Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Stanford Achievement Test 10

Ditto AAS and AAR. Though AAS does have phonics in it, but not in quite the depth of AAR.

At his age and ability, the most likely PP skill to "show" would be phoneme reversal. His age peers should be able to reverse and blend three to four phonemes, presented purely auditorally. His ability peers should be able to reverse and blend about six. Keep in mind that one of the indicators is if his phonological processing or phonetic decoding skills are not at the level of his word calling or his reading comprehension, even if they are age-appropriate.

aeh, your description of these tasks is fascinating. Are these what is on the CTOPP? DD13 came out at 25-50th %ile on most of the CTOPP subtests (one at 5th, one at 90th) but that was considered within normal range so she was not eligible for anything through school. We thought it meant she was fine and just didn't have an unusual strength there - at least that's what the sympathetic psych told us...

Should parents on this board expect skills like this to be in line with their kids' overall abilities?

Thank you all. As always, your insight is so valuable.

aeh, it looks like LMB did the word attack section of the Woodcock Reading Mastery test. His SS is 107, 68th percentile. This was 6 months ago. His VCI is 140. I don't even know if I'm comparing anything that makes sense here but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Also, to determine a level for the AAR, do I need an assessment like CTOPP first? How would I pick a level? He's going to go nuts if I do the same phonics with him as his little brother.

Yes, those are the kind of tasks that are on the CTOPP. And yes, I would expect skills more comparable to ability from this board. They wouldn't have to be sky high, but they should be more than just average.

That is the kind of result that has potential significance. A two standard deviation difference between VCI and word attack occurs pretty infrequently.

No, you do not need a formal assessment before using AAR or AAS. Use the placement materials from the curriculum (freely downloadable on the AAL website). I would be hesitant about skipping levels altogether, though, as there may be hidden skill deficits. He probably will swing between blazing through sections he already knows, and stopping at new skills. When you do a lesson, if he clearly has already mastered the skill, then do the teaching, but don't bother with the practice. Have him teach the skill back to you to check for comprehension, and move on to the next lesson. If you spot him a lead of a few weeks, you can probably get him far enough ahead of LB that they won't be doing the same lessons. It may also help to remember that AAR is not based on grade levels. It's four levels that are supposed to take the learner through late middle-school/high-school level decoding skills. So being in Level 1 does not necessarily mean 1st grade skills.

I hate to say it, but for the reading it really, really makes sense to start at level 1. If there's gaps in decoding, it's worth being systematic in addressing them, and AAR just plows you through it, one phoneme at a time. Jump in in the middle, and you just miss the first half of the phonemes.

On a positive note, however, he might be motivated to persist if he gets to show off how fast he can go compared to his younger brother, assuming that is, that the younger can recognize this is reasonable and OK. DD needed every page of level 1, but she didn't need to linger on them. Even doing the program as an exhausted after-schooler, 1-2 months per level has been easily doable for us (usually 1 lesson per day). So your elder could well whip through all four levels in the time it takes his brother to do one.

Really? What a wonderful thought! I tried to find some info of this ilk but never succeeded. If I can assure DD this is where we'll be at the end of Level 4 - hopefully in the next couple of months - she'll be one seriously happy camper!!! Thanks for making her day, aeh.

You're welcome!

Here's where I got this info:

http://community.allaboutlearningpress.com/showthread.php/1391-After-AAR-Level-4

A million thanks! I'm glad I waited to buy curriculum for next year. Change of plans