stand. tests as measure

Lisa did you have more then 1 score for the same test for comparrison? For example two years worth of the Standford Achievement test? I see you listed 3 different measures is why I asked. Maybe their reluctance is based on this? I don’t know how much stock we should take in these tests as you can get different results. For example my son took both the Iowa and the MAT8, on the MAT8 his math score was at the 28th percentile but on the Iowa it was at the 60th. If these are both achievement tests taken one month apart why the big difference? Does it mean one of the tests is less accurate then the other? What were his national percentiles?, were they higher or lower then the local. When my kids took the MAT7 last year their local percentiles were lower then their national by up to 20 percentiles. They also took the ISAT last year with my son not meeting the standards for science. I don’t think all this testing makes sense why not base it on the whole child concept? I quess that would be really hard to do. I quess this is the best way they have found to date and until a better way is devised it is what we have to use. lisa wrote:
>
> In our IEP on Tuesday, we used standardized test scores
> (percentile ranks of Stanford Achievement, OLSAT, ISAT) to
> try to help support the fact that we feel that our son is
> regressing despite their provision of services. I am a
> graphic designer (and a visual thinker) so I put together
> some very easy to read charts that pointed out his
> regressions in key areas since 1999 (before he was first
> identified). My son’s private pyschologist even agreed that
> it showed regression. There was absolute silence from the
> IEP team. I thought, this is it, I got now. WRONG. The SPED
> director came back at us with the old “standardized tests are
> not an accurate measure of a disabled childs true
> performance.” OKAY?, we looked at subject grades (Two As in
> science and social studies the rest Cs and C-). I don’t
> believe his teacher has the heart to give him a D because she
> knows he is seeing a pyschologist due to his level of
> frustration and lack of self-esteem. Locally he averages out
> to be in about the 7th percentile of his peers. (They say
> local percentile ranks don’t carry any weight, we say he is
> swimming with sharks) It all adds up to poor and they have
> labeled his as having mild disabilities with classroom
> accomodations being appropriate remediation. I called LDA
> and asked for their opinion. They said as long as the
> appropriate accomodations were made for him to take the tests
> (small group, extended time, etc) which they were, then they
> are accurate measures of his progress. What do we do next?

Sorry for messing up the above post by also quoting the previous-was by accident, still learning how to use this.

hi lisa,

I compared the scores within the same tests. I compared the three years of reading comprehension on the Standford, etc. But I looked up the purposes of each of the types of testing and found that the Standford measures one thing, OLSAT another, etc. But I made comparisons within the same brands of tests. On average, he is consistently below the 50th percentile. A lot of 20s and 30s. I agree that we should look at the whole child, but schools like to brag about their high tests scores when they report them to the public about how great the school district is, but when you try to use them to measure how well YOUR CHILD (individually) is progressing, they back off. Double standard here. And they make such a big deal about the kids doing well, notes going home “eat a good breakfast”, blah, blah, blah. Why bother if it holds no weight. My hunch is that it does and they do not want to be held accountable for regression because that could cost them money for summer school, ESY, etc. The only other measure of progress is teacher observation which is very subjective. What teacher is not going to say that a child is progressing in their class?

My kid just took the MAT7 again right before spring break so I don’t have the results yet. This will be the 1st time I have two of the same tests to compare. We came in from ND and they used a different test the Terra Nova so we could not compare from 1 year to the next. Will be interesting to see how they come out. They will be taking the ISAT when they return from spring break. We will see if they meet the standard now that they have been in the Illinois school system for 2 years. They thought last year that the failure to meet the standard was they were not in the system long enough to exposed to the standard. Will be interesting to see. With the new standards for the extended school year I don’t know who if anyone will qualify the seem pretty strict to me.

WRONG

From www.wrightslaw.com

If you have questions or concerns about whether your child is really making progress, you need to get objective testing of the academic skills areas—reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling. After you get the results of objective testing, you will know whether or not your child is really making progress toward the goals in the IEP.

This article should help
http://www.kerrlaw.com/accountability.html

Helen

Did the percentiles go down? That’s regression. IF they say “gosh, that’s not a true measure” I would say “okay, what more accurate measure do you have… I didn’t think so. This is the information we have — and I do believe that it is one of several indicators that my child is regression, the others being his class performance and …. Unless you can offer me some objective evidence that he is making appropriate progress, I have to look at the evidence we *do* have available. All the evidence indicates regression.”

It’s clear that you’d like a different approach and/or more services for your son. I’d suggest figuring out what it is you’d like - and tell them that. I wouldn’t let it bog down in discussions about the validity of the measures. That’s not the point. The point is you want something different for your LD son than what they’re providing now.

They’re not likely to make suggestions. The suggestions/requests will need to come from you. They can say no but that’s called negotiation. I think as with any negotiation start pleasantly high - not so high they drop over - and let them counter.

Good luck.

Another way to assess his progress or lack thereof, is to compare his skills with his skills a year ago. I’ll use my son as an example. In our school district, children have to pass short math tests on all areas of study and they have a scoring system with a number range of what is 4th grade level or 5th grade level, etc. There are tests on telling time, money, place value, etc. You can tell how your child is progressing and what skills have been mastered, as they pass the tests. You can also tell if they have retained the mastery as they tackle new work.

In reading, I can assess my son’s progress by seeing what level of book he can read fluently, asking him questions about what he has read (after reading it myself) and listening to him read aloud.

In writing I monitor punctuation and grammar, vocabulary used, complexity of sentences, etc to monitor his progress.

I do want to know where he is academically relative to his peers, but mostly I just want to know that he is mastering new skills. Our IEP is next week and in the planning forms where it asked what my goals for my son are I simply said “to be working at grade level!”

Can your son’s teachers demonstrate what he is learning and how they are accomodating his special needs? I would be concerned that they be responsive to these questions and that they demonstrate their commitment to help your son do as best he can.