Gifted Bulletin Board

Welcome to the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.

We invite you to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted education issues on this free public discussion forum.
CLICK HERE to Log In. Click here for the Board Rules.

Links


Learn about Davidson Academy Online - for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the U.S. & Canada.

The Davidson Institute is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students through the following programs:

  • Fellows Scholarship
  • Young Scholars
  • Davidson Academy
  • THINK Summer Institute

  • Subscribe to the Davidson Institute's eNews-Update Newsletter >

    Free Gifted Resources & Guides >

    Who's Online Now
    0 members (), 167 guests, and 10 robots.
    Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
    Newest Members
    parentologyco, Smartlady60, petercgeelan, eterpstra, Valib90
    11,410 Registered Users
    March
    S M T W T F S
    1 2
    3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    10 11 12 13 14 15 16
    17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    31
    Previous Thread
    Next Thread
    Print Thread
    Page 2 of 4 1 2 3 4
    aeh #201515 09/20/14 05:26 AM
    Joined: Dec 2010
    Posts: 658
    G
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    G
    Joined: Dec 2010
    Posts: 658
    Originally Posted by aeh
    apm, from what I've read in the technical manual, it appears there is a three grade cap in math, based on the start point you're assigned at the beginning (set by the teacher, and presumably based on your nominal grade level in the subject). So, yes, if your daughter's beginning point on the test was fourth grade, seventh grade would be at the ceiling of the test. OTOH, if the school chose to set her starting point higher, the ceiling would be accordingly higher. It's not the test per se that has a ceiling of three grades, but in any given item set, the computer adaptive item selection will not exceed +3 grades..

    Aha. DS took his math with his class, likely setting his test at early 4th. Now to figure out if his scores matter. Likely yes since there's another compacted class coming up.

    Thanks again for your time and expertise, aeh.

    apm221 #201519 09/20/14 06:27 AM
    Joined: Apr 2014
    Posts: 4,047
    A
    aeh Offline
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    A
    Joined: Apr 2014
    Posts: 4,047
    apm, at what points did your daughter take STAR reading over the past year? If a student has not taken the test in over six months, the system automatically resets the start point to 1-2 grades below the grade placement. If a student has taken the test more recently (that is, within the same school year), the start point is based on the last assessment. It is possible that her start point for this year was re-set low enough that she was not able to make it back up to 12th grade in 25 items (34 if the Enterprise version).


    ...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...
    aeh #201526 09/20/14 07:58 AM
    Joined: Apr 2010
    Posts: 2,498
    D
    DeeDee Offline OP
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    D
    Joined: Apr 2010
    Posts: 2,498
    Originally Posted by aeh
    apm, from what I've read in the technical manual, it appears there is a three grade cap in math, based on the start point you're assigned at the beginning (set by the teacher, and presumably based on your nominal grade level in the subject). So, yes, if your daughter's beginning point on the test was fourth grade, seventh grade would be at the ceiling of the test. OTOH, if the school chose to set her starting point higher, the ceiling would be accordingly higher. It's not the test per se that has a ceiling of three grades, but in any given item set, the computer adaptive item selection will not exceed +3 grades.

    AEH, thank you. This is very helpful.

    DS7's STAR report came back very odd: giving an overall recommendation of a 6th grade instructional level in reading, but all the goals listed in detail in the report are 8th and 9th grade curriculum goals. I assume the 6th grade instructional level comes from the cap, and if they started him higher, might change.

    The math results are beyond strange-- they say he's substantially ahead, but then the subscores don't show that at all, leaving me wondering what if any relation the subscores bear to the overall scaled score and recommendations. I can't quite see how we will get to rational recommendations for instruction from here.

    Thanks--
    DeeDee


    DeeDee #201528 09/20/14 08:48 AM
    Joined: Nov 2013
    Posts: 249
    A
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    A
    Joined: Nov 2013
    Posts: 249
    Aeh, they won't change it and say she will be retested later. We've been having a lot of issues so far this year.

    apm221 #201530 09/20/14 10:53 AM
    Joined: Apr 2014
    Posts: 4,047
    A
    aeh Offline
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    A
    Joined: Apr 2014
    Posts: 4,047
    apm, so sorry to hear that.


