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Now that so many of our schools have dropped the norm-referenced tests they used to give in favor of the mysterious not-to-be-deciphered-by-mere-mortals annual state test, parents have even less sense of where their children stand in relation to their peers.

Awhile back Lone Ranger posted information about administering the ITBS to your own children, and I'm starting the process today. She writes about her experiences here and here.

I started homeschooling my daughter in August 2004. She had been in public school since kindergarten and was a rising 4th grader when we started homeschooling. She had suffered through 3 years of "Math Their Way" and then 1 year of "Everyday Math" before I woke up to the fact that she was not learning math well. Her third grade test scores showed her to be working at the 50% in math. Well, after one year of homeschooling using only Singapore Math Levels 2B- half of 4A and supplementing with Singapore Math's Intensive Practice her total math score on the Iowa Test of Basic skills is now at the 99%!! More importantly her confidence, fluency, and ability to work through difficult problems have gone through the ceiling as well. Happy 4th of July - Lone Ranger

As far as Ed and I can tell, we're watching this movie in reverse. Christopher isn't learning much math, and his confidence, fluency, and ability to work through difficult problems fall with each new 20-point deduction for failure to show all of his work.

RESEARCH SHOWS (in this case that much-abused phrase has meaning) that low-stakes formative assessment, aka assessment for learning, raises achievement.

Assessment for learning raises achievement because it tells the teacher and student what the student does and does not know.

So I'm getting started. I've just put in a call to Piedmont Education Services (got the phone machine) and I'm printing out the Iowa Test Administrator's Form (pdf file) from BJU Press.

more t/k

-- CatherineJohnson - 11 Apr 2006

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