What's your favorite standardized test?

[LivingLatin]

Washington state requires (OK, suggests; they don't actually check to see if you've done it) parents to have their kids assessed or tested annually to make sure they're making adequate progress. I think this is a fine idea, but I'd like to use a reasonable test that will make some sense with a classical curriculum. My school-aged kid is 5 1/2 and doing kindergarten work (by which I mean the Ordinary Parent's Guide and a lot of me reading aloud to him about various subjects), but I imagine they do standardized testing for kindergartners too. Any ideas/suggestions? There are so many tests out there, and I don't know which ones are better or how to prepare for them, other than just continuing to do what we do already.

 

Thanks!

 

Nealy

[G5052]

In my state we only test language arts and math, and only for 1st and up. It does have to be turned in, and you need to be in the upper 75% or use some other evaluation. I use the CAT-E from Seton for 1st and 2nd, then Hewitt's PASS for 3rd-6th, and then do testing with a group using the Stanford Achievement Test or Iowa Achievement Test.

 

Frankly it's never been a big deal in our house. I've never managed to fit in any prep work, and my kids have always done just fine. I've also never been surprised by the results, but the state requires it, so we do it. DH likes to see it every year too.

[Linda...inOwasso]

My children have never taken any other standardized test so I can't compare, but I've been happy with the Stanford Achievement Test test thus far. My dd8 has taken it each May for the past 3 years. I *think* the test prep workbook we used last year was Spectrum. If so, it was excellent!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Washington state requires (OK, suggests; they don't actually check to see if you've done it) parents to have their kids assessed or tested annually to make sure they're making adequate progress. I think this is a fine idea, but I'd like to use a reasonable test that will make some sense with a classical curriculum. My school-aged kid is 5 1/2 and doing kindergarten work (by which I mean the Ordinary Parent's Guide and a lot of me reading aloud to him about various subjects), but I imagine they do standardized testing for kindergartners too. Any ideas/suggestions? There are so many tests out there, and I don't know which ones are better or how to prepare for them, other than just continuing to do what we do already.

 

Thanks!

 

Nealy

 

Before you worry about it too much, check and see if you really do need to test this year. Not all states require testing in kindergarten. You may also find that the state only considers certain test areas (for example math and language arts but not science and social studies) so a different sequence doesn't have that much impact.

But other than that, I like a test that I will be able to do year after year so that I can see any trends. After all if a test prompted me to spend more time on an area, I would want to retest that area to see if there was any effect.

We've used the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), primarily because it has been offered by the support groups we've been in. With SAT the questions are read to the kids up through 2nd grade. Even questions on science and social studies. The biggest thing that the lower grade tests are testing is the ability to read. HOWEVER, the tests have to use some odd question sequences in order to try to measure reading using multiple choice questions. So you get questions like "Which word pictured below has the same vowel sound as boat?" which are dependent on knowing what vowels are (I have great readers who didn't always know this term) and on using the right word for the picture (ie coat, not jacket or rope not string).

We are moving to an area that won't require testing. I will probably still test during that time, but I'm thinking of moving to Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) because I can administer that myself and I think I will have a much better feel for where the holes are in my kids' performance.

[PeterPan]

Testing a 5 yo isn't going to tell you much more than what you already know. Can he read? Can he add? But by 2nd or 3rd, you have enough math skills and whatnot piled up that it does start to be helpful. Ditta what GVA said about trying some of the shorter, less expensive tests early on and then switching to the more detailed tests later. I did the CAT 1970, available from CLP very inexpensively and with a quick scoring turn-around, last year with my dd. It's short enough, it would have been fine in 2nd grade too. I just think before that it's not going to tell you much, not much more than you already know. When I worked in K5, they did the testing to have an outside source confirming what the teacher was saying to the parents (that a particular dc needed to repeat, etc.).

 

This year, for 4th, I want to do the Iowa along with another test, I forget what it's called, that you can have paired and scored together. They're available through the testing service of BJU. The CAT was fine, but it wasn't detailed enough to be helpful to me, not once I got the generalities from it. The Iowa has further breakdowns and is more detailed, but it takes longer. That just seems silly to me to spend that much time with a K5er, but that's just my opinion.

 

Do you realize there are some older standardized tests, I think from Texas, available online for free? With as young as your dc are, you could do something like that for a year or two, fulfill the spirit of the law (comparing your dc's progress to a standard test, even if you didn't pay, hehe), build their experience and comfort with how testing works, then do something paid and proper in say 3rd.

[abbeyej]

I like the ITBS. The rules for administration are less complex than Stanford, and it gives more information than CAT. Also, the current edition of ITBS and Stanford are available to homeschoolers, whereas the CAT is only available in an older version. Hewitt's PASS test isn't nationally normed, so I haven't given it much consideration (and it wouldn't fulfill the laws for testing in my state because of that).

 

All that said, I wouldn't test a kindergarten or first grader unless I was absolutely required to. Both Stanford and ITBS change formats a bit in third grade (when they assume that all children have mastered basic reading skills), and that's a good time to begin. Though if you *must* test, either one will work for K-2 as well...

 

I also like adding the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) alongside the ITBS occasionally after third grade. I believe that's what OhElizabeth was referring to also. It provides useful profiles of a student's abilities, and compares them to actual achievement...

[PeterPan]

Yes, yes, the CogAT is what I was thinking of! That's why it's testing the kids', not *my* brain skills, hehe. :)

[EKS]

In WA you don't have to test until the child is 8. However, I did use the ITBS with my K'er last spring. I administered it at home and he had a good time doing it (he is very strong academically).

 

If you're looking for finding out what level your child is working at, I wouldn't use any of the commonly used standardized tests at that young age. The tests have low ceilings and the questions for the science and social studies are pretty lame. Instead, you could give subject specific placement tests, like the ones at the K12 website, or perhaps the DORA. These tests aren't accepted by WA state for the testing requirement, but they do give more relevant information.