Easiest way to do standardized testing?

[Ting Tang]

Is there an "easy" way to give my three school-aged children standardized tests at home to determine how they perform in comparison with their peers?  Can I do it over the summer?

We've been homeschooling for two years now.  I know scores are not the most important thing in the whole world, but I feel like I need some sort of concrete evidence in my arsenal that I am not failing at this, lol.

[HomeAgain]

I order the CAT through AcademicExcellence.  They offer both paper and online, timed or untimed.  My kid doesn't mind it at all and it gives me a decent idea about what he's absorbed if I sit there in the background.  (like, seriously, HOW at 12yo can he think that 6x8 is 44??????  He can do all sorts of math, but the tween brain lapses are going to be the death of me!)

[ScoutTN]

We did the Iowa at home several times, ordered through BJU. Our umbrella school uses the CAT/Terra Nova.

I liked the analysis from the Iowas better. 

[Cararoe]

We have used homeschoolboss.com for the NWEA MAP and have found it extremely simple and has given me a wealth of information that I have been able to implement.  

[Clemsondana]

We know people who order them and do them at home.  In our area, many students have an umbrella school (usually a private school) and they do their testing there.  You can also go really informal and just have them do the practice test in a prep book if it's just to get an idea of how they are doing.  My kids have tested at umbrella schools many times over the years, and my kid who plays a sport on a public school team had to do end-of-course exams in 2 subjects in 9th grade.  One of my kids did a type of standardized test when looking to see if there were any hidden learning disabilities (there weren't).  They can be helpful, but most moms that I know (including me) found that it didn't tell them much that they didn't already know.  I guess it gives bounds on something - like if you know that a kid is particularly good at a skill or struggling with a subject, it gives you a number to put with 'good' or 'struggling' - but it doesn't seem to give most moms a lot of insight.  Tests are probably quite informative for parents who don't have a good idea of what 'typical' or 'age appropriate' skills are, though - I'm sure that for some it's eye opening to see that a kid is very ahead or behind.  

[Ting Tang]

2 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

I order the CAT through AcademicExcellence.  They offer both paper and online, timed or untimed.  My kid doesn't mind it at all and it gives me a decent idea about what he's absorbed if I sit there in the background.  (like, seriously, HOW at 12yo can he think that 6x8 is 44??????  He can do all sorts of math, but the tween brain lapses are going to be the death of me!)

Today my son wrote that 10% of 65 was 600.  I hear you.  LOL  But thank you so much - I am going to check this out!

Edited May 3, 2022 by Ting Tang

[Ting Tang]

2 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

We did the Iowa at home several times, ordered through BJU. Our umbrella school uses the CAT/Terra Nova.

I liked the analysis from the Iowas better. 

Thank you.  I will look at that.  I know Abeka offered that, too, but not everyone is using Abeka.  That is great information about Iowa doing a good analysis!

[Ting Tang]

2 hours ago, Cararoe said:

We have used homeschoolboss.com for the NWEA MAP and have found it extremely simple and has given me a wealth of information that I have been able to implement.  

Thank you!  I have heard of this one.  I will check it out, too. 

[Ting Tang]

1 hour ago, Clemsondana said:

We know people who order them and do them at home.  In our area, many students have an umbrella school (usually a private school) and they do their testing there.  You can also go really informal and just have them do the practice test in a prep book if it's just to get an idea of how they are doing.  My kids have tested at umbrella schools many times over the years, and my kid who plays a sport on a public school team had to do end-of-course exams in 2 subjects in 9th grade.  One of my kids did a type of standardized test when looking to see if there were any hidden learning disabilities (there weren't).  They can be helpful, but most moms that I know (including me) found that it didn't tell them much that they didn't already know.  I guess it gives bounds on something - like if you know that a kid is particularly good at a skill or struggling with a subject, it gives you a number to put with 'good' or 'struggling' - but it doesn't seem to give most moms a lot of insight.  Tests are probably quite informative for parents who don't have a good idea of what 'typical' or 'age appropriate' skills are, though - I'm sure that for some it's eye opening to see that a kid is very ahead or behind.  

Thank you so much!  Yes, I would like to think I have some good insight into my children's strengths and weaknesses.  Our local school's scores are really bad.  Students are performing below state averages.  There are communities with bad reputations (you'd think the odds were against these students) that are consistently performing better---which is great for those kids, of course!  But I guess I'd just like something that shows me some proof we're not doing too badly.  

[ScoutTN]

We didn’t do them at all til around 5th grade, and then not every year. 

[73349]

We're required to test annually. I administer the Iowa Test (ITBS) at home, mail it in, and get the scores back as an emailed PDF in about a month. I order from here.

[cintinative]

Up until last year we had done IOWA testing every year since about 4th grade.  In 9th grade, my kids did the CLT10. This year my sophomore did the ACT>

I like the score reports from the IOWA.  

I heard Stanford is being phased out--you probably can't order it, but that's a good reason to avoid it. It is nice to stick with the same test year after year to do a comparison.

[cintinative]

From a logistical perspective, generally we did the IOWA over two days. When they were small and there were oral assessment sections, I think we did it over three.  And we didn't do school the rest of the day those days other than me reading aloud.  

We did the CoGAT one year and that added an extra day.  So three days that year. Each day about 3-4 hours. 

