received ITBS test results

[bfw0729]

I had my kids assessed this year and was really surprised with the results. We worked hard in Spelling, Math, Reading, and Grammar. We also did other subjects, but these were done five days a week (although Grammar was done four of the 5 days).

 

We used the Spalding Method for Spelling, Singapore Math, and R&S English. We used Phonics Pathways to punch up the reading skills of two of my kids and read a TON. All three of my kids mostly scored in the 80s for everything, with a sprinkle of 90s in a couple of the subtests in Math and Language. I was pleased because they were in a private school last year and their scores were mostly in the 50- 60s. Even one of my children was in the single digits to teens in reading. Thankfully, he shot up to the 84%ile this time :)

 

What surprised me was the one subtest in Spelling. All of their subtests were essentially in the 80-90s, however, all three of them scored around the 60%ile in Spelling! We worked really hard on Spelling this year. 30 new words a week with about 10 review words. They pretty much aced or nearly aced all their quizzes, so why the 60%ile???

 

Anyway, I was planning to continue with Spalding next year, but if their spelling is really no different using Spalding vs. Rod and Staff Spelling, then I may as well pick the program that takes significantly less time. Using the Spalding Method on three kids takes a lot of time, so It might be worth it to just switch. I love the approach and methodology of Spalding, but I think it's time to try something different.

[EKS]

First, I wanted to say that the huge change in percentiles is awesome!  You all should be proud of your efforts!

 

Regarding spelling--I have come to believe that spelling instruction, beyond basic phonics instruction, generally doesn't make much difference in a kid's ability to spell.

[maize]

Do keep in mind that a percentile in the 60's means they are performing slightly above average for their grade. Out of 100 students taking the test, 60-ish will test below them and 30-40 will test above them. 

 

Of course high percentile scores are nice to have, but I really don't expect my kids to be better than 80-90+ kids out of every hundred at their same grade level in every single subject. Below average scores might concern me, but slightly above average doesn't mean your curriculum or method isn't working.

 

 

[73349]

Spelling is usually a skill of hearing or thinking a word and then getting the right letters in the right order on paper. But if you noticed, the ITBS asks for a different task: look at these four words and decide which one is wrong. (At least, the 2nd-grade form E does. That's what DS took this year.)

 

It's set up better for kids who are heavy readers for their age (like my DS), not those who can actually spell a word "from scratch" when called upon (as yours can; mine very often cannot).

 

I wouldn't sweat it a bit.

Edited June 4, 2016 by whitehawk

[MerryAtHope]

I definitely agree that a 60th plus percentile score is nothing to be disappointed about (it's above average), and that the way spelling is tested in a standardized test is a very different thing. Some tests have the same word spelled 4 different ways--they all start to look alike after that. Some tests list 4 words and the student has to identify which is misspelled--but what if one of the words wasn't familiar to the student? And so on. It highly focuses on visual discrimination and is testing different skills than hearing/thinking a word and writing it. 

 

Also--I would almost never change my curriculum choice based on the result of one test. It's simply not enough information on which to base a curriculum choice. A low score can mean--a child was tired, confused, got off on the bubbles, was bored etc..., or it can mean the scope/sequence of the test material was different from the curriculum you are using, or that your student was confused by a question, or that your student meant to choose "b" but marked "c" by mistake (how many people have gone over these tests & their kid said, "oh yeah, I meant this..." or it can be that your local public school spent a lot more time teaching to the test than you did--it really doesn't tell you WHY your student missed some questions and whether missing those questions is significant. It's one, very small piece of the puzzle. Tests like these don't show what a student HAS learned--they are very limited in scope.

 

Keep standardized tests in perspective, and decide outside of that what is working and what isn't for your homeschool.

 

I will say that working through a phonogram approach to spelling (we used All About Spelling) made a huge difference in my kids' ability to spell. It was only 15-20 minutes daily, and was one of the better choices I made in our homeschool. 

[Tsuga]

 

 

What surprised me was the one subtest in Spelling. All of their subtests were essentially in the 80-90s, however, all three of them scored around the 60%ile in Spelling! We worked really hard on Spelling this year. 30 new words a week with about 10 review words. They pretty much aced or nearly aced all their quizzes, so why the 60%ile???

 

While I do believe that it is possible to achieve excellence through effort, the fact is, some kids simply have a spelling instinct. My older daughter never practices spelling and she's in like the 95th percentile. I was, too. I can spell everything in the National Spelling Bee if they ask the etymology. I don't know why. The system imprinted in my brain and it just stuck.

 

I am willing to bet that it will be MUCH harder in spelling to get over the 80th percentile at certain ages because some kids will have that instinct and max out the test--i.e. it is actually not hard enough to differentiate hard work from instinctual guessing.

[Catalytic]

 

Regarding spelling--I have come to believe that spelling instruction, beyond basic phonics instruction, generally doesn't make much difference in a kid's ability to spell.

 

I agree, I've never intentionally taught spelling.  It came naturally to my 24, 22, and 17 year old...my 18 year old can't spell his way out of a paper bag.  My DH isn't the best at spelling either, it didn't impede him getting a Master's.  (Correction, my 22 year old won the homeschool school spelling bee, so she went to district competition as the school's rep along with the public school reps.  As a gift for winning, she was given a HUGE Webster's dictionary (like this one, it's really nice)...we did study that together along with a lot of Scripps lists for the district bee.  She came in 2nd, so we studied until state competition, because she was the backup if the 1st place winner couldn't go.  We never studied spelling again.)

[Catalytic]

Spelling is usually a skill of hearing or thinking a word and then getting the right letters in the right order on paper. But if you noticed, the ITBS asks for a different task: look at these four words and decide which one is wrong. (At least, the 2nd-grade form E does. That's what DS took this year.)

 

It's set up better for kids who are heavy readers for their age (like my DS), not those who can actually spell a word "from scratch" when called upon (as yours can; mine very often cannot).

 

I wouldn't sweat it a bit.

 

I'd agree with this too.  I had my K kiddo take the 2nd grade online CAT this year, and he aced the spelling, but he can't spell at least 50% of them "from scratch," he just knew they were misspelled on the test.

[edeemarie]

For my kids, the skill of spelling has come easily for my visual learner, but not for my auditory learners. With standardized tests, my auditory learners think if they can read the word then it must be correct! I have literally tried just about every spelling program out there, and simple studied dictation using passages from books they are reading has had the best results for them (also, years and years of seeing the words written correctly is finally starting to help since they are 12 and 10 now). I really wouldn't stress about it because being in the 60th percentile isn't a bad score at all. Spelling has always been our lowest scores for my oldest two, but they make up for it by excelling in other areas so it all even out in the end. 😉

[AggieMama]

I was going to suggest All About Spelling. It looks like a great program that has similar characteristics to Words Their Way, which some public schools are suppose to use.

[Mrs Twain]

One of my kids had a spelling score like yours on the ITBS even though most of the rest of the scores were much higher. I doubled down and worked harder in spelling with him using different strategies. His spelling has improved quite a bit, and the ITBS spelling score also increased into the 90's.

 

If you are gong to disregard the results, then don't bother giving your kids a test like the ITBS. It is worth a try to change your spelling instruction if you think your child may benefit. I always make adjustments to my curriculum based on ITBS results.