Testing to assess grade level

[seema]

Hello, I wanted to get a grade level estimate for my dd,14 8th grade, what testing can we use for Math and reading, language arts?

Thankyou!

[PeterPan]

Most standardized testing doesn't kick out actual grade levels. So your normal tests (Stanford, Iowa, CAT, etc.) will give you some information, but not actual grade levels. If you can find a tutor to run the Woodcock Johnson for you, that would be the score, the one you really want. A psych will have that or the WIAT. Both kick out actual grade levels.

 

The WJ is pretty fast too, like maybe an hour to administer, and it's done mostly orally, which helps if you suspect other disabilities. It's easy for the person administering it to accommodate. I got it done on my dd one year by a tutor for only $75, which was a total deal.

 

As far as regular tests, the CAT satisfies our state reporting requirement and is the fastest and cheapest to administer. No qualification requirements for tester, and I think there's an online version now. We're talking $25-35 and a fast report. It's not going to cover science, etc like the Iowa and the longer tests, but it's a good snapshot. I haven't seen a lot of discrepancy between results. So like my kids' CAT scores weren't radically different from their WJ or WIAT scores.

 

Another way to approach it that can work is to use placement tests from the math publishers. For spelling, SWR includes a diagnostic tool that I've found pretty accurate. Sanseri of SWR also recommends the McCall Crabbs comprehension books which kick out comprehension scores. Those pretty closely matched standardized testing scores I got. 

 

What do you suspect is going on? What do you want to make happen?

[seema]

Most standardized testing doesn't kick out actual grade levels. So your normal tests (Stanford, Iowa, CAT, etc.) will give you some information, but not actual grade levels. If you can find a tutor to run the Woodcock Johnson for you, that would be the score, the one you really want. A psych will have that or the WIAT. Both kick out actual grade levels.

 

The WJ is pretty fast too, like maybe an hour to administer, and it's done mostly orally, which helps if you suspect other disabilities. It's easy for the person administering it to accommodate. I got it done on my dd one year by a tutor for only $75, which was a total deal.

 

As far as regular tests, the CAT satisfies our state reporting requirement and is the fastest and cheapest to administer. No qualification requirements for tester, and I think there's an online version now. We're talking $25-35 and a fast report. It's not going to cover science, etc like the Iowa and the longer tests, but it's a good snapshot. I haven't seen a lot of discrepancy between results. So like my kids' CAT scores weren't radically different from their WJ or WIAT scores.

-I think I will use CAT for now, and see how she does

 

Another way to approach it that can work is to use placement tests from the math publishers. For spelling, SWR includes a diagnostic tool that I've found pretty accurate. Sanseri of SWR also recommends the McCall Crabbs comprehension books which kick out comprehension scores. Those pretty closely matched standardized testing scores I got. 

 

What do you suspect is going on? What do you want to make happen?

-She scored very poorly on ACT aspire in reading/language arts at private school, but does okay at home with Evan moore reading comp workbooks, the difference is huge, so I want to test her with different standardised test, to get some idea where she stands.

 I really appreciate your help, and so admire your knowledge, and lot of other devoted mamas on this forum, always willing to help!

[ElizabethB]

Lets go learn has computer adaptive tests that give grade levels for math and LA. LA goes up to 12th grade. their basic math test goes to 7th grade, then they have tests for algebra and algebra readiness.

 

I have some free reading grade level and reading diagnostic tests.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html

Edited September 7, 2017 by ElizabethB

[MomOfABunch]

All the school systems I have worked with use the Brigance to assess this.  The kit is a little expensive, but you can buy it and do it yourself, it's pretty straight forward.  Schools (special education programs) usually give it in the fall and again in the spring to track progress.  

 

https://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/brigance-special-education.aspx

Green is for K-8 skills, Yellow is for before K skills.

[Daria]

Most standardized testing doesn't kick out actual grade levels. So your normal tests (Stanford, Iowa, CAT, etc.) will give you some information, but not actual grade levels. If you can find a tutor to run the Woodcock Johnson for you, that would be the score, the one you really want. A psych will have that or the WIAT. Both kick out actual grade levels.

 

 

I have to disagree with this.  Woodcock Johnson is a norm based test.  The "grade levels" it provides is simply the grade level at which the average student got the same number right.  However, the grade level doesn't give any information about what information the student got right, and so it can't guide you in making decisions about what to teach.

 

I'll give you an example.  Let's say that we have 4 students who all take the same calculation subtest.  All 4 of them answer 20 questions right, yielding a grade equivalency of 3.5.  (Note: I don't have my testing/scoring manuals with me so that 20 = is pulled out of thin air)  Does that mean you can put them all in the middle of 3rd grade math?  Not at all!  Here's why.

 

Well, let's look at how they did.

 

John is a very precocious 5 year old.  John has had very little formal math instruction, but is fascinated by his older sibling's work and asks a million questions.  He's figured out what the signs for the four basic operations mean, and how to figure out an answer, although his strategies are a little wonky (e.g. lots of pictures in the margins).  Because he's smart, and has asked a million questions, he's also been able to make some sense out of fraction signs and signed numbers and so figured out a handful of higher level problems (e.g. - 4 + 2 = ? or ? x 5 = 45).  But he has no idea of conventions, or of algorithms for things like regrouping.  He missed every single problem that involved 2 digit numbers.  Best Placement for him:  Start of second grade, with a curriculum that has lots of depth and challenge.  Maybe Beast Academy 2A?

