Voluntary standardized testing... should we do it?

[Omma]

I have a 3rd grader this year, and I was wondering what you all thought about whether or not I should take him to a week of standardized testing or not. It would be in April at a Christian private school that I know of. They said he would be welcomed to take the test with the other 3rd graders in their school. It would be 1 1/2 to 2 hours every morning for a full week, I think.

The pros, as I see it, would be:

I could find out how he compares with others and just how he is doing in LA and Math. It would also give him experience in taking tests. Also, I would have fodder to tell others that we have tested him (even though it isn't a requirement for homeschoolers to do so in our state). He is familiar with the church building where this school is located, but he doesn't know any of the teachers or kids that attend this school. That could be an additional con.

Other cons would be:

Maybe he wouldn't do well because I haven't taught him enough about how to take a test, and he is a bit sloppy with his answers at times. Also, I would lose out on a week of homeschooling while I brought him to this school every day (a good 30 minute drive plus getting him settled in the right room, etc.). I don't know yet how much money it would cost, but I know it'll cost something!

Any other pros or cons that you see? Would you recommend getting your dc tested if it isn't required? Has anyone out there done this... and were you glad that you did, or not???

Help me think through whether we should do this or not. My dh is ambivalent about it. He doesn't think we need to do it, but will let me get him tested if I think it would be a good idea. As far as his skills go, he is working through Horizons 3 Math. He does make careless errors (about 3 to 4 per lesson on average) and he is very slow on his times tables right now. I have ordered Calculadder to see if that will help him. In LA, we are toward the end of Rod and Staff Level 2 English book at the moment. He is learning a lot with this... but we won't start Level 3 until some time in November.

What do you all think?

Thanks!

Brenda

[LisaK in VA]

I'm strongly in favor of voluntary testing.

We actually test twice yearly... once in the spring (the CAT) at grade level to meet state requirements, and again in the fall (the ITBS) above grade level, so that I can get a sense of how the children are truly achieving (across the board 99% don't tell me squat).

I can administer both of these tests at home myself. I do the CAT through Christian Liberty Academy and the ITBS through Bob Jones University. We also use the writing evaluation services of Bob Jones twice each year (started that this year), so I can get an objective assessment of my kids' work).

Giving the test at home might be a bit easier the first time around. Some children benefit from a bit more attention and a few reminders (my son needs to be reminded before EACH test section to read the directions carefully, take his time, and if he has time to go back over his work -- otherwise he plays "beat the clock" which is deadly for test results :tongue_smilie:

We completely switched the majority of ds' curriculum for his 3rd grade year, I was really interested to see how the changes would affect his testing. DS went up overall 22 percentile points, from 72 percentile to 94th percentile. PLUS, I was able to see where he made little or no progress, or perhaps needs more work. The subtest scores from ITBS are *really* helpful with that.

For example, the CAT just would give me more or less an overall Language score... but the ITBS breaks it out into Spelling, Capitalization, Punctuation and Usage & Expression -- allowing me to "see" what went into the total Language score.

Thanks to the testing profile, etc., I'm now able to clearly see that we need to supplement Word Problems, and continue to work on Computation (daily math speed drills). While, he did better, there's still a lot of room for improvement.

So, I find the testing VERY helpful in fine tuning what we work on from year to year:D

[Bee]

I wouldn't test them at all.I work with my children every day.I know what they do well on and what they struggle with.I am required to test for certain years and I found the test didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know about dd's strong and weak areas.What it did tell me was that I knew my child better than I had realized.
We test at home,at our convenience using the PASS test.Dd did a 3 part,untimed test which I had planned to spread out over 3 days.She chose to do it all in 1 day.

[strider]

The first year I considered doing it I chickened out. That was the year that we had a MAJOR family crisis when my aunt (more like a sister) was diagnosed with a brain tumor that ultimately left her permanently brain-damaged. She has five small children. Our schooling was feast or famine as we tried to both school and help with the many hospitalizations and childcare needs.

The next year dh convinced me to get the testing done. He just didn't believe we could possibly as academically behind as I feared. He was right. My dd excelled on her tests. Her score was also fine in the one area with which she really struggled.

That gave me the courage to give it a try again last year. Dd again excelled, and even showed improvement in all areas.

What the testing did for me:

--Made me stop beating myself up and second-guessing my choices.
--Showed me how dd compares to her peers. I don't really care if we match public school scope and sequence or not--knowing how dd compares with her peers is just information for me, nothing more.
--Showed me one specific thing that dd struggles with. We were able to spend time focusing on that particular skill and she did much better with it the second time we tested. I would not have known that she was missing this building block without the test.

What the testing did for dd:

--Gave her a comfort level with standardized testing that I KNOW will come in handy the older she gets.
--Gave her an understanding of what a "real" test is--it really helped stop the whining about the tests I give her at home.
--Improved her confidence, academically. She wondered at times if she was as smart as her friends. The test told her she is just fine.

