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Testing - need help determining what to do next


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Thanks in advance for any replies/suggestions.

I decided to give my daughter, who just turned 12 a couple of weeks ago, the CAT test.  The results were...let me just say...really bizarre.  I would like a plan on what I need to work on with her when we start our new school year in January.  I have to add that I always suspected that she has either some kind of dyslexia or speech issue.

She tested as grade 9 average in math, so I'm not going to list those.  The scores were all around the same level.

Language Mechanics - grade level 13.6

Language Usage and Structure - grade level 10.5

Language spelling - grade level 6.4

Reading vocabulary -  grade level 6.6

Reading comprehension - grade level 10.2

What the heck??  Is this a developmental thing?  How could there be such a big discrepancy with her vocabulary versus reading comprehension?  Should we pick up spelling again?? Is there a spelling program for older/middle school kids??  

Am I just panicking for no reason?

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The grade level equivalencies on the CAT mean that, for example, she did as well as a child in 6th grade, 6th month taking that same test would score in the spelling. Or that she scored as well as a 10th grader taking that same test would score.  So since she just turned 12, I’m guessing she’s in 7th? Thats not bad on the spelling, and really good on the other stuff.  
 

 

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Like @Cnew02 said, not too bad on spelling and vocab, but I would work on it,

I would work through my syllables spell success program, focusing on spelling as a spelling review, then do Marcia Henry's Words, it combines spelling and vocabulary.  

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Reading/syllablesspellsu.html

You can also buy Words through Amazon if you want, but it's usually cheaper at Pro-Ed, I've bought from them several times with no problems.

https://www.proedinc.com/Products/14834/words-integrated-decoding-and-spelling-instruction-based-on-word-origin-and-word-structure-second-edition.aspx

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If you provide a very content rich education, it can provide a dramatic boost to reading comprehension scores.  Also, dyslexics compensate by deriving meaning by making inferences from surrounding text, so the more text that is available the better.  Reading comprehension passages provide more context than vocabulary words in isolation (or in short phrases).

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4 hours ago, Cnew02 said:

The grade level equivalencies on the CAT mean that, for example, she did as well as a child in 6th grade, 6th month taking that same test would score in the spelling. Or that she scored as well as a 10th grader taking that same test would score.  So since she just turned 12, I’m guessing she’s in 7th? Thats not bad on the spelling, and really good on the other stuff.  

 

She missed the cut-off, so if she went to school, she would be in 6th.  Last year, after agonizing all year about it, we did a grade skip.  So, we are officially calling her a 7th grader.

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4 hours ago, ElizabethB said:

Like @Cnew02 said, not too bad on spelling and vocab, but I would work on it,

 

Yeah, I'm definitely adding spelling and vocabulary back in when we start back up again in January.  She keeps saying that she doesn't feel like she's a very good speller. I've been doing a lot of dictation with her this year....and she seems to be fine with it, but after seeing the test scores, I'm adding a spelling program back in.

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4 hours ago, EKS said:

If you provide a very content rich education, it can provide a dramatic boost to reading comprehension scores.  

 

This sums up our entire homeschool.  And I noticed this when she was taking the test.  I watched her for awhile and noticed she could answer a lot of the questions without searching for the answer.  For example...she already knew that igneous rocks are volcanic...she didn't have to scan the passage for that.

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I have a younger student who has a similar disparity in scores - this year we're emphasizing spelling and grammar based on last year's results.  One book that I liked for my older and am planning to use next year with my younger is Halverson's 'Spelling Works'.  It's not lists of words, but work with some of the common rules, with mention of the exceptions.  Something that I did with my older but haven't tried yet with younger is to do a vocabulary program (vocab with classical roots, wordly wise, MCT's vocab books, or pulled from literature if you're interested in doing that) and then using that as a spelling list.  Older liked that it efficiently combined 2 subjects.  

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On 11/4/2019 at 8:13 PM, Evanthe said:

 

She missed the cut-off, so if she went to school, she would be in 6th.  Last year, after agonizing all year about it, we did a grade skip.  So, we are officially calling her a 7th grader.

So, she tested *at least* at grade level in everything, assuming you gave her the sixth grade-level test. I don't see any reason to be upset. It's not uncommon for children to be all over the place in the scores. Was this the first year that you did standardized tests? If so, you need another year of standardized testing for comparison.

If you were generally happy with what you have been doing, then I'm thinking you could just continue on.

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