Testing is required where I live unless you want to do portfolio route but I figure, taking a test is easier lol. I can have DS take the state test at his school if I want. I've also been toying w/ idea of having him take the IOWA since it's a nationall y normed test. I can also choose to test above level. So, if I choose the IOWA (or some other nationally normed test you think is good), should the first test be on grade level to see how he does? Or should I go a grade up? If it were our state test, I'd say a grade up, but I'm not sure about the other nationally-normed tests.

thanks!
Dazey

I guess it depends if you want to use the test for school purposes or not. If so I would use the "correct" grade. Otherwise I would go a year or two above and to get more info. How about talent search tests? I think they are worth trying. DS6 is too young for it but we will try it in the future years.

I went with the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) at-grade test the first year, just to be sure that he passed...and boy, did he pass!

It was SOOOOOO easy that it was almost painful to administer. The hardest part was keeping quiet when he did something profoundly stupid because he wasn't paying attention or didn't follow directions or something. He should have had a perfect score on everything except social studies. He didn't, and it was only dumb mistakes that made him miss anything. Perfectionist mom had to REALLY bite her tongue!

Actually, I'm also debating with myself right now about whether to grade skip him a year in the testing. Part of me thinks that's sort of dumb--it locks us in to a grade skip that I may not want him to have down the road strictly because I'm bored with the test questions. What if he doesn't learn the times tables this year? Is he going to be ready for 4th grade math? (Sure, he's done some algebra and geometry...but that won't be on the 4th grasde test!) One grade skip on the testing isn't going to provide significantly more challenge or raise the ceiling enough to tell me anything, but it does mean that I'm declaring him a 3rd grader to the school system and we can't back up and take the 3rd grade test again next year.

On the bright side for you, I'd say the testing was super easy. It was not a hard test in *any* sense. If your son would be grade-skipped in school and you think he'd pass with flying colors, I don't think he's likely to fail the ITBS.

It's just that darned future unknown and asynchronous development thing that's got me scratching my head.

It depends on what your state requires... We're in NC where we have to test, but there's no requirement for a) any particular grade level or b) any particular score. So we have as much flexibility as we want. We don't have to declare a grade in any case, so we could switch back and forth if we liked. But what I do is test as close as possible to what I think DS's level really is, and with as much potential information as possible.

So we do the Explore... it's approximately 8th grade level, so it's not too far from what he's actually doing, and it has norms down to 3rd grade, so I can get a reasonable comparison for his age too... And then for things in general (science fair, and the norming of the Explore for CTD) we go with 5th grade which would be one or two skips depending on the birthday cutoff. (He would be a younger 4th grader in public here or an older 3rd grader in private, where the cutoffs are earlier.)

Could you do two? Until this year I was fairly particular about not doing more than one full test per year, so as not to overwhelm him... and if I were worried about needing a particular score I would have been more conservative in choosing the level so I didn't have to re-do it... but as of this year he's gotten pretty laid back about testing and has been asking about maybe adding a second so I think we're past the "overwhelming" stage! LOL So if we were just starting this year I'd say we could probably do one for the state and one for our own purposes.

You might consider doing the CAT at grade level for the public record, and the IOWA + 1 or more grade levels for your own information. Or vice versa. Grade level may be important down the road if your child wants to take part in academic competitions at the national level.

Yes, my thinking is to do 2 tests. DS doesn't mind tests so he'll be find with it. I'm toying w/ the idea of having him take state test at his school and then have him take out of level IOWA for my own info. I won't be giving it. My teacher friend has agreed to proctor the IOWA. I think DS will perform better and not keep stopping to get a snack or ask me questions. But then I don't know if I want to even be bothered w/ the school or if DS will feel comfortable going back so maybe I should do as Lorel suggested and do CAT and IOWA a few months apart.

Yes I don't want to accelerate him in the eyes of the school so I'd rather have him take on grade level test for them.

We have to submit test scores here, too. I give the CAT at grade level for that. But he also took the CAT at above grade level last year, too. Maybe i will do the IOWA this year.

HOw is the CAT different from the IOWA?

Dazey: The CAT and the ITBS are just two different tests, like the ACT and the SAT are two different tests. There's no specific difference (though I'm sure they have slightly different takes on subject matter). Mostly they're just made by different test makers.

Erica: So your son could take the same grade level test two or even three years in a row? (Not that he would, mind you!) Interesting!

Maybe I need to pursue this further...People here talk like that's not an option, but maybe they don't know what they're talking about, and I never formally inquired. Hmmm...

I'd love to give an above-level test, since I often feel like I'm flying blind about what he's retaining. I know what he's been exposed to, but I don't know what he's hanging on to. The thought of having to go through remediation because my 7yo didn't do well enough on it has always made me cringe, but I guess you're right that I could re-test him in the summer if his scores weren't high enough. I don't have to submit any scores until mid-August. That gives us time to have a do-over if we need it.

Hmmm...

Yup - they don't care at all!! Very laid back state office here... basically the only time the scores would matter would be if there were allegations of educational neglect (and I don't see that happening! LOL)

And technically speaking, he has repeated the same test level since we've done the Explore for two years already and we're about to do it again in January. The norms are different, but the test is the same. And if we switch to the ACT after this year (which I suspect we'll do), he'll be taking that annually until college... unless we move. If we don't skip him again (or start college early), that will be seven years of the ACT... and toward the end there I expect it to be just a wasted morning of filling in bubbles... But I prefer it to the tests that take a week to administer, just because the single morning is less of an interference! So I won't complain.

Yes, a single morning is DEFINITELY preferable. Yegads! The ITBS does take up the time. That's the big reason I'm not wild about testing him twice. It really is a big time sink.

I guess I figured that by the time you get to the Explore or the ACT or whatever, then of course you're going to give it to him more than once. That seems okay, especially for an 8yo. It's the ones with a specific grade level that throw me.

Hmmm...Still thinking about this. Maybe I have limited my options unnecessarily...

When my child was first grade age I gave him the 2nd grade CAT. I did the out of level testing because I wanted to learn something from the results. A bunch of 90+ %iles would tell me nothing. As it turned out I didn't learn anything of value anyway. That was a surprise. I really expected it to be more challenging for him.

Friends have told me that the CAT is the easiest of the nationally normed tests. Many prefer the IOWA instead. This year we may do the SCAT (out of level for a talent search).

Of course, I don't have to give test results to anyone, so I didn't choose the test/level from that perspective... just for our personal info... YMMV.

Kate

It's always good to have that info for educational planning purposes. I haven't had either child take the SCAT, but others here have.