When discussing Ingrid's standardized achievement test scores with her grandmother, I would first explain the nature of the test to her. Because the achievement test is a norm-referenced assessment, it illustrates Ingrid's performance against the performance of her peers. It allows us to evaluate her achievement in this context and aid lesson-planning. Looking at the "National Percentile Bands," we can see where Ingrid scored within a degree of error. The x's, or "confidence intervals," show the degree of error in measuring Ingrid's score, which means we know she scored somewhere within this given interval. The" percentile" scores show the percentage of Ingrid's peers that scored less than or equal to her scores. The "stanine" score represents Ingrid's performance based on a scale with an average of five and a margin of error, or "standard deviation," of two. Based on the these three scoring data, we can estimate Ingrid's achievement in a range of content areas and work with her in areas in which she scored lower. Now that Ingrid's grandmother better understands what the test is assessing and how it is used by her instructors, I can move on to her strengths and weaknesses in particular areas.
Ingrid's lowest scores are in spelling and math computation, with a stanine of four and four, a percentile of thirty-nine and thirty-seven, and with a confidence interval of thirty to fifty and thirty to forty-eight. Based on the confidence intervals, we know that she scored somewhere within these intervals. Ingrid can dedicate more time to these subjects, both in her knowledge and practice of the content, as well as her test-taking skills in these areas. Because we aren't comparing these scores to previous scores, it would be helpful to maintain a portfolio of her work to better assess where she is struggling. Also, many students suffer from test anxiety. If Ingrid found the testing of these subjects to be especially difficult, she may just require practice in completing timed practice exams in both spelling and math computation. A portfolio of her work and extra practice in test-taking are likely to increase her scores next time around.
Ingrid performed moderately in math concepts and extremely well in reading comprehension, science, and social studies. In the math concepts area, we may consider working with Ingrid in a similar fashion as in math computation and spelling. She may benefit from portfolio work or test practice, as well as extra time outside of class. Based on her well above average scores in reading comprehension, science, and social studies, we can gauge that Ingrid has a high ability in synthesizing and evaluating information, as well likely having high skill in critical thought in these content areas. These scores also show that Ingrid may utilize contextual evidence and comprehension skills when evaluating written work or scientific data. I would recommend that Ingrid find more challenging work in these areas, perhaps through taking more advanced courses or participating in academically-oriented extracurriculars.
Though these test scores do not specify particular content knowledge, they do give us a general idea or where she needs extra help and where she excels.
While I think norm-referenced tests are useful in some situations, such as seeing how well one student performs compared to his or her peers, these tests do not specify particular content knowledge (just like you said). Because of this, teachers do not know where to begin helping. For example, I always struggled with reading during elementary school. I was great at fluency, expression, and phonemic awareness; however, I struggled with comprehension. My teachers made me do countless worksheets and other activities to increase my fluency, but they did not spend too much time on comprehension. For this reason, I personally feel that criterion-referenced tests are better. Also, these tests make it easier for us to see where to help our students.
ReplyDeleteChelsea,
ReplyDeleteYour explanation for all of the different components of the standardized assessment actually made more sense than the definitions in the book, so thanks for that. I agree with your statement that all of the three sections that Ingrid performed well in seem to tie together, and I think that as a general rule, having reading comprehension skills can benefit students in regards to other subject areas as well. In my post, I also suggested that a portfolio be set up to assess Ingrid's class work in order to determine if she is actually struggling in these areas or if there are factors in testing that have caused her lower scores. However, I did not consider your idea of practicing actual test taking, and building the skills required for time management, etc. I believe that the whole idea of standardized tests seem to bring out anxiety in students. I remember doing TCAPS when I was in school and the amount of time spent working on these tests was enough to cause any student to panic.