Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment EXPLORE results

Hi all -
I got score results for DD 10, 4th grade today. I"m so pleased at her progress. Nearly 2 years ago she was diagnosed with reading issues - basically stealth dyslexia, though the school kept telling us she was fine. She took EXPLORE last year but for a variety of reasons we did not request extended time.

This year we did EXPLORE again, but with the extended time - and she did SO much better!

Test: 2014 score (2013 score)

Composite: 18 (13)
English: 19 (13)
Math: 16 (13)
Reading: 17 (11)
Science: 18 (14)

Some of course just could be her own growth - but I really think that this points to the value to her of extended time. Last year she said she only got through about 1/2 of the questions on each section. It was the first time we'd requested extended time for any testing - but I definitely will consider it for the future!

I think the NUMATS breakdown is not out yet for this year, yes?

Thanks - I know this is a bit of a brag - hope you don't mind. There are not many places I can be so happy about this. :-)

Good work.

Congrats! That's quite an improvement, esp. in the reading part.

This was the first time that my DYS DS 10 (4th grade) has ever taken the EXPLORE. He has a dx which could have allowed for extended time/accommodations, but I decided not to do it. He didn't complain of not having enough time for this test, but I'm surprised at how low his reading and science scores are, as he is usually very strong in these.

Do you know if they take the test in the order listed: English, Math, Reading, and Science? He scored a 21 in English, and I would have expected something close to that in Reading and Science. These are normally very strong subjects for him. I'm wondering if this was a time or focus issue for him. Maybe he was tired by the end? (He's homeschooled, so he's not accustomed to testing like this.) He did tell me that he felt that the science was a bit more difficult than he expected. Did your daughter comment on that? Whatever the case, I'm glad we did it.

What are you testing with next year, since the EXPLORE is being phased out?

[quote=JamD]Hi all -
I got score results for DD 10, 4th grade today. I"m so pleased at her progress. Nearly 2 years ago she was diagnosed with reading issues - basically stealth dyslexia, though the school kept telling us she was fine. She took EXPLORE last year but for a variety of reasons we did not request extended time.

Great score for your DD !

My 11 year old had his lowest score in reading. I am now wondering if he is dyslexic ?? Can you please guide me to how should I go about trying to find out if he is. His math score was 24 ! And Average Composite was 20. The reading scores really dragged him down. He doesn't have any comprehension or usage issues though.

Any advice in improving reading comprehension scores ?
Thank you

Hello Mom2MrQ , I too have the same question ? And I am looking for improving reading scores for my DS ( 11).

That is great progress indeed - congrats all round!

Wonderful growth! You are definitely doing something right. Congratulations!

For her reading issues, I can't emphasize enough how valuable it was to get complete testing done a couple of years ago - she did the Wechsler IQ and Woodcock-Johnson Achievement tests. It clearly showed a huge discrepancy in certain areas of reading. We made a lot of changes based on that testing - moved her to a school setting with very small multi-level classrooms, and started weekly Orton-Gillingham tutoring. The combination made a huge difference.

I don't know what we'll do for testing next year. I haven't done enough research - I think I saw somewhere that Aspire is different enough from EXPLORE that it would be hard to use it for comparison. Maybe we'll skip a year and then do the ACT in 6th grade.....

Thanks for the nice responses!

Oh - Mom2MrQ, that was one of the several reasons we didn't request extended time during the 2013 test - I didn't think she could sit and focus that long. It was a VERY long test for her this year....

JamD, Thank you for your post !

My DS has shown unusually low score ( for him) in reading : 15, but got 93 %tile scores in Science and English. 98%tile in math.

SO basically answering 2-4 wrong answers in Reading section costed him an overall composite scores above 95 %tile. This was his first time taking EXPLORE.

I am unable to understand this discrepancy. Is Orton-Gingham good for 5th grades and above ? I can certainly help him with improving in this area.

Have a great weekend :-)