Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Misunderstanding Achievement Tests

I believe there is a misunderstanding about what achievement test results mean.
For example, a five year old who tests at third grade level. This means that the five year old tested like an average third grader. It does not necessarily mean that a 5 year old belongs in third grade or even second grade for that matter.


Please correct me if I am wrong.

While an achievement test result much different from actual grade level is a good indication that some kind of educational customization is warranted, it certainly doesn't mean that the customization should be a grade skip to make the achievement results "normal".

Yes, I agree Mark. I simply posted this because I have noticed parents making comments that make me believe that they think the results of an achievement test means that their child actually belongs in the grade they tested at.
Of course, there are kids who do need grade skips and even several grade skips.

So, at what level would you expect a child to belong? My personal rule of thumb is to try to have my DDs taught at a level where they're around the 90th percentile. DD#2 fits well into her current grade. For DD#1, however, I've only met my goal for gym class.

What they mean is this:

Say your nine-year-old takes an achievement test and the results for, umm, math computation are the 99th percentile, with a grade equivalent of 12.9.

This means that an average graduating high school senior taking the same test would be expected to get the result your child got.

It does NOT mean, as the OP suggested, that you should ship your nine-year-old off to college. He might cry. Mine would.

I'm not sure what the point of the grade-equivalents on those tests is, unless it's to sow confusion...I mean, who cares how a 12th grader would do on a 4th grade test? And did they make a bunch of older kids take the tests so that they could establish norms?

That sounds about right, and my understanding of what the numbers mean is what Val is saying.

It frustrates me no end that Psychoeducational Evaluations are so far apart from helping Parents know what to do or Schools know what to do with the child in front of them. Achievement tests with wacky grade equivalents are one part of it.

Personally, I think all Psychoeducational Evaluators should take down their shingle until
1)they have gone around and viewed all the schools within 40 minutes of where their clients come from
2)they have build advocacy relationships with all the schools and all the districts
3) they get curriculum specialists on staff that can analyze what a child's skill level is in reading and math in a deep way. Is the child following the expected developmental path of learning, or some unique path? How does this child learn best - by reading? by listening? by talking?
4) develop some deep way of evaluating a child's social skills with peer and with adults. Is the child somewhere on the expected developmental path or on some unique path? What strenghts can be used to overcome the weaknesses?
5) study up on multiple exceptionalities, and especially how they present in females.

That would do it.
Grimity

This is only true for certain achievement tests. STAR testing adapts levels and gives harder questions if the child is getting questions right, so it does not mean the child was only tested on grade level. STAR math covers at least through pre-algebra. Achievement tests like the WJ and WIAT have questions that include high school level material, so a GE of 12+ refers to grade level tested, not what a 12th grader would do on 2nd grade material. Similarly, the Explore test is an 8th grade level achievement test. Scoring at the 99th percentile compared to 8th graders reflects mastery of 8th grade level material, even if the child is a 5th grader. There is no GE returned, but the achievement reflected is based on 8th graders, not the age of the test taker.

Results that mean "an 8th grader would test this well on a 4th grade test" can be seen in grade level testing. I've never seen GEs on such tests, but my kids have never taken ITBS or that kind of test.

What a GE means for an individual child when tested on higher level material is anyone's guess! I've seen a WJ score for >18th grade level for math for an elementary kid. That's just a silly number. There isn't any material on the test beyond what most students cover in high school and that is way too brief to demonstrate anything other than superficial familiarity with the concepts. There certainly are not graduate level math questions.

Mostly, I think GEs are best ignored. For tests with more than a few questions per level (Explore, ACT), comparing a kid's scores to how older kids score may be worthwhile. For tests with just a few questions at each grade level, it's not very helpful to get a grade result. Schools care about whether a child has mastered the local curriculum, so end-of-year finals are usually better at figuring that out.

Ahh...I see. I've learned something new. My kids have taken ITBS and CAT (California Achievement, not Computer Adaptive), and what I described what those GE scores mean on those tests. It's even more confusing to think that GE scores mean different things on different tests. Oy.

I agree about the ignoring.

Val

I agree. GE are definitely meaningless on a grade level test, and slightly more interesting on an open ended achievement test like the WJ, Peabody achievement, etc. I definitely don't think they mean you could comfortably drop a child into a particular grade in a subject. I know both my kids would cry if I tried that!

Grinity I could not agree more with your whole list of requirements for hanging out a shingle. Can you clarify this last one more though:


Why especially in females?