In This Issue: Standardized Achievement Tests
1.  Why Test?
      What Achievement Tests Can and Cannot Do
2.  How To Prepare Your Child for His Test
      Sources for Practice Tests
3.  Test-Taking Skills To Teach Your Child
4.  Checklist for the Day of the Test
5.  Interpreting Test Scores: Glossary of Terms

Sidebar:
 •  Standardized Tests and the Christian Worldview
 •  Common Standardized Achievement Tests
 •  Applying the Results

Greetings,

     This issue is packed with information about standardized achievement tests.  We trust it will help you make wise decisions in the area of children's education.

     May the Lord bless your family for His glory.

Cordially,
The Pat Welch Family, Publishers
Pat, Sue, Heather, Holly, and Brian

The Teaching Home is a home-school, family-run business operated in our home since 1980.

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1. Why Test?

Home-school parents who work closely with their children every day usually know quite accurately where their children are academically.      Standardized achievement tests, however, can affirm both your child’s learning progress and your teaching ability.  This objective evaluation can encourage both of you and also provide confirmation of your success to other family members, friends, and the state, where required.      Contact your state home-school organization or Home School Legal Defense Association to check your own state’s laws and confirm:  •   If your child is required to be tested and at what ages or grade levels.  •   What tests are acceptable and who can administer the test.  •   If and when you need to report his test scores.  •   If there is another method of evaluation permitted, such as a portfolio of his work or an educator’s appraisal. What Achievement Tests Can and Cannot Do      A standardized achievement test cannot measure the sum total of your child’s progress.  It is only one assessment tool with limited value. What Achievement Tests Can Do  •   Measure your child’s ability to recall certain facts, basic skills, and concepts common to the grade tested.  •   Compare your child’s scores with other students’ scores.  •   Assess your child’s year-to-year development of learning, if the same test is used for several years.  •   Help you determine your child’s academic strengths and weaknesses, as well as the effectiveness of your curriculum, teaching methods, or emphasis, when results are combined with your own observations. What Achievement Tests Can’t Do  •   Tell you if your child has achieved academically to the level of his ability.  •   Measure your child’s knowledge, skills, and abilities not on the test.  •   Replace your own informed evaluation of your child’s knowledge and skills, gained from your daily observation of his work and more thorough and frequent review questions. ____________________________________________ AVKO (Audio, Visual, Kinesthetic, and Oral) Offers a Multi-Sensory Approach to Language Arts through Phonics and Word Families.  •  Individualized Keyboarding teaches reading and spelling skills as your child masters the keyboard.  •  Let's Write Right teaches reading/spelling as the alphabet is learned.  •  Sequential Spelling builds self-esteem.  •  To Teach a Dyslexic is the readable and enjoyable autobiography of Don McCabe, a dyslexic who has become a widely recognized expert on dyslexia and head of AVKO.     To try it before you buy it or for information on dyslexia, visit our website. Free samples and downloads. www.spelling.org/homeschooling.htm  /  1-866-285-612 ____________________________________________ 2. How To Prepare Your Child for His Test      Many home-school children are not acquainted with, or practiced in, test taking.      It is wise to prepare your child for a test and teach him some basic test-taking skills. Teach Subject Matter      The desire to do well on a year-end test can provide added accountability and motivation for learning throughout your school year.      You will choose the material you teach your child based on more important criteria than passing a test.  In fact, much of the most vital information you want your child to learn will not appear on a standardized achievement test.      (See Newsletter #81 about setting spiritual, academic, social, and life skills goals and objectives.)      However, be sure to include in your curriculum all information the test will cover.  •   Create or buy study aids for teaching and reviewing key facts and information that needs to be memorized such as flashcards, checklists, outlines, and summaries. Provide Perspective  •   Don’t overplay the test’s importance.  •   Help your child approach his test with confidence and a positive attitude of doing his best.  •   Explain that this test is to show how much he knows and that he is not expected to know everything on the test, although he might know most of it. Administer Practice Tests      A practice test will increase your child’s self-confidence and reduce his test anxiety. (See Resources below.)  •   Use a practice test to familiarize your child with testing formats, directions, strategies, and sample questions similar to those found in the test.  •   Use the practice test written specifically for the test your child will be taking. Benefits of Practice Tests      A reader writes, “I have found it not only helpful, but almost essential to go through practice tests with our children well in advance of the test itself.      “We always find something just a little different from what we studied, and this gives us time to prepare.      “Two different tests are even better, for the same reason, and help children become more at home with different wording and formats.” Sources for Practice Tests      Practice tests are available for various standardized tests at different grade levels from the following suppliers.      (Also see sources for tests and test publishers in “Common Standardized Achievement Tests” above.)  •   “Achieving Peak Performance” from Basic Skills  •   “Test for Success” and “Better Test Scores” Bob Jones University Press Testing & Evaluation  •   Various pretest products including Spectrum Test Prep and specific practice tests for the SAT, CAT, and ITBS tests from Sycamore Tree (see “Test Preparation” under “Store Directory”)  •   Free Online State Practice Tests Selecting a Testing Administer      A reader writes, “Our children do very well in a private testing situation in the administrator’s home.      “Ask your local Christian home-school support group leaders who is qualified to administer standardized tests in your area.      “Arrange a brief get-acquainted interview in the test-giver’s home. Look for someone who is patient and kind with young children and who believes in home education. Then make an appointment for the test.      “Have your child take his test early enough to retake it if necessary after you see the results.” ____________________________________________ Building a Homeschool One Room at a Time: Teaching with Mary’s Philosophy and Using Martha’s Methodologies by Carrie, De Francisco     Suggestions for meditation on God's Word and your walk with the Lord are combined with practical hands-on projects.  Areas covered (represented by various rooms in your home) include:  your relationships with Jesus Christ, others, your family, and husband; home education and organization.  Buy online at Amazon.com. ____________________________________________ 3. Test-Taking Skills To Teach Your Child There are specific skills and strategies involved in taking tests that can help your child do his best. 1. Directions  •   Always listen to and read the directions carefully; don’t assume that you already know them. Sometimes they change only slightly, but significantly, from one section to the next.  •   Ask the instructor to explain any directions (not individual questions) that you do not understand.  •   Be sure you know how and where to mark the answers, especially if they are on a separate sheet.  Keep checking to make sure you are marking the numbered answer space that matches the numbered question and for the correct test section (e.g., spelling, math computations, etc.).  •   Mark answers carefully and neatly, filling in the blanks completely so that it will be graded correctly.  •   Erase a wrong answer thoroughly when changing your answer. 2. Wording  •   Watch out for wording such as “Which of the following is not true?” or for answers that sound or look similar.  •   On a true or false question, watch for the words “never,” “always,” “only,” and “best.” 3. Morale  •   Relax by taking several slow, deep breaths and changing your position from time to time.  •   Remember that you know a lot of information and that you are doing your best to show what you know.  •   Ask the Lord to help you remember what you learned and do your best. 4. Pacing  •   Since most tests are timed, don’t get bogged down on a question that you can’t answer or are unsure about.  •   Answer the items you are sure of first. This builds confidence, and you won’t miss points on easy questions by running out of time.  •   Skip difficult questions and place an “x” by the number of the question in the margin on the answer sheet.  •   If you are not sure of a question, answer the best you can and mark it with a “?” in the margin.  •   When you have answered all the other questions, answer the questions with an “x” in the margin and recheck questions you marked with a “?”. 5. Choosing Answers  •   If you need to, look back at the reading selection to check facts and ideas.  •   Try each answer in the blank to help you decide which one sounds right.  •   Sometimes on questions where you are to find mistakes, there are none.  •   On some questions, two answers can be correct and you must choose the answer that includes them both.  •   When you are not sure, eliminate answers you know are incorrect and take your best guess among the rest. Some of your guesses will be right. 6. Math  •   On the more complicated or difficult arithmetic test items, do a quick estimate with rounded-off numbers. This will help you avoid “silly” mistakes and may even help you locate the only possible answer.  •   When you copy a math problem onto scratch paper, line up the numbers carefully and double check your copying.  •   If you have time, check equations by substituting your solution for the unknown; check other math problems by reversing operations. 7. Timing  •   Use all the time allotted for the test; review your test if you finish early.  •   Recheck the directions, questions, and your answers.  •   Do not change answers unless they are obviously wrong.  •   Don’t panic when students start handing in their papers—there’s no reward for being the first. ____________________________________________ The Colonial America Series New from Living Books Curriculum Your Source for Complete Charlotte Mason Curriculum First two of a six-volume series:  •  Richard of Jamestown: A Story of the Virginia Colony  •  Mary of Plymouth: A Story of the Pilgrim Settlement Compelling and historically-accurate tales, full of rich details. For ages 7-12.  Read samples online.  Paperback, 128-140 pp. $9.95 ea.  Buy both books and receive Free Shipping, plus a copy of the Mayflower Compact!  www.livingbookscurriculum.com ____________________________________________ 4. Checklist for the Day of the Test Plan ahead for a peaceful, unhurried evening and morning before the test. Check driving directions to the testing site and plan to leave and arrive early to avoid stress before the test. Make sure your child sleeps well, eats a healthy breakfast, and gets enough water to drink. Be prepared with necessary tools such as extra pencils or calculators, if allowed, and make sure your child knows how to get more scratch paper or pencils when he needs them. If this is your child’s first test, you may want to be present in the back of the room for at least part of the time to relieve his anxiety. Be sure your child understands what to do if he needs to go to the bathroom during the test.  (Have him go right before the test.) Avoid conversations between other students and your child before a test; anxiety is contagious. Make sure your child knows that, during the test, talking to others or looking at their papers will be seen as cheating.  (This does not occur to home-school students unused to classrooms.) Pray with your child that he will remember what he has learned and do his best. Thank the Lord that He promised to always be with your child.      The spiritual lessons and experiences of trusting the Lord in everyday circumstances and working under pressure can be a much greater life-long benefit than the actual test itself. ____________________________________________ Study the Classics Online! Weekly Tutorials with a Ph.D. Classic Christian Worldview College Prep for High School Oxford Tutorials offers college preparation classes over the Internet in Latin, Great Books, Shakespeare, Classic Literature, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Logic, and Rhetoric.  •  Follows a classical, Christian worldview and approach.  •  Teaches the history of ideas which shaped our culture.     425-402-9624 www.oxfordtutorials.com ____________________________________________ 5. Interpreting Test Scores Glossary of Terms      These basic terms will help you understand your child’s test results. For the definitions of more terms see Harcourt Assessment Glossary of Measurement Terms. Types of Tests  •   Criterion-referenced tests compare a student’s performance to set criteria, such as state standards, rather than to the performance of other students.  •   Norm-referenced tests compare a student’s performance to a national reference group of students at the same grade.  •   Standards-based tests assess students’ knowledge and skills in relation to the state content standards. National Percentile Rank      Percentile does not refer to the percent of questions that were answered correctly.      Percentile ranks individuals within a group on a scale of 1 to 99 with 50 being average. A percentile rank of 60 means the student scored better than 60 percent of the other students in his comparison (norm) group, and 40 percent scored as well as, or better than, he did. Stanine      This score shows a comparison of student scores, from a low of 1 to a high of 9. It may be thought of as groupings of percentile ranks. Grade Equivalent      This is the most commonly misunderstood term in interpreting test scores.      The first digit represents the year of the grade level and the digit after the decimal represents the month of that grade level.      The grade equivalent is not an estimate of the grade in which your child should be placed! Rather it shows that the score your child achieved was the same as the average score made by students at that grade level who took the same test your student did.      For example a 2nd grade student scoring 4.7 on a math subtest, scored the same as the average 4th grade, 7th month student did who took the 2nd grade test. It does not mean that the 2nd grade student can do 4th grade math work.

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