    ...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...
    DeeDee #201532 09/20/14 11:57 AM
    Joined: Aug 2010
    Posts: 99
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Aug 2010
    Posts: 99
    I don't think STAR has enough discrimination to be useful in any way. 25 items across many grade levels just doesn't give enough information. The test took about 10 minutes, and scores were wildly inaccurate returning >12.9 level for reading and math for many second graders in the class.

    Disappointing not to get much useful information, but I wouldn't base placement or instruction on STAR results.
    Originally Posted by DeeDee
    AEH, thank you. This is very helpful.

    DS7's STAR report came back very odd: giving an overall recommendation of a 6th grade instructional level in reading, but all the goals listed in detail in the report are 8th and 9th grade curriculum goals. I assume the 6th grade instructional level comes from the cap, and if they started him higher, might change.

    The math results are beyond strange-- they say he's substantially ahead, but then the subscores don't show that at all, leaving me wondering what if any relation the subscores bear to the overall scaled score and recommendations. I can't quite see how we will get to rational recommendations for instruction from here.

    Thanks--
    DeeDee

    aeh #201542 09/20/14 03:30 PM
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 2,035
    P
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    P
    Joined: Dec 2012
    Posts: 2,035
    Originally Posted by aeh
    apm, at what points did your daughter take STAR reading over the past year? If a student has not taken the test in over six months, the system automatically resets the start point to 1-2 grades below the grade placement. If a student has taken the test more recently (that is, within the same school year), the start point is based on the last assessment. It is possible that her start point for this year was re-set low enough that she was not able to make it back up to 12th grade in 25 items (34 if the Enterprise version).

    That sounds like a valid explanation especially if the do only beginning of the year testing or beginning and middle. After all since someone would have noticed brain trauma they got one of the assessments wrong.

    DeeDee #201547 09/20/14 05:50 PM
    Joined: Nov 2013
    Posts: 249
    A
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    A
    Joined: Nov 2013
    Posts: 249
    That's helpful to know. I'm not sure exactly when she last took the test, but it was in the spring. So it was probably within 6 months, but maybe not. As I said before, she scored higher on it at the beginning of the last school year, so I think she must have just been distracted or rushing. I'm feeling really frustrated with them for an assortment of issues, including this one. At least she still enjoys the reading work most of the time; the math is a larger problem as she just draws all over the worksheets because she says they are too boring to face. She has been doing mastery tests for over a month now just to show she is capable of starting where she left off last spring and seems to have just had enough at this point. I think they make all of the kids start at the same point regardless of where they left off, so she had to start off showing she could add when she left off last spring getting ready for algebra. She's supposed to be working through fractions now, but is doing art instead. I'm trying to get a meeting scheduled and this information on the STAR will be helpful (for one thing, it sounds like the math version won't even show the right level).

    Considering they made her restart at the beginning for math, I wonder if they deliberately reset the STAR to start at grade level?

    Last edited by apm221; 09/20/14 05:53 PM.
    DeeDee #201553 09/20/14 08:20 PM
    Joined: May 2014
    Posts: 599
    C
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    C
    Joined: May 2014
    Posts: 599
    I think star is only helpful in certain scenarios ...tracking the progress of someone at risk, and deciding who you don't have to worry about (tic). Also, it was helpful to allow ds full acess to any level book in the media center.


    aeh #201611 09/21/14 10:09 PM
    Joined: Feb 2014
    Posts: 336
    A
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    A
    Joined: Feb 2014
    Posts: 336
    Originally Posted by aeh
    apm, at what points did your daughter take STAR reading over the past year? If a student has not taken the test in over six months, the system automatically resets the start point to 1-2 grades below the grade placement.


    This is good to know. It is true for both reading and math? At our first meeting at DD8's new school they said they were planning to assess with the STAR to determine levels for her, but it if starts 1-2 levels below grade and caps at 3 above starting, that won't be useful at all. smirk

    Page 2 of 4 1 2 3 4

    Moderated by  M-Moderator 

    Link Copied to Clipboard
    Recent Posts
    Testing with accommodations
    by aeh - 03/27/24 01:58 PM
    Quotations that resonate with gifted people
    by indigo - 03/27/24 12:38 PM
    For those interested in astronomy, eclipses...
    by indigo - 03/23/24 06:11 PM
    California Tries to Close the Gap in Math
    by thx1138 - 03/22/24 03:43 AM
    Gifted kids in Illinois. Recommendations?
    by indigo - 03/20/24 05:41 AM
    Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5