

 

Thanks to everyone for their help and support.

Edited July 7, 2011 by cmarango
added a bit more

[wapiti]

I do not think that we would ever need the information for a school setting. My dh would most likely use tutors in his native country. I am really just looking for a test that says that she has mastered K info and maybe some first grade stuff (hence level 6). I had planned on giving a test once a year to document her approximate grade level.

 

Would the WISC still be a better test? If it is superior then I will try to find someone to administer it.

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but the WISC is an ability test (IQ), whereas it sounds like you want an achievement test.

[zaichiki]

It's been my observation that parents with PG children (especially those on the very extreme end of the spectrum) don't usually go around bragging about it,

 

I didn't think the OP sounded as if she was bragging. I don't think I mentioned bragging either.

 

and if anything, tend to downplay the fact.

 

A parent of a PG child would tend to ask the question in more general terms (e.g. "when taking an above-level ITBS, do I put the grade of the test or the grade that corresponds to my child's age?") leaving the specifics out.

 

I have a friend who has PG kids and is *very* careful about how she words things when she asks for advice (like you suggested above). Why? Because she has gotten SO MANY reactions like your first one. I feel bad for her. (She and I have discussed some of the reactions she has gotten.)

[Crimson Wife]

I have a friend who has PG kids and is *very* careful about how she words things when she asks for advice (like you suggested above). Why? Because she has gotten SO MANY reactions like your first one. I feel bad for her. (She and I have discussed some of the reactions she has gotten.)

 

Now that I realize that the OP was asking about the Kindergarten level ITBS, I don't think it sounded braggy at all.

 

But you have to admit that someone with a low post count asking about giving a 6th grade test to a 4 y.o. (what I thought was the question) is going to raise a few "troll" flags. I apologize for misunderstanding what was being asked.

 

I'm not saying that there aren't 4 y.o.'s out there who are indeed working at a 6th grade level. It's just been my experience that parents of PG kids are usually quite a bit more circumspect about it.

[Satori]

I just got a ITBS Test Prep book and it had this chart. Someone already mentioned it, but I wanted to add this. I don't see Level 6 on there, so assuming it's kindergarten. Or maybe this 2007 edition is out-of-date.

 

Grade Level - Test Level

Book 1 - Level 7

Book 2 - Level 8

Book 3 - Level 9

Book 4 - Level 10

Book 5 - Level 11

Book 6 - Level 12

Book 7 - Level 13

Book 8 - Level 14

[abbeyej]

Levels roughly correspond to age. The decimals in grade level refer to months (so a .9 is "end of school year").

 

 

K.1–Grade 1.5 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 5)

 

K.7–Grade 1.7 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 6)

 

Grade 1.7–2.3 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 7)

 

Grade 2.3–3.2 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 8)

 

Grade 3.0–3.9 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 9)

 

Grade 4.0–4.9 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 10)

 

Grade 5.0–5.9 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 11)

 

Grade 6.0–6.9 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 12)

 

Grade 7.0–7.9 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 13)

 

Grade 8.0–9.7 ITBS® Achievement Test (Level 14)

 

Grade 9.0–9.9 ITED® Achievement Test (Level 15)

 

Grade 10.0–10.9 ITED® Achievement Test (Level 16)

 

Grade 11.0–12.9 ITED® Achievement Test (Level 17/18)