 

Paul is a very diligent 8 year old whose parents homeschool through a mastery approach.  He has almost finished the 2nd grade text book. He approached the test very meticulously.  He got every addition and subtraction problem right, which is rare.  Most kids in the norming sample make some careless errors.  Since he didn't those extra correct problems bumped his score up, even though he didn't recognize the multiplication or division sign or get any of those questions right.  Best Placement for him:  Continue with what he's doing, maybe incorporating some strategy games or challenging word problems to encourage him to stretch.  He's clearly learning well, but he's well placed at the end of 2nd and can't afford to skip ahead and miss the final unit of 2nd grade math that introduces multiplication.

 

George: is a bright but scattered 10 year old with a diagnosis of ADHD.  He's just started the fifth grade math book and is struggling.  He jumped all over during the pencil and paper portion of the test, and made many careless errors.  He even skipped some problems altogether, probably because he started in the middle and just did the ones he liked.  If anything, he seemed to do better with things that were a little more.  On the test, he got most of the Kindergarten questions right (but skipped one all together).  Made a couple of sign errors on the first grade addition/subtraction problems, but got a lot of them.  Showed that he could regroup, but didn't show his work so once he forgot to add the 1, and once he subtracted in the 10's place, even though it was an addition problem.  If anything, he was more solid on the third grade skills, maybe because they were taught more recently, but again made a careless error, giving answers that were one or two off because his facts aren't memorized and his strategy for figuring them out is a little cumbersome.  He got about 1/2 of the fourth grade problems right, but missed a lot.  Best Placement for him:  Repeat 4th, in a program with lots of spiral and review, and a math fact program on the side.  The errors below that level were more ADHD than lack of understanding, he clearly has the concepts even if his accuracy isn't where we want him to be.  

 

Ringo:  15 year old with dyscalculia, coming to homeschool late after a long period of being poorly served in the public schools.  His test book showed a lot of "scatter".  He made errors at every level, and what he knew was hard to predict.  He seemed to completely forget how to add with regrouping, but got about 1/2 the subtraction with regrouping.  He got a couple multiplication problems right, and pulled one division fact out of his memory, but then nailed most of the fraction work.  He seemed to have never seen a decimal and had no strategies when anything was presented in a novel way (e.g. ? + 2 = 5). In comparison to his math scores, all of his reading and writing scores were age appropriate.  He's and avid reader who is hoping to go to college and study history.    Best Placement for him: He needs a program that goes back to the basics, but is written for the older student.  Given the gaps he's facing, and the fact that he's got 3 years before he takes a college math class, he needs something like Ronit Bird, combined with a program that is designed to quickly remediate (Aleks middle school RTI tier 3 with a talented tutor?  Something more scripted for his parents?), that focuses on the skills that are most important and that encourages calculator use.  No "grade level" curriculum will be the solution here. 

 

If you want a test that dictates grade level, you need a criterion referenced test that presents one level of material at a time, and then tests for mastery with a specific score to move on to try the next test.  In math, many of the placement tests that come with curricula do this.  In reading, you're talking about something like a DRA or an Fountas and Pinnell assessment.  

 

WJ is a fantastic tool for telling you how a kid does relative to his peers.  It will tell you that John is way ahead, Paul is a solid math student, and George and RIngo have a little and a lot of difficulty for their age respectively.  But, unless it's interpreted by a skilled examiner who is watching how the kid approaches it an reviewing the answer sheet afterwards, it's not going to tell you where to start or what to teach.  WIAT is the same.  

 

If you can't find someone to administer a DRA/F&P or a criterion based math assessment, then the standardized tests you referenced at the beginning, things like the IOWA or the PARCC or Smarter Balacnced, will be a better place to start.  Basically, those tests tell you how a kid does on just one grade level. They can tell you whether you need to try a lower level or a higher level but they won't tell you which lower level or which higher level.  (e.g. if you take Grade 3 PARCC and fail, you can't tell if you would have passed the imaginary Grade 2 PARCC or if you would have flunked that too.  Similarly, a kid who has just finished Grade 3 math, and rocked it, and someone with a PHD in math could conceivably both get perfect scores on the Grade 3 PARCC, because there are no higher level questions to distinguish between them. 

[Daria]

All the school systems I have worked with use the Brigance to assess this.  The kit is a little expensive, but you can buy it and do it yourself, it's pretty straight forward.  Schools (special education programs) usually give it in the fall and again in the spring to track progress.  

 

https://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/brigance-special-education.aspx

Green is for K-8 skills, Yellow is for before K skills.

 

Brigance is criterion referenced, so it's closer to this, but it scores very high, because it's looking at the age/grade when a missing skill is a critical problem.  So, for example, while the average Kindergartener might know their letters by the end of November, and many know the before they start, Brigance gives a kid who knows all 54 letters something like a 1.2 grade level, because they know that letters are taught and retaught through K, and reviewed at the start of first. It would be a mistake to conclude from that that a 5 year old who just barely recently all their letters should be grade skipped.

[Guest]

Just as a sidenote, but you can rent the Brigance tests from HSLDA. https://www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner/BriganceRental.asp

Edited September 21, 2017 by Kinsa