BJU Press Blog

achievement testing

Take the Better Test

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what makes a better test?
Part of homeschooling is checking up often to see how well your children are learning. One helpful way to see where they are academically is to use standardized achievement testing. Many states require homeschool families to use achievement tests, and they can often feel like an imposition. But they’re also quite helpful for you. These tests are valuable tools that give you a solid grasp of your students’ strengths and weaknesses. And depending on the test, you may get a better feel for how to help your children overcome weaknesses.

The California Achievement Test

The California Achievement Test (CAT) was established in 1986 as a form of standardized testing. The test measures a wide range of skills with subtests in reading, language, spelling, math, and social studies. Even though the spectrum of subjects is broad, the number of questions per subtest is surprisingly few. Having fewer questions means a shorter test, but it also means that each question counts more towards the final score. A weakness in a minor area can skew the overall results.

Another point to consider is that having fewer questions means that this test can only dig so deeply into your children’s development. The CAT gives only a superficial reading of their academic skills. One final point to consider is that, given the age of the test, the questions within each subtest may not match current standards. The questions your children encounter may vary dramatically in terms of difficulty.

The Stanford 10

Another option you might consider is the Stanford 10. Copyrighted in 2003, a collection of private schools re-normed this test in 2018, and today it is formally recognized throughout the United States. Like the CAT, it offers a wide range of subtests. In contrast, the Stanford  has more questions and will give you a better understanding of how well your children grasp certain subjects. And unlike the CAT, students do not need to complete each subtest within a preset amount of time. Your students will have more time to think over questions.

However, despite having a recent norm date, it’s not the most recent test available. The standards measured in the Stanford 10 won’t always match today’s standards. While matching today’s standards is not a concern for most homeschool families, if you are using newer teaching materials with an older test, you may receive results that don’t accurately represent your child’s abilities. Additionally, since the 2018 norms came from private school students, it may be more difficult for students to score in higher percentiles. Again, this may not be a concern for you, as many homeschool students perform on the same level as private school students. It’s just something to be aware of when choosing a testing series.

The Iowa Assessments Form E

Finally, you may want to consider choosing the Iowa Assessments™ Form E, which was written in 2012 and standardized in 2017.  Form E levels include the same variety of subtests, but they have time limits. This test series uses more current methods to analyze your students’ learning—methods that fit more accurately with today’s best practices and standards for learning. Though they may take more time, the Iowa Assessments better indicate where your children thrive and where they struggle. The content can be much more accessible for your children and give you a better read on their development. It’s also available online, which allows you the flexibility of administering the test at home and not having to worry about finding a qualified test administrator.

To ensure success in your homeschool, you’ll want to have a thorough understanding of how your children are developing. The right assessment can help you ensure you’re giving them the best education possible. Choose a form of testing that will tell you where they are and where they need to be!

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Matt recently graduated with an MA in communication studies and currently works as a freelance writer. He attributes the wild variety in his current opportunities to the exploration his parents gave him through the homeschooling experience. He enjoys theater, the gym, and choral music and will rarely say no to a cold glass of sweet tea.

Interpreting Test Results for Your Homeschool Child

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interpreting test results
Standardized achievement testing is an important part of my homeschool. We test our children every year to see how they’re growing academically. And as I mentioned in my post “How My Family Benefited from Standardized Testing,” we’ve found that standardized testing provides a lot of other benefits too.

Nevertheless, if you’ve never tested your child before, the test result PDF you receive on your BJU Press Homeschool account may be a little intimidating. You might find yourself wondering “What does it all mean?” and “What should I do with all this information?” Let me walk you through interpreting test results so that you can understand where your child is academically and how you can best help him or her in the future.

Interpreting Test Results

Understanding Norms

It’s important to understand that your child’s test results don’t compare him or her to other current homeschool students in a particular grade. Your child’s score is a comparison to a norm group. A norm group comes from a group of students in a particular grade across the nation—from both public and private schools. These students all took the same test at a similar point in their academic year.

However, keep in mind that the Stanford Achievement Test was recently re-normed so that your child is being compared only to students who attended private schools. This means that the average score on the current Stanford Achievement Test is going to be quite high.

National Percentage Rank (NPR)

If you are using The Iowa Test® (the test that my family uses), you will probably notice right away the national percentile rank (NPR) score for each subtest on the first page. The NPR score indicates the percentage of students who scored lower than your child. For example, if your child had a NPR rank of 89 in Social Studies, that would mean that your child did better than 89 percent of students who took that same Social Studies subtest. Since NPR rankings above 75 are considered above average, an 89 would be a very good score. Scores ranging from 25 to 74 are considered in the average range, and scores 24 and lower are considered below average.

