Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment NWEA? Spring scores for Gifted

My second grade son was reasently tested using the NWEA his scores were:

Math: 202
LA: 205
Reading:214

We will be meeting in the next few weeks to discuss if he should go to the accelerated classroom for part of the day or all day if at all.

The Comparative Data to Inform Instructional Decision gives the scores,

Math 198
LA: 202
Reading201

as High Achievment for students in the second grade. However, these scores are the grade designations for the beginning of the year. Does anyone have scores for the end of the year or should I compare him to third grade. The problem with that is he has nearly nine weeks of school left. He will also mature and his scores may go up after the summer. My older son made an 11 point improvement over the summer between second and third so I know it happens.

Any thoughts on spring scores or what I should push for would help. Thanks

Glad to see Dottie's adding another expert category to her already impressive portfolio
Those numbers check except the LA and Reading seem to be switched around.
This is very impressive! The average scores are pretty stagnant or even go down over the summer. If you want even more detailed information you can dig through this report. On pages 128-145 are the RIT Score to percentile Rank Conversions for Fall, Winter and Spring.
http://pickens.it.schoolfusion.us/m...ssionid=14d1e9266e4482d198ebc39c6e6bc9c3

Do you have his numbers from the fall? I would look at the growth he's shown from fall to spring in order to build a case for accelerated classroom. Do you have this report?
http://www.powayusd.com/projects/ed...20Student%20Growth%20Report%20Sample.pdf
and
http://www.powayusd.com/projects/ed...udent%20Growth%20Report%20Sample%202.pdf

If not, I would ask for a copy and the school is supposed to provide it under FERPA. A picture is worth a thousand words. If his graph shows he's ahead and pulling rapidly away from the class mean, it could help make the case for an accelerated class.

So my real question is should I pursue having him go into the accelerated class.

Here are a couple other points to consider. When he evaluated by the school psycologist she said he was gifted in math and should do pull out acceleration. I don't know what test she gave and don't have the exact numbers, I will need to find those.

Also his teacher had him do an Accelerated Math evaluation and he scored as a 4 grade 2nd month. This is all without any acceleration.

We waited to put our other son in accelerated classes until after third grade. He had to skip the fourth grade math curriculum. Now in the seventh grade he recently took SAT's and did very well.

Back to my original questions. I was originally considering only having him go to the accelerated class as a pull out for math, however he didn't do as well on the NWEA as "gifted" so now I don't know.

Suggestions? Thanks

I'd go with the recommendation for pull out acceleration since there are many reasons why a score can be deflated. I doubt the school psychologist's testing was inflated.

http://www.nwea.org/support/details.aspx?content=1024

I just searched my files and found fall scores and end of first grade.

Before I give you those one more thing should be said about my son. He was diagnosed with dyslexia in first grade by a certified dyslexia tester. After remediation he is doing great as you can see.

Scores fall 2nd grade

Math 187 + 25
Reading 181 +31 and/or +23 (look at bottom for 1st grade)
No language test given

Spring scores

Math: 202 growth +15
Read: 214 growth +33

I don't yet have the two reports you asked about, his teacher said she would have them for me at the meeting.

His fall scores were def. not "gifted" however we had a horrible year during first grade. His teacher said to me that some children just are not readers and that she suspected that my son would not learn how to read. That is when we took him to be tested for dyslexia because I knew he was bright.

His scores from end of first grade to beginning second were:

Math 1: 162 (problem solving, number sense, computation)
Math 2: 162 (Measurement and geometry, Statistics and probability and Algebra)

Reading 1: 150 (Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Concepts of Print)
Reading 2: 157 (Vocabulary & Word Structure, Comprehention, Writing)

Please note this is prior to his being diagnosed and remediated for his dyslexia.

Kudos on the diagnosis, remediation and trusting your gut when told he would not learn how to read. It's sad to think about how many parents would believe the teacher if she said this about their child.

Your son's MAP data paints an impressive picture when you look at the increases in his percentiles from before and after diagnosis/remediation. Before I summarize that, I wanted to clarify something.

Did you mean his winter or mid-year 2nd grade scores were 187 for math and 181 for reading? If not, I'm a little confused about end of first to beginning of second and why there's a big difference between beginning of second and fall of second.

Just scratching my head a bit.

The scores I gave were from 4-22-08 and 4-25-08 so that is the fall.

You are absolutly right there is a huge difference from fall to spring. +33 in reading and +25 in Math

End of first was end of first grade. Actually it was given 9-27-07 I was mistaken I thought it was spring of 07 sorry for the confusion.

Here is the actual order

Math: Sp(07) 162
Sp(08) 187
Fall(09) 202

Reading Sp(07) 150/157
Spring(08) 181
Fall(09) 214

Language: only one test given Fall(09)205

Sorry again for the confusion

Thanks for the chart. We were handed our score last year and said that it was very high, but I did not see a chart. My daughter had always been very good at math and I really did not look into it. This school is so low that I figured she was just higher than most.

She scored a spring 5th grade score of 241, which is one point shy of a gifted tenth grader. He recommended a skip at that point, but no way did I want her to go to the Middle School yet. Sixth is still in a classroom.

It was a great choice and she has had a great year. At this age, I worry constantly about her psychological needs and her shyness. I am still concerned about her schoolwork, but middle school girls get so much angst and a giftie seems to carry more of their share of it.