You do have to realize that testing is only an approximate. I don't think the tests really do all THAT much, quite frankly. It just happened to work well for us. YMMV.

[EKS]

I think that standardized testing is worthwhile, both for the child, who learns how to take a standardized test, and for the parent, who, hopefully, learns something about how well the child tests (and strengths and weaknesses and so forth).

I think it is very valuable to do the first few standardized tests at home. This way the student can be fairly relaxed. But the most important thing is that if you give the test yourself, you can see how easy/hard it is for your child firsthand. You can see how good/stupid the questions are and what exactly they are testing. You can see that while you rigorously covered a particular time period in world history, the test assumes that all 3rd graders learn about some ridiculous thing for social studies that has nothing to do with history.

This way, when he does take a standardized test in a group of children, you'll know that if he bombs the social studies portion, it doesn't really matter, and when he aces the spelling portion, all it means is that he can recognize a word that is already spelled correctly. Or whatever.

So I guess my point is that I would do the standardized test, but I'd do it at home for now.

[OhElizabeth]

We did the CAT in 3rd, and it was enough info to be useful. I hope to do the ITBS for 4th because I want the more detailed results. The CAT is much shorter and an easier way to get into testing if he's never done any before. Can't beat the price either when you do it through CLP.

[Cadam]

If it is taking a week then I would guess they are testing history and science and all of that. Those scores are useless because you probably have not followed the same sequence as the ps. The only scores of use are math and LA. You can get a CAT test and do it yourself in a morning. No need to waste a week on it.

We test yearly with out homeschool group but it only takes one afternoon and only costs me 5$ more than doing it myself. My kids are at least familiar with the other kids and my son gets practice testing in a group setting.

[Ellie]

We only tested twice the whole time we hsed. I didn't really learn anything. Dds were still honor roll students in college, and they're pretty smart adults.:D

It was not important to me to know how my dc compared to children in public school, as I was not following the public school scope and sequence. And I was able to judge how well my dc were doing in the things that we were covering.

It was also not important to me that my dc knew how to take tests. They did well in college (see above), and they haven't had to take a test since they graduated, so it hardly matters that we didn't test on a regular basis, does it?

[Chris in VA]

We test at the end of the year. ITBS can be administered at home, and it's been great for us to see measurable results. I don't bother with the science, etc because we are on a different sequence (dd has had to do some catching up at school, but is way ahead in math and reading, which is all the state requires).

I would not take him for the testing. I would just do it at home. YOu can go thru BJU and it's soooo easy. Why lose a whole week at home? ITBS only takes two days, and it's not all day by any means.

[GVA]

Being 8 or 9 and taking a standardized test with strange people in a new situation could be traumatic. Maybe not, but I live in a state with mandatory evaluations and have always chosen to test my children because I think it's good practice and it works for us. I test my children myself through 6th grade, and then will be taking them to group testing after that. Several local homeschool groups offer this. You can actually do the CAT-E through Seton for $25 and save gas and time. It's shorter than the others and is great for a quick check of where your child is. I use it for 1st and 2nd, and then switch to the PASS through Hewitt because DH likes more detailed results and it's shorter than the Stanford or Iowa through BJUP.

[Omma]

Wow! I am going to have to look up info on all these tests that you ladies have named. All I know is that the test given in April that I was considering is the Stanford Achievement Test... and I don't even know what this test is covering. I had better do some research. It is all rather mind-numbing to me as I really don't understand all these acronyms and differences between tests. We live in CT, BTW, if anyone was wondering.

I do agree that taking the test at home would certainly be more relaxing, but I have had mixed emotions about which way would really be best for him to experience. I certainly don't want him to be traumatized. I guess I could imagine that it would've been very hard for me to take a test in an unfamiliar setting with others that I did not know, when I didn't really know how to take tests! :iagree: If I give the test at home, I would have to be very strict in following lots of rules about being timed and administering it correctly, but I guess that would be the best way to go. Does it make a difference that we live in CT as to which take I could or should give him? Does anyone know?

I also have an almost 7 dd, but I was thinking that 3rd grade seems to be a big year around here for taking standardized tests.

Thanks for sharing all your perspectives and info, everyone! :lurk5:

Brenda

[Ellie]

We test at the end of the year. ITBS can be administered at home, and it's been great for us to see measurable results. I don't bother with the science, etc because we are on a different sequence (dd has had to do some catching up at school, but is way ahead in math and reading, which is all the state requires).

I would not take him for the testing. I would just do it at home. YOu can go thru BJU and it's soooo easy. Why lose a whole week at home? ITBS only takes two days, and it's not all day by any means.

Yes, it can be...if you are a qualified tester. I am not. :-)