So—hypothetically speaking—if your child scored an NPR of 92 on the Math Total, you could be very confident of his or her readiness to tackle some more advanced math concepts. But if he or she scored a 32, you would probably want to note the weak areas and possibly slow down on (or even re-teach) some of those more difficult concepts before moving on.

National Stanines (NS)

The single-digit numbers that you see on your test results are national stanines. Stanines are another way to communicate where your child is in relationship to the average. An NS score of 5 is average. Scores between 6 and 9 are considered above average, and scores 1 through 4 are considered below average.

Grade Equivalent (GE)

The grade equivalent score is perhaps the most confusing and the most often misinterpreted score in your achievement test results. What does it mean if your third grader has a GE of 8.7 in reading? It doesn’t mean that your student is ready for eighth grade work. And it also doesn’t mean that your third grader is reading at an eighth grade level. It only means that your child did as well on this particular test as an eighth grader would.  High GE scores can be confidence boosters—they indicate that your child has mastered the material on the test. They don’t indicate what grade your child should be in.

Drilling Down to Spot Weak Areas

When you look at your achievement test results, you will want to look deeper than just composite scores. Be sure to check the breakdown of scores for each subtest to see if there are any problem areas. For example, let’s pretend that your child has a composite math score of 88 (a great  score), but when you dig deeper into the report, you notice that the geometry score was actually only a 29. This is valuable information—now you know that your child probably needs some extra practice with those geometry concepts.

If you don’t understand what some of those breakdown categories are, or if you need some ideas for how to strengthen some of those areas your child is weak in, please call BJU Press Testing & Evaluation. They have some awesome, very knowledgeable staff members who would love to talk with you.  You can also explore the various achievement tests they offer through Testing & Evaluation.

2018 Homeschool Catalog Highlights

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homeschool catalog
Our 2018 homeschool catalog is off the press and will show up soon in your mailbox. We’re excited about what BJU Press families did to make this year’s catalog more engaging. Back in October, we asked you to photograph your homeschool in action. The results were overwhelming and fun! Here’s just one example.

New Distance Learning Courses

As a homeschool dad, I’m thrilled to see how the self-paced video courses enable my daughter to take ownership of the learning. My wife and I still have final say over the activities and the grades, but with a flexible roadmap, my third grader can learn on her own and at her own pace.

This year BJU Press is rolling out eight new distance learning courses. You can see sample lessons for each course on YouTube.

Heritage Studies 1

This 90-day course is taught by Mrs. Lawson and walks young children through civics starting in the home and expanding through communities and states to our nation. It concludes with a brief introduction to early American history, beginning with Columbus and finishing with Plymouth.

Science 2

Mrs. Overly teaches second graders simplified science skills and scientific methods so that they learn to be student scientists. They practice their skills in exposure-level discussions of earth science, biology, anatomy, and physical science. This is also a 90-day course.

Spelling 3

Students develop spelling skills as they inductively study word families. Mrs. Jarrell’s instruction also strengthens children’s proofreading and writing skills in this 180-day course.

Fundamentals of Math

Mr. Harmon’s personality engages students in this 180-day seventh-grade level course on math. Students will master the knowledge and skills they developed in sixth grade, providing them with a strong foundation for advanced math in high school.

World Studies

In this 180-day course, Miss Ingersoll provides students with a survey of world history from the Middle Ages to the present. Seventh graders will learn to think critically from a biblical worldview as they learn about the religions, movements, and philosophies that continue to shape our world today.

Earth Science

Geology is a field that’s dominated by secular thought, but Mrs. Gillenwater directs eighth-grade students to geology from a biblical worldview. This 180-day course also covers the atmosphere and space.

Geometry

Mr. Matesevac guides tenth graders in developing higher-level thinking skills. Students incrementally learn how to construct geometric proofs. This is a 180-day course.

American Government

In this capstone heritage studies course, Mrs. Bullock walks students through how our government was formed and the way it functions. The in-depth examination of our nation’s government is guided by a biblical worldview. This is a 90-day course.

• Price Drop for Spelling and Handwriting Video Lessons

If you’re considering buying spelling or handwriting video courses, be aware that they are now more affordable. We’ve dropped the prices for the spelling (1 through 6) and handwriting video courses from $299 per course to $149 per course.

• Vocabulary Now in Textbook Grade Kits

For the first time, we’re including vocabulary in textbook grade kits. This rounds out language arts for seventh–twelfth graders.

• Deeper Discount on Textbook Kits

When you purchase a grade or subject textbook kit, you can have the confidence that you have all of the items needed to teach your child. We’ve always discounted books when you buy