Has anyone else had their dc take the stanford test? My 2nd grade dd just got her results back, and wow! I was shocked at the grade levels they put her in! I was just wondering if this was one of the easier tests?
Yes this is one of the easier test, the CAT(California Assestment Test) are harder, this is the one that we use.
ahd to believe the California anything is harder lol, but it is true, sorry, isnt there an Ohio one too or something? Or Iowa , thats it Iowa? California tends to shoot for the 50 % level...
We haven't done the Stanford but I can tell you from experience that the Iowa test is harder than the CAT (except for 1st grade in which ITBS has 2 levels for non-readers and the CAT assumes all 1st graders can read). We've only used the CAT-E though so I could be wrong compared to the CAT-5.
Grade level equivalents are kind of strange with these grade level achievement tests. The second grade Stanford, or Iowa Test of Basic Skills, or the CAT will have very few items that are 'above' second grade level. The grade equivalent they give you tells you that your child did as well as an 'x' grader would have done on that same test. Therefore if the grade equivalent is 5th grade, it means your child did as well as a 5th grader would do on the 2nd grade test. It is a weird concept and not overly helpful. Since she has really high grade equivalents you know she is a very advanced 2nd grader. But it doesn't really differentiate the 2nd grader who is already full capable of 3rd or 4th grade work from the 2nd grader who is capable of 6th grade work. Individual achievement tests (like the WIAT or WJ or Peabody, etc.) have a few items from all the grade levels k-12 or a couple years of college depending on the test. Since they have only a few items from each grade, they still don't tell you everything, but give you a better indication. However, these types of tests can not be given by a parent. However, you can give an out of level grade level test. For example, you could test her as a 4th grader next year instead of 3rd so you have a little more 'ceiling' to determine her relative strengths and weaknesses. (Assuming you test on your own and not state required testing). You can look at doing some Talent Search testing. Depending on your region the talent searches offer out of level testing with tests like the Explore or SCAT and later the ACT or SAT. For example Duke TIP has 4th and 5th graders take the Explore - an 8th grade test. You can get information that compares how your child did against 8th graders, but also against the other 4th and 5th graders involved in the Talent Search. Some talent searches will have nice award ceremonies and even scholarships that can be used for camps or online classes. They will give you some information and possible suitability of grade or subject acceleration for your child. Anyway, I've read a lot about testing and we have participated in our regions Talent Search. Let me know the area of the country you are in and I can post some links for you to look into it. Her high Stanford scores should qualify her for talent search and for some online classes from places like Stanford EPGY (very pricey but generous financial aid). Congrats on the great results!
I think my dsgraduate took the P test.. I remembe him calling it the PEA test Lol But just for the record, the CAT or SCAT test he took in high school was pretty accurate He is now in Honors as he just took assessment for College, and hsi scores were so high , same happend in highschool .. so whatever test they took that said he was high end english then was right ! Btw that was my reluctant learner! HA!
I always thought the Stanford was more difficult. My ds's took that one this year and I'm anxious to see how they did. I was surprised how well they did on the CAT, I just chalked it up to CA being easy lol. Good to know!
ok, well, i thought maybe i had missed something, i did read the explanations of how to read the results. i just was shocked bc she placed in 10th grade for all the language and reading stuff, 8th gr in spelling, her overall grade placement was 7.5th gr, and the one part she scored the lowest on was a 4th gr level in math, which is exactly what i thought would happen, lol. she loves to read etc, so i think english is her thing, but math is just ok. abeka was moving too fast for math last year so this year we went with cle, which i hope will give her a little more foundation. thanks for the explanations, maybe for 4th or 5th we will try the other test and see how she does, or order the older grade of the stanford and see how she does.
woow thats cool though, that means if I understood right that she answered as kids from that level would answer? then she is really getting it! HURRRAY! Id give her a pat on the back, and you one for teaching her so well! GOOD JOB MOMK!
i guess to TM, that is the way i understand it. i did congratulate her and i showed her where she did the best and everything. she was very proud, and i think it was a great boost of confidence, she is my little one who is very hard on herself and has a hard time believing in herself, so im relieved she did so well!
How rude of me. I was reading the posts and realized I only commented on the interpretation of the tests instead of saying: GREAT JOB!
My wife and I have decided to home school our eager to learn children and are just finding out about these tests. We have a seven year old boy (July) and a five year old girl (February). Would you be willing to share some of those resources and links with us? We just don't know where to turn to get this test in on time. Thank you in advance.
The CAT are not really more difficulty than the SAT they are just set up a little differntly and compare some differnt skills. They are both norm based tests and can provide a rough idea of how a student is learning.
The thing to remember about standardized tests is that each individual is being compared to public school students of the same grade/age. The best comparison is the National Percentile score, which means that if this student and 99 others the same grade/age took the test together, this student would have scored the same as or better than X-number of them. As far as the grade-equivalent scores go, I usually just take it to mean that 10th (or whatever) graders don't do as well as they used to! LOL It NEVER means that the individual student can do the same work that the X-grader can do! But it LOOKS very impressive. Most public schools (and their test companies) never report GE scores to parents, because it's so easily misinterpreted. ALWAYS remember that the individual is being compared to those the test was normed on, not those who take the test in the year you give it. So, for example, those who take the CAT (or CAT-E) are being compared with the norm group of 1970, and those who take the CAT/5 are being compared with the norm group of 1995. I forget what year the SAT10 was normed - 2000-something. 2003, maybe? A lot of test companies make it sound so attractive because they give older tests (like the CAT), "from before education was dumbed down". No, sorry - if you want a test from before education was dumbed down nationally, you'd have to find one from like the 30s or 40s, because when I entered first grade in the late 50s, school was already dumbed down from where it had been "back when". ANYWAY, tell her NICE JOB! and give her a high-five from me!
