Halcyon Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 We (finally) received our scores and since this is the first year we've taken ITBS, I wouldn't mind interpretation from people who have been taking these for a while.DS11 is the first page of the linked PDF, DS8 is page 2 and 3 It looks like DS11 (11 when he took test, just turned 12), who is almost done with Algebra, did well conceptually but needs work on speed with his mathematical operations (I know that's the reason he didn't do as well there, because he is a slow worker). Any tips on how to get him to work faster? He is a slow, careful worker, which I have always known, and when he is under a time pressure he just doesn't do as well. But I know he needs to work on his speed; I just don't know how to do that with him. Writing conventions? Needs work on punctuation, no surprise there. Single step math problem solving --- that's a real surprise, unless he just wasn't reading carefully, which would not be a surprise. DS8 (he was 8 when he took the test, just turned 9) needs work on reading a calendar and dates (oooops...), writing conventions (what's that?), scientific inquiry (?), and critical thinking in just science. I am not too concerned about anything on here...should I be? If anyone has the patience to help me out, please take a look: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7j2Q0WyEjJOQzctS1pGM3ZlZnM/edit?usp=sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 How automatic is your older son with math facts for multiplication and division? That slowed down my daughter at that age. We found xtramath.org to be helpful and it's free. Maybe this will help with writing conventions? http://www.time4writing.com/teaching-writing/writing-conventions/ This looks to be more detailed http://www.ixl.com/ela/writing-conventions-and-strategies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 There were only three single-step "problem solving" math problems for your ds12, so the 67% means he missed one. Probably a silly mistake - nothing to worry about IMO. You said your son is slower on math computation, but I wonder if he looked for the "easy" answer on those sections and picked the answer they put in there that looks right but isn't correct (called a 'detractor'?). If so, "test taking skills" would be something I'd work on when he gets older - before he takes the PSAT. Increasing computation speed? There are countless drill programs (app-based & paper-based) that you could implement for five minutes or less everyday or a few times per week. (It takes longer for us to pull them out than to do them most days.) Mine have never taken the 3rd grade ITBS, so I could be wrong, but the Dates/Holidays section is under Capitalization. Looks like he only picked the correct capitalization in one out of three questions - which just means brief periodic reminders (falls under Grammar for us) about capitalization rules for those things. I'm not sure what they refer to as writing conventions. I wouldn't be concerned about any of the test results for either kid. I don't know the reasons behind why you had them take the ITBS, but I wouldn't change much based on just these test results. (They are fabulous, IMO.) If you want more "usable" data testing, you'll want to look at out of level testing for both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 IIRC, the ITBS has a computation section where the student has a short amount of time (4 minutes? 10 minutes?) to solve a large quantity of problems. One of my dc always freaked out at this part as an elementary/early middle schooler. I found that the more that speed was focused on, the more my kid struggled. So I set it aside. Now, as a high-schooler, this particular kid doesn't have the same "time crunch" issue. Maturity, I guess...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 How automatic is your older son with math facts for multiplication and division? That slowed down my daughter at that age. We found xtramath.org to be helpful and it's free. Maybe this will help with writing conventions? http://www.time4writing.com/teaching-writing/writing-conventions/ This looks to be more detailed http://www.ixl.com/ela/writing-conventions-and-strategies He has used xtramath--he's still slow LOL. Just like his mom. We did pause xtramath at some point next year---looks like we need to start back up again. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 IIRC, the ITBS has a computation section where the student has a short amount of time (4 minutes? 10 minutes?) to solve a large quantity of problems. One of my dc always freaked out at this part as an elementary/early middle schooler. I found that the more that speed was focused on, the more my kid struggled. So I set it aside. Now, as a high-schooler, this particular kid doesn't have the same "time crunch" issue. Maturity, I guess...? Yes, i remember from looking at the test that it SEEMED like a lot of problems in a short amount of time, even for someone who was fast with their facts, which he is not. Thank you! I do think he will get better with age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 My ds had a similar math profile when he took the CTBS (I think that was what it was called). He is VERY slow. So slow in fact that he was tested, and his processing speed is about 5th percentile for his age group. Though our tester told us that this is "hardwired" and cannot be changed, I've heard otherwise, though I have yet to find anything that has modified his slowness. We drill a lot. He could not tolerate speed drills until he had completely and totally mastered his facts. Once he had, I gently introduced speed drills, but started by simply timing him, then using the time as a benchmark. Even after many years, he cannot do them at the target speed, but he's as close as I think he's capable of getting, and his slowness in calculating won't stand in the way of doing higher math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellen Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 My son took the 3rd grade ITBS. Some of the scientific inquiry questions were about setting up an experiment and how one would test something. I don't think it's a big deal for a third grader not to know how to do that. I found the entire science section to be poorly worded. A kid with a lot of scientific knowledge could get tripped up on some of them especially if he didn't have a lot of test taking experience. Punctuation was a weak point here as well. I bought Editor-in-Chief to rectify it. It's going to cover those things I hadn't thought to cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 If your dc has had an eval and they found the low processing speed (like in Catherine's case), you can (and should!) use the psych-specified accommodations on the testing. Keep documentation of it and over the years it becomes your paper trail for when request accommodations later through the CB, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Do I have really low standards or are these really superb test results? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 The test results look great, I'd just make sure that his multiplication and division and decimal skills are solid. With my daughter, I try to make sure she hasn't forgtten grade level skills while trucking through algebra, so we do regular easy review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 The test results look great, I'd just make sure that his multiplication and division and decimal skills are solid. With my daughter, I try to make sure she hasn't forgtten grade level skills while trucking through algebra, so we do regular easy review. Yep, we are definitely going to go back to drill next year--he "knows' his facts, but he isn't fast in processing. I think he'll get better with practice-I know I was fine by 8th or 9th grade. I was never the fastest at math but I did understand and do reasonably well. His conceptual understanding is way above where mine was at that age, so I just want to be sure his basic skills don't lag behind too much. Thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 Do I have really low standards or are these really superb test results? Thanks for saying so. There are definitely a few areas that surprised me, though. It's all good--that's exactly why we opted for ITBS as I heard the results are more decipherable and provide more information for the parent going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 They look great. A bit of punctuation work and math refreshment on multiply and divide would be good, but they are excellent results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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