[rutheart]

I've always ordered mine via setontesting.com 

Some of the tests do require the proctor to have a college degree.

When I lived in Georgia, I used the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills). They revised the test for common core standards, so it's now called the Iowa Form E. In Tennessee, they refused to update their test list (I emailed so many people at the state education department, but to no avail), so I had to use the Stanford 10.

Overall, I preferred the feedback from the Iowa test, but I got enough information from the Stanford 10 to get a sense of whether I was doing enough with the homeschooling, and which areas to focus on in the future.

We also skipped schoolwork on testing days. The last couple weeks of school, I tend to skip/condense assignments because everyone is ready for summer, so our school year is still 180 days. I figure if the schools can count standardized testing days as school days, so can I. If anything, schools have fewer days of instruction because they waste a week or more on review for those standardized tests.

[EKS]

We did the ITBS (and then the ITED) every year through BJU.  I'd give them one section each day.

[Servant4Christ]

We've used the CAT and the PASS test by Hewitt. I preferred the feedback I got from the CAT, but my Oldest seriously panics and freezes during anything timed (including math speed drills), so we tried the PASS test which isn't timed and it gives decent enough feedback to satisfy our state and still gives me a pretty decent idea of how much of what I taught was retained. 

On 5/3/2022 at 1:47 PM, HomeAgain said:

I order the CAT through AcademicExcellence.  They offer both paper and online, timed or untimed.  My kid doesn't mind it at all and it gives me a decent idea about what he's absorbed if I sit there in the background.  (like, seriously, HOW at 12yo can he think that 6x8 is 44??????  He can do all sorts of math, but the tween brain lapses are going to be the death of me!)

I had no idea there's an untimed version of the CAT. Unfortunately, it's online only.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Servant4Christ

[Ellie]

You can order several different standardized tests Bayside School Services. Some publishers require test administrators to have a degree [of any kind], which is silly, but that isn't required if you order from Bayside School Services.

There's also the P.A.S.S. Test from Hewitt Learning.

[knitgrl]

We use PASS from Hewitt because it's not timed, and you don't have to prove your educational credentials. Starting in 3rd grade, dd has taken it yearly so that she would have some experience filling in the bubbles on the scantron. And that IS a skill. It took her 2 tests before she really got the hang of it. I only send the results to the school district when I have to.

[mmasc]

We’ve done the Stanford 10 online through Seton Testing for several years. It’s easy, and the scores are posted within 48 hours. It also gives the Lexile measurement, which I always like having also. I haven’t heard or read anything about it being phased out.🤷🏼‍♀️

[Sneezyone]

We always used Homeschool Boss (online MAP testing). It's adaptive.

[JazzyMom]

2 of my kids are doing the Stanford 10 online next week through homeschool testing services.  I chose it because it’s untimed, and this is the one I did with my older kids just to see where they were compared to peers.

Edited May 6, 2022 by JazzyMom

[Xahm]

We've used the MAP mentioned above. I like that it's untimed and adaptive, but I also chose it because our local school district uses it. If I ever decide to enroll my kids, it will be handy to have scores the schools easily understand. 

It is a bit more expensive than some tests and some kids don't like the fact that it's designed to go until the questions get too hard to answer. I like that feature because I don't want my kids to assume they are supposed to get 100 percent correct on a standardized test.

[Ting Tang]

Thanks to everyone that added to the conversation!  I need to do my research.   🙂  It would be nice if we could do it over the summer.  

[EKS]

23 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

We always used Homeschool Boss (online MAP testing). It's adaptive.

If it had been available when my kids were homeschooling, I definitely would have used the MAP.

[mmasc]

3 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

Thanks to everyone that added to the conversation!  I need to do my research.   🙂  It would be nice if we could do it over the summer.  

I noticed when I bought our Stanford 10 Online tests through Seton, they had testing weeks all through the summer. 

[mlktwins]

On 5/4/2022 at 3:23 PM, rutheart said:

I've always ordered mine via setontesting.com 

Some of the tests do require the proctor to have a college degree.

When I lived in Georgia, I used the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills). They revised the test for common core standards, so it's now called the Iowa Form E. In Tennessee, they refused to update their test list (I emailed so many people at the state education department, but to no avail), so I had to use the Stanford 10.

Overall, I preferred the feedback from the Iowa test, but I got enough information from the Stanford 10 to get a sense of whether I was doing enough with the homeschooling, and which areas to focus on in the future.

We also skipped schoolwork on testing days. The last couple weeks of school, I tend to skip/condense assignments because everyone is ready for summer, so our school year is still 180 days. I figure if the schools can count standardized testing days as school days, so can I. If anything, schools have fewer days of instruction because they waste a week or more on review for those standardized tests.

We also got ours from Seton.  We always did ours in the summer (June or very early July) as they are due by August 1st.  We are required to provide evidence of “knowledge” every year and I chose standardized testing because at some point the boys’ would be required to do some sort of standardized testing and the practice would be good.  We did the CAT for years and then the ITBS the last couple. It was nice this year (they are rising seniors) to just submit their SAT scores.  
 

[Insertcreativenamehere]

We have done the online Stanford through Seton several times. It is comprehensive and well-run with good data.

The MAP test through Homeschool Boss is also really good. I've used that the last few years and am happy with it.