s/o Standardized Testing advice needed...

[Tree House Academy]

Dh and I were discussing this today and I was just curious and need some good links and advice on standardized testing.

 

My ds is not required to take them for our state because we are registered through an umbrella school. However, I want him to take some kind of test at the end of the year so that I can assess his progress and really get a feel for where we are when he is NOT drilled for 3 months prior to the test (like they do in ps to make sure the funds keep coming in :( Sad but true).

 

What would be the best way to do this? I don't mind to administer the test myself. I think we can do just fine, but I am also not opposed to someone else administering it...as long as it is not the school system.

 

Where can I find good standardized tests?

 

Also, being a homeschool family, we are not exactly studying per the California standards for 4th grade. I mean, most kids in this area do not learn History until much later grades. We are also focusing on Physics right now while other kids in 4th grade are learning across the sciences. What do I do about this???

[mnmmomjen]

Have you checked with a local homeschool group to find out if some of these families get together for testing? A large hs group in my area (Illinois) does testing each May, with parents as proctors.

 

I'm not sure about California law, but I was told by more than one parent here that all you need to administer the test is a Bachelor's degree.

 

Bob Jones University has standardized tests available; I don't know which test(s) they offer. My dh is a ps teacher and says that University of Iowa has the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (a favorite of my childhood:glare:).

 

I plan to have my dd (3rd grade) tested this year; she was too young to be tested last year. The hs group used a test that was only for grades 3 and up. I'd like to see where she's at; the testing is more for me than anything.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

Jen

[mnmmomjen]

Have you seen the thread below (posted by Sheryl) re: standardized tests? There is lots of good info there.

[inashoe]

ds did the CAT at the end of 3rd grade and the IOWA (or ITBS) at the end of 4th grade. He did the full battery for both, but you can elect to do only the math and reading portion.

 

I had the same concern about him not being on the typical school system for science. I had no idea if he was going to be tested on material that he had seen before or not. He hadn't even heard of social studies before (!) He ACED the science and social studies sections.

 

CAT and IOWA produced very similar results for him.

 

Up to 3rd grade an adult needs to read the instructions aloud to the child, as from 4th grade the child does the test on his own. In the future I will only do the test from 4th grade.

 

I get the CAT from http://www.familylearning.org

You don't need to have any qualifications to administer the CAT.

[Tree House Academy]

I do have a BA, so qualification is not an issue...just where to get the tests for free.

 

inashoe - thank you for your story about your son. That has been my biggest concern because we are not studying exactly what the ps kids are. Glad to hear your ds aced them with no problems! That gives me hope that mine will do okay too. :)

[Laura Corin]

You can find the Texas TAKs tests on line for free. Texas standards aren't wonderful though, I've heard.

 

Laura

[LisaKinVA]

We get the CAT through Christian Liberty Academy, and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills through Bob Jones University Press. Both of these, you can administer yourself.

 

The Stanford Achievement Test has to be given, I believe, with a group. And the Woodcock Johnnson, you can usually have administered by a local testing company (different ones in different areas... you'd probably need to call to find out).

[Ellie]

Dh and I were discussing this today and I was just curious and need some good links and advice on standardized testing.

 

My ds is not required to take them for our state because we are registered through an umbrella school. However, I want him to take some kind of test at the end of the year so that I can assess his progress and really get a feel for where we are when he is NOT drilled for 3 months prior to the test (like they do in ps to make sure the funds keep coming in :( Sad but true).

 

What would be the best way to do this? I don't mind to administer the test myself. I think we can do just fine, but I am also not opposed to someone else administering it...as long as it is not the school system.

 

Where can I find good standardized tests?

 

Also, being a homeschool family, we are not exactly studying per the California standards for 4th grade. I mean, most kids in this area do not learn History until much later grades. We are also focusing on Physics right now while other kids in 4th grade are learning across the sciences. What do I do about this???

Are you in California? Because private schools in California (that would be you) are not required to test; this would be true whether you enrolled in someone else's private school or filed your own affidavit.

 

It doesn't matter whether your dc is learning what other dc are learning. If you choose a test that is a full battery instead of basic skills, the scores in some areas might look strange, lol, but since testing is not required, it doesn't matter.

[KarenNC]

I do have a BA, so qualification is not an issue...just where to get the tests for free.

 

inashoe - thank you for your story about your son. That has been my biggest concern because we are not studying exactly what the ps kids are. Glad to hear your ds aced them with no problems! That gives me hope that mine will do okay too. :)

 

You are not going to find them for free, unfortunately, but they do not have to be expensive. We order the Iowa through http://www.pesdirect.com for $40 and administer it at home, sending it in for machine scoring.

 

Here's a site that lists a lot of providers and costs from each for various tests

http://www.nhhomeschooling.org/testing.htm. Some are as low as $25 for the CAT.

 

I wouldn't worry about the science/history/social studies. I gave my daughter an out of level test last year (she was in 2nd grade, gave her 4th grade Iowa) because her language skills are very high and that was a good middle ground between them and her math/grammar skills. She was above average on a lot of those areas even though it was not at her age level and we don't follow the public school scope and sequence.

 

This doesn't mean that all hs kids automatically score higher than ps kids---mine definitely didn't in areas like grammar and computational speed (even compared to her actual grade level). It helped me see the areas that needed more work, but they also weren't a big surprise. I knew she wasn't doing well with capitalization and punctuation, for instance.

 

Also don't worry about the timing of the test. You can give it at any point during the year as the norms are set up to compare the results to other children at that same point in the year. You don't have to have finished all your materials for the year in order to test. We usually do it in March or April.

 

I do suggest you find some test prep materials to familiarize your child with the mechanics of taking a bubble test---things like marking the separate score sheet correctly, being timed without getting anxious (that seems to be a block for some homeschoolers), staying focused during a timed portion, working on the easy answers first then going back for the harder ones. The tests also are looking at skills such as spelling and grammar in a way your kids may not have encountered---finding the mistake vs doing the task. It's a little bit different skill.

 

This doesn't mean cram for 3 months on content, just familiarizing them with the format of the test so that it isn't a road block. We picked up an Iowa test prep book and worked through some of the sections a couple weeks before I gave the test because this was her first year with a bubble test (previously we've used the Woodcock Johnson III which is professionally administered one on one).