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Matthew's test scores (Stanford) came back and they were not what I expected. His overall percentile was 84%. I know it's not considered "right" in homeschooling circles to put any weight on test scores, but, there it is, I feel like I failed somewhere. I guess not too much, the only area he was below grade level was fractions and decimals (totally my fault, never touched on them). But the reading score really surprised me. 3.3. That seems so very off, he starts 3rd grade in Sept. My neighbor said it must have been test nerves because he reads far above that, but I feel like this paper is telling me I was way off, and not doing the job I though I was, and I was overestimating his giftedness to boot. Someone please tell me there is a jump between the first test and subsequent ones!
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
My guess is he didn't test well because you don't teach to the test.
In my daughter's school the last few weeks before Standord tests are spent with the teachers drilling them on the things that are going to be on the test.
So what if he doesn't read very far above grade level? (As determined by the test) Does it matter?
If I were you I'd forget about the test and just focus on teaching. You're already getting into the "testing is everything" mindset the schools are guilty of - see your last sentence. You're already stressing about the NEXT test.
Forget it. Teach, and let your child enjoy learning. That's much more important than what grade level he reads on, isn't it?
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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You are right Belle, you really are, and my brain knows this. He does know so much, and he loves learning history, and reads whenever he can.We have a really great year coming up; vigourous, but with a lot of enjoyable things. I need to calm down, I worry about too much.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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84 percentile is good if im not mistaken.. That means he's better than 84 percent of the kids. Don't be depressed because your child isnt as smart as u assumed he was
Posts: 332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I'm not sure either...what's so depressing about an 84%? It sounds good to me too! Just try and remember that some kids are not test-takers. Boy Opera isn't. I actually snorted at the part in your post where you said that you felt like you had overestimated Matthew's giftedness. I'm always suspicious of people who want to prove how gifted their child is by throwing out various test scores. We all know that there are many important things that tests don't measure, and that if a child can't apply what they've learned to the real world they can ace every test and still be rather stupid.
I've always been able to tell from your posts here that you're very dedicated to your kids, and to homeschooling. Don't use his test score as an excuse to beat yourself up. I'm sure Matthew is a very bright boy; a test score doesn't change that. And a test score certainly doesn't change the fact that you're a devoted teacher!
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Your kid scored better than 84% of the population without getting the spoon-fed test preparation training. It sounds like you're doing a wonderful job! Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Boon
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posted
Are you aware that a lot of schools teach "test taking skills"? I mean, how to eliminate some multiple choice answers using logic, how to work math problems backwards to check your answers, how to skim paragraphs for relevant information to make reading "tests" easier, etc. It may be that he knows the material better than the tests reflect in comparison to his peers just because they have special training.
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romany, to give you some perspective - public schools would be thrilled if every one of their students scored in the 84th percentile. Boon is right about test-taking skills - they do improve scores. Also, has Matthew ever taken a practice test? It can raise your score if you know what the test format is going into it.
I don't think you have anything to worry about. However, if you like, I can talk to Andrew about things you can do to raise the scores. He writes standardized tests for 6 states (I think it's 6) and also reviews and proofs them.
One thing:
quote:he was below grade level was fractions and decimals
You might want to concentrate more on math next year. The skills most homeschooled children are behind in are math and grammar. What curicculum are you using? Many homeschoolers choose to use Saxon math, but there are many other good programs.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote: The skills most homeschooled children are behind in are math and grammar.
I would agree. However it makes me chuckle. With my mother, the things we *had* to get done every day were math and grammar. Everything else could slide. We knew that if we got those two done, we could probably weasle out of the rest if we really wanted to do something else. Math and grammar generally lasted through the summer too.
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I don't think I ever scored better than average in Math. Certainly never better than the Private school average. My parents didn't mind, my scores in all the verbal ones were always in the top 5 per cent. However, why does it matter? It isn't as though it is an acurate test of intellegence or knowladge. Besides, I didn't take those tests until 4th grade.
Posts: 1332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Hmmm... I think when doing better than 84% of the population is cause for worry, you are correct in thinking that you worry too much. Posts: 2432 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Did they include the averages for homeschoolers? How about Private schools? Those are more relevent.
Posts: 1332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:public schools would be thrilled if every one of their students scored in the 84th percentile
I'm guessing that you mean a particular school would be thrilled at that. Because a percentile simply reports what percentage of the test-takers did worse. It's not possible for every student who took the test to score in the 84th percentile (or any other).
posted
I'm curious as to what percentile would not have been a disappointment? 84% is pretty high and it's seems like a score that a bright child would get. As a homeschooler, you don't have a great basis of comparison for what other kids taking the test are like. I hope that you're not falling into the trap of thinking your child is obviously the smartest anyone could be.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote: I hope that you're not falling into the trap of thinking your child is obviously the smartest anyone could be.
No, I was surprised because his reading score was lower than what we see him read all the time. I was surprised the other way by how high his spelling score was.
Mrs. M, we're using Addison-Wesley for Math, but I may have to consider changing to Saxon.I would have to get it used though, that's a huge chunk of money.
Thanks for the perspectives and reassurances.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I'm a HORRIBLE speller, but my spelling scores were always in the 70-80 percentile range as a child. It's a lot easier to "spell" when all you have to do is recognize the proper spelling or find the misspelled word, which is all these sort of tests ask for.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I specifically wrote most rather than all. This is partly because I think Hatrack homeschoolers are exceptional and to make sure that romany knew I wasn't criticizing her. I dealt with (literally) hundreds of homeschoolers in my former job and 98% of them had significant gaps in their basic grammar and math skills.
romany, I've never been a huge fan of Addison-Wesley, to tell you the truth. My company used to use Follett for used textbooks and they were great: http://www.fes.follett.com. They also have a ton of them on half.com (not sure if they have the teacher editions, though). It still shocks me how expensive textbooks are, especially since so many of them are poorly written.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
1. Tests do not reflect intelligence. They reflect how well he did, on that day, on that test, in those particular questions, in that particular way of answering. Reading is particularly hard to test on because it's testing on now how well you read but how well you can write down what you have read. If your kid loves reading, he loves reading, end of story.
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Reading tests are geared toward certain skills that a fast high level reader may or may not be picking up. Like explaining what happened to someone of the expected mental level.
But that's part of why I'm glad I have my daughter in public school. She's not above or below average so much as sideways. I love that she's unique, but I do want her to have choices later in life that can involve the rest of society.
Posts: 2010 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I was making the point that an 84 percentile is a good score for either a homeschooled student or a public school student. Certainly I could have been more clear, but I feel sure that my point was understood nevertheless.
I'm tired and pregnant and uncomfortable, so cut me some slack, please.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I'm sorry. I didn't intend to insult you. Logical inconsistancies/mathematical errors tend to really jump out at me, and I usually blurt out a correction whether it is an appropriate time for that or not. I did try to determine what you really meant, though.
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