15.1 and 15.2

15.1) Turn to p. 559 in Ormrod’s text. Now, imagine that you are meeting with Ingrid’s grandmother today to explain her scores on the recent standardized achievement test pictured at the bottom of p. 559. What will you tell her about Ingrid’s performance? her strengths? her weaknesses? Even though this is not a criterion referenced test, if Ingrid’s grandmother asks you what she could be doing at home to help strengthen Ingrid’s skills, what will you suggest?

I would start by talking with Ingrid's grandmother about her grandchild, focusing on her grandchild's positive character traits in order to make the grandmother feel comfortable and welcomed. I would explain to Ingrid's grandmother which test we were talking about, and how it is scored. I would explain the meaning of the confidence interval, the stanine scores, and the percentile scores. I would make sure that she understands that standardized tests are an important part of assessing a child's progress, but that they are only one part of the "big picture." I would tell Ingrid's grandmother that Ingrid scored well-above average in reading comprehension, science, and social studies when compared to other students that are the same age and grade. I would tell her that Ingrid scored below average to above-average achievement in math concepts. I would say that Ingrid scored in the below-average to average range in spelling and math computations. I would talk to Ingrid's grandmother in about her school performance in these areas in the classroom, and the specific areas that Ingrid seems to be excelling and struggling in the classroom.  If Ingrid's grandmother asks me what she could be doing at home to help strengthen Ingrid's skills, I would tell her that I am willing to pay special attention to monitoring and assessing Ingrid's progress in these areas. The suggestions that I give Ingrid's mother would depend on Ingrid's performance in the classroom, and on the particular criteria that she struggles with (according to my own criterion referenced assessments and on curriculum based assessments in my classroom). I would tell her that the test doesn't "diagnose" specific problems, it only lets us know to pay more attention to a student's performance in those areas. That being said, I would encourage Ingrid's grandmother to feel comfortable communicating with me when her grandmother seems to be struggling with a particular assignmnet or concept. I would suggest different ways that Ingrid could practice her spelling, like phonetic flash cards and learning activities.