Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy EXPLORE/STAR/other testing for math achievement?

Is there a particular math achievement test that is more useful than others for determining above-level achievement and subsequent grade placement for math in elementary school? Our school administers STAR assessments. DS took a KABC test 1 1/2 years ago (we paid for it privately). I keep reading that the EXPLORE test is a good achievement test for above-level kids in 3rd grade and up. If my DS is in 2nd grade but took 2nd grade math last year while in 1st grade, is the EXPLORE a reasonable test for him to take this year? Any others, is the STAR just fine...?

For context, DS is currently in 2nd grade and has been subject accelerated in math by one grade for the last two years. The new principal is pushing back against him remaining subject accelerated - not specific to him, but as part of a new philosophy, I believe. We meet with DS's teacher, who was his 2nd grade math teacher last year, and the new principal tomorrow to discuss it. The one other family whose 2nd grader was subject accelerated in math for the last two years with DS will be at the meeting too.

We plan to ask the school to give DS a math achievement test to determine his math level right now, and then follow up with the Everyday Math curriculum-based proficiency test for 3rd grade to identify gaps. Both boys either need to go up to 3rd grade math to maintain their acceleration, or have curriculum compaction to finish the 3rd grade curriculum and move on to 4th grade, which is where I believe they both really should be based on what they were doing in K and 1st grade, and based on the KABC my DS took previously. Anything else to be aware of or experience to impart with achievement testing, subject acceleration, curriculum compaction?

Does your school administer the NWEA MAP test for math? If so, this is a great test to show above level math ability. Also, with a score on this test you can look here:
http://www.powayusd.com/projects/edtechcentral/lladder/Default.asp
to see what math skills correspond to which scores and what skills are ready to be worked on.

Do you have his end-of-year math test from last year? If he aced it, I'm not sure the principal has a leg to stand on to keep him from continuing with the acceleration.

Another thing to consider when looking at his scores on any math test are not just how he compares nationally (percentile) but also how he compares to others in his same grade and in the grade into which he is accelerated or want him to be accelerated at his particular school. For instance, I know my DS's MAP score is in the 90th percentile nationally, but compared to other in his same math class, he is among the very highest scorers. However, if your DS goes to a school with a lot of kids of a similar ability level, then acceleration may not be as important. If he's at the top of his accelerated grademates in math, then it's hard to say his acceleration shouldn't continue.

Good luck with your meeting!

Can your school administer the KeyMath test? It's complete and offers specifics on gaps.

I spent some time learning the state's policies on grade retention when we started getting push back on DD's math acceleration. While not fully applicable, it did put the discussion in context of it being a retention, because she would be forced to repeat material.

My son took the STAR test in California. If it is the same STAR test, it is not useful as an assessment. My son is really good at math- he got an 87th percentile on the CTY SCAT test as a third grader, which compares you to 5th graders who take the test. On the STAR test, he got 64/65 right. He can't take the EXPLORE test since it's not in our geographical region- I assume the EXPLORE test is kind of like the SCAT test, which would give you more information.

Yes, he aced the end of year test last year, and his report cards for the last two years have math grades from the grade he was accelerated into.

Yes, the explanation of comparing test scores both nationally and within the school makes sense. If it's helpful to do that, the STAR math assessment would be the test we would need to use, because that's the test the school administers and would be the only test the school would have enough data on to compare. We have 90 kids per grade in our school and I’d guess we follow a typical bell curve – very diverse inner city neighborhood – with a skew toward higher achievement.

I tried to find state policies on retention; all I found was an article on an old house bill noting that retention decisions are made locally. Searching the state education dept website yielded nothing. Thanks for that suggestion, it's a good argument regardless of state or district policies.

I made the point when setting expectations for our meeting that we need to find a way under the new philosophy to maintain the boys' acceleration that occurred under the old philosophy. After that, the principal backed down from "it's not possible for them to go to 3rd grade for math" to "we still have the option to move them to 3rd grade for math, but we don't want to automatically assume that's the best option without exploring others as well." She seems open and approachable; will see.

Well I can't find diddly squat about testing in our district other than the STAR tests and interim assessments, the latter of which aren't achievement tests. I'll have to ask if they use anything else - my guess is no - and bring back up data on other tests.