Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment ITBS

Interesting. I wonder if ours are, too...

Time to hit the Internet!

It's just a practice test, but I know that old Texas tests are available with answers online on the education website.

And Dazey, thanks for the heads up on the wording of the ITBS problems, if we go that route.

Yes, the Texas tests are nice to have. I used those last year when I was nervous about how we were doing.

Kriston - do you know what the time limits are for ITBS? Does it change by the year? I have the ITBS student test booklet but it doesn't give any instructions. I'd like to know so when he takes the sample test, I know how much time to give him.

This ITBS test book I have seems a lot more difficult than any of the sample tests I've seen online.

Most of the subtests for 1st grade were in the 25-30 minute range, but they did vary. I don't know if other grades are longer or not, but I would assume they might be.

Also, if memory serves, there's one math one that is pretty short, since they want to check calculation speed and not just accuracy. Presumably some kids don't finish, and the problems get harder at the end of that subtest--double-digit addition instead of single-digit, I think. (It's was close to "above grade level" as the ITBS had.)

I fear you'd have to get your hands on the instructions to get a really accurate read as far as time. But if you just want to see how he does in a casual sense, 25-30 minutes per test is probably safe.

I haven't looked at sample tests online, but the 1st grade test wasn't what I'd call hard...

I wouldn't call these *hard* but compared to what my DS learned in school K-2, it could be but like I said, this looks nothing like what I've seen other places. Ds did the usage unit tonight. It had come vs go, object pronouns for subjects, placing the speaker first in a clause (but me and my sister can). Others were very easy bestest, mighta, hasta, spended, borrowed/loaned and several double negatives. He knows they are wrong b/c they don't sound right but he for some he can't articulate fully why it is incorrect.

Well, he doesn't have to articulate *why* they're wrong for the test. He just has to know they are. Right? Big difference!

I suspect most of my college students back in the day wouldn't have been able to correctly explain why some of those things are wrong!

Yes he doesn't have to know why they are wrong. He did miss come/go but adults confuse those all the time. Considering that many of the kids speak incorrectly, though many of these will sound just fine to them.

Yup. I think that's what they're testing more than anything else there: do they speak correctly.

I just started looking into different tests today. What's the difference between ITBS and CAT? What made you decide to use ITBS? I must admit that I am completely clueless.