Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Above-level assessment options

Revisiting the topic of above-level assessment with update and additional questions. :-)

A gifted-experienced psychologist suggested to me last spring that DD might take the state assessments for 3rd grade in 2nd to look into proper instruction level.

I'm thinking ahead to her fall needs, if not earlier. DD's getting some above-grade math extension this year and it's going decently (her teacher is pretty creative with math), but DD's not really getting deep ELA extension (they offer some differentiation at below-meeting-above levels), despite reading 2-3 years above grade-level, and that's now sent literacy to the bottom of her list at school (math is now favorite, a huge positive swing, but reading is below all other subjects, because she's tired of reading pages that have a few two sentence paragraphs that have no detail to find things she already knows, like the main idea). I'm assuming we'll need some scores or another to see where she needs different instruction.

So now, the regular state timed testing is coming up, but it is not done at her grade level. I still don't know, should I ask about her joining the 3rd graders for that?

Or might it be better to ask for the MAP 2-5 test? They offer that in fall and spring to grades 4-5. Is that a test you can take any time -- so she could just take it this winter to see how she compares to above-grade level?

Is there something better we might request? Either way, I feel like 'that parent' when I ask for this stuff, so I want to go in with solid info to support her needs (needing challenge), as the school will just continue to use classroom cluster differentiation.

What tests do your state use? Ours does the Smarter Balanced assessments but I have to say, the results they give you are basically useless. DD scored the highest possible scores given to 3rd graders but all you get out of the whole thing is a number. I don't know what it was, but basically the results say something like: YOUR SCORE: 999; YOUR LEVEL: ABOVE GRADE LEVEL. You won't get any useful information out of something like that.

Is your school on board, or are you trying to find a way to get them on board?

If the school's on board, they should be able to figure out her instructional level in math and ELA with formative assessments linked to their curriculum.

The most useful group test we've had independent of the school was the SCAT that DD took through the Johns Hopkins CTY talent search, which was an above-level achievement test. In 2nd grade, it gave her information on where she stood compared to 4th graders. But the results were still really just a bird's eye view. Like, "Math: 92% compared to 4th graders." You could clearly see she was above the 2nd grade levels, but wouldn't be able to figure out what to teach her based on these results. (Cost: about $100)

The most fine-grained independent individual assessments I've ever gotten were reading and math assessments from the local Sylvan Learning Center. I took DS there primarily for the purpose of getting this information while I was trying to get him grade-skipped. Their entire business is built on knowing what exactly each kid needs to learn, and they did. (Cost: about $150)

They use the Iowa Assessments (formerly ITBS) for the timed normed test in 3rd on up. MAP is used in 4th-5th in fall/spring. That's it.

The school is not really on board. They wouldn't accept my sending in outside materials for extension or sending her up a grade for math this year, so it's really teacher dependent what she gets -- no GIEP or way to measure the growth, much less where she's at. I will have to push the school for what little we can get for her in 3rd grade (a lot of new teachers), and since they don't do testing for her this year, they just offer differentiation based on teacher observation. They don't do pre-testing or year-end testing.

DD fell into a trap last year where she was told to not work ahead, and she was very frustrated, bored, and she's still not totally past that. She is now working ahead in class (or on the rare occasion she does online practice) and doesn't realize it because the teacher is on board, but at home, if we're just doing random stuff, she sees that she's supposed to learn something in 3rd grade or later (because of her brother), she won't even touch it because she's not "supposed" to do that yet. "I won't learn that til next year." I don't want to end up back where we were a year ago, so I need some accepted way to make sure she's being challenged and placed properly.

Are you located in the Midwest? Have you heard of the NUMATS program offered by Northwestern University. They provide EXPLORE testing for kids from grade 3 to 6, I believe. You can check it out through the below link. Not sure if you'll have time to register the test for this year though.

http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/program/numats

DD is only in 2nd, though, so that is not an option quite yet (not sure what will be offered for out-of-level when she's at that grade, since EXPLORE is ending this year -- I think it'll be Aspire in our area). I'm guessing that perhaps MAP is not really broad enough as a stand-alone, but maybe the Iowa Assessment one year ahead will paint a picture and MAP can enhance that. I'm also guessing the school will just say "we think her needs will be met in the classroom and we'll evaluate further in 3rd grade."

Second graders can take the SCAT, mentioned by a PP. My kids took it in second grade for the Johns Hopkins talent search, but their scores also proved useful in advocating for math acceleration at school. This was in part because in addition to having the comparison with students two grade levels above, our school had SCAT scores for a decent number of other elementary students (they are automatically sent to the child's school unless you opt out), so the school could compare against those, too. It's true that the SCAT is a very specific type of test but the fact that it provides an above-grade-level comparison can be very helpful in advocacy, especially if your school won't administer an above-grade-level test.

For anyone looking at EXPLORE, the deadline for late registration is Jan. 20 (next Wednesday). I am so disappointed that I didn't think about DS being eligible for this test until today, since being a day late is costing us $25, assuming we decide to go ahead with it.

Has anyone's child taken it? I'm curious as to what the experience was like and if you think it was worth it. In our case, we are hoping to move and his grades are not perhaps going to be enough to accelerate in a new school (so I'm thinking recent above-level evidence might be helpful). I'm also a little anxious since the testing center is in the school that created an absolutely horrible first grade year for him. Hoping that won't cause too much anxiety.

My DD11 took both SCAT and EXPLORE in 2nd and 4th grade respectively. SCAT confirmed that she is HG and EXPLORE was to see if she would qualify for DYS. We had some reservation because she skipped kinder. She did not mind taking those 3-4 hrs tests. It did help our advocacy to her old school and also made us aware that whatever the old school was doing may not be enough and we decided to move to a school district with more pro Gifted attitude.

With our experience, one year above level test does not move a needle (in most schools) but at least 2 yrs above grade level tests (such as SCAT or EXPLORE) do. And they are relatively cheap and since they are nation wide standardized testing, they can't argue that we made up the score.

Thank you for this perspective. It's the standard, nationwide nature of the tests that makes us consider it. Do you know how far above grade level they are tested? (ex. does the fourth grade one only go up to sixth grade material)

Also, does anyone know what happens or how to register if there is single-subject acceleration? DS is in fourth for half of the tested areas, sixth for the others.