We had a BIG meeting with our school today (will post about it later!!), and the next step for DD9 for grade acceleration is taking the "Complete ITBS" - evidently this test covers math, L.A, science, social studies, etc. DD needs to show she is TWO years ahead to get grade accelerated ONE year. No problem with math (unless she gets test anxiety), and she did test 99% on the 4th grade level ITBS as a 3rd grader, but I wonder about the person who is going to administer the test. The school AIG teacher (psychologist) who is slated to administer the ITBS is not the best teacher. Unfortunately many parents question her teaching ability. She was very quiet at the school meeting so we don't know what she thinks about DD9 or her abilities (DD is single subject math and AIG math and LA). The county rarely does grade acceleration AND DD is ADHD (inattentive). The 504 accommodations are still not in place. The AIG teacher is supposed to keep DD on track during the testing. So, keeping this all in mind, do we trust the school AIG teacher to do right by DD? Do I trust the school testing at all no matter who does it? We went outside the school for the achievement and IQ testing. As an aside, the head of AIG for the county plus the principal and asst. principal acted like they think it's best for DD to be moved to 5th grade. It will all just boil down to this one test. So much pressure on one tiny (literally) 9 year old. If I sound paranoid it is only because the county and teachers will say one thing and then do another.....

Just trying to get some background information: why would the school not accept that outside achievement test result you already have?

If aeh was doing the testing, I'd say go for it!

Seriously though, it's so dependent on the tester and her attitude. And the scary thing (to this paranoid parent) is the record the test will create in the school system. It will go down indelibly in black and white, with no color added for things like "The tester was cold and unwelcoming to my child and refused to help her understand instructions." Or whatever. So at a minimum, I'd ask for a meeting with the tester to take her temperature about the whole thing.

I am seriously paranoid about this sort of thing, though. So - a grain of salt goes well with my response!

Sue

By 99 percent, do you mean 99th percentile? What grade level is that? Maybe that other test demonstrates that she is already above a 5th grade level? In other words, maybe she already scored what she needs to.

Usually kids at 99th percentile are two or more grade levels ahead.

I guess whether to trust her depends on how hard it is to mess the test up. If she is just giving it to her, your DD does it on her own, and then it gets scored, it's probably fine to have her do it. I would have a harder time trusting incompetent people to do tests like individually administered IQ tests. That's why we had it done privately.

I would ask really stupid-sounding questions in order to "better understand" the requirement to test two grades ahead for a one-year skip:

"Does the school normally require 4th grades to ace a 6th grade test as a precondition to promotion to 5th grade?"

"What about math? Does a child need to master Euclidean Geometry in order to get into Pre-Algebra?"

"What is the school's normal process for assessing students on material it has not introduced them to, and how often are children held back for failing to demonstrate mastery on it?"

As for the trust issue... that's why the school wants to do its own testing. They don't trust your independent results. That's common, because there is documentary evidence that private testing has often yielded a significantly higher proportion of subjects testing as gifted, leading to concerns of score inflation. The trust issue will be exacerbated in this case if your child requires accommodations, because now they're wondering how much of the results are based on the child, and how much is based on assistance (intentional or otherwise) outside of reasonable accommodations.

The upside is that if she knocks the ITBS out of the park, that eliminates a barrier between you and the school.

I'm not sure how the AIG teacher not being a good teacher influences her ability to proctor a test. There are lots of ways to be an ineffective teacher, and not all of them come into play during testing.

Because of your concerns regarding accommodations during testing, can you arrange to observe?

I agree with blackcat. A long string of grade-level 99 percentile achievement test scores was the first clue that our DD9 might do very well on above-level testing. How well does your DD need to do on the above-level test?

If you have high IQ and achievement data from outside, I would be firmly emphasizing its relevance, as well.

I understand how you might feel about having the school administer the testing, but is there any other option? Your DD will probably do very, very well. I also understand your concern for your DD in having to be in a high-stakes testing situation, with a single data point (been there - hugs). From what you have said, here, however - again, your DD will do very well.

If you are really concerned, you could ask if they would accept EXPLORE scores, or inquire about having the ITBS given under mutually agreed-upon circumstances. I don't think the ITBS administration is very complicated. Is there a teacher at the school who understands/supports your DD who could possibly administer it at the school?

Let us know how it goes!

If it helps to ease your fears, ITBS administration is not horribly complicated, and it is a fairly straight forward test. Both DD (took it late last decade) and I (back in the early 80s) would finish the test in about half the allotted time.

And argh! on the must be two grades ahead to move one grade up issue. When DD was in K and we wanted to skip her into 2nd, they dinged her for not knowing things their own curriculum said would not be taught until the end of 2nd grade. So, in order to skip into 2nd, she has to have mastered 2nd grade material?- ummm... if she has mastered 2nd, wouldn't I then want her to skip into 3rd?

If she is getting the 99th percentile as a 3rd grader taking the 4th grade test, I think she'll do just fine - I would be shocked if she dropped below 80th percentile for two grades up.

Best of luck,
--S.F.

I am thinking....

Is there any alternative? It sounds like you have fought long and hard for even this option.

I also wonder if you strongly feel like a one year acceleration is really going to change your daughter's satisfaction / enjoyment of school?

Hang in there!

The AIG rep. stated that the district uses the that "Complete" version of the ITBS. It's just what they do. Because DD9 goes to an after school math class where the director has documented that she is doing well in pre algebra, the district will take that into consideration also. It seems like DD will mainly have to prove herself in the other subjects.

I looked at her Iowa test. Her NPR in Reading was 99, and her NPR in Math was 98. I have no idea how that corresponds to grade level. The results only give National Percentile Rank and National Stanine. You know, just thinking about this makes me mad that she has to take the test all over again!!!!

DD has scores that are about the same (but reverse reading and math--math is higher) and she scores like an average 8th or 9th grader for math and reading. She is in fourth grade. I would ask the school what they mean by two grade levels ahead. If they expect her to have 98th-99th percentile for two grade levels ahead, that would be tough, but if they expect her to be 50th percentile for 6th grade, she has probably already shown that when she last did the test.

The grade equivalents on those tests should be interpreted with caution. So if a test says a kid is scoring at a 9th grade equivalent (meaning they get the same scores as the average 9th grader), that doesn't mean they should be moved to 9th grade. There would be a lot of gaps.

I would stand on my head and ask lots of stupid questions if I could figure out why they do things. Interesting about why schools don't trust outside testing. Our school does have its own testing to look at - the Cogat and the Iowa. If they want to prove the two years ahead business, that's the problem I suppose. The Iowa was a 4th grade test. I don't know what the Cogat was. Well, that's another question I have for the school! I had no idea until today that the ITBS was for the next grade level. The district seems to keep that information private!

Definitely I want to know what percentile she needs. I didn't even think to ask. Did you do out of level testing to find out your daughter's grade levels? I have thought about the Explore test, yet am glad I didn't follow up since the school asks for Iowa scores.

The school gives an out of level computerized test 2-3 times per year and I have a norms chart that show the quartiles for each grade and season. So I looked at DD's score (not the percentile but the raw score) and saw that it's the same as what the average 8th or 9th grader scores. After around 6th grade, though, the scores really slow down and go up a tiny amount each year. So it's hard to get accurate information. There are not enough test questions at the higher levels. There is also a "suggested learning objectives" report which shows the standards the kid has mastered and what they should work on next, and it lists the grade level. So for DD, most of the things on the report were at an 8th or 9th grade level. However, there are huge gaps and I know she has not mastered all the concepts before 8th or 9th grade. The test doesn't pick that up due to the child guessing correctly, not enough questions, or whatever. Since that test also uses national percentiles, it would be reasonable to assume that your DD is at the same grade equivalent.

I don't know what happens with your test, but with ours, it is possible for the computer to run a grade equivalent score. We never actually get that though (the school probably doesn't want parents freaking out thinking their kids should do a triple grade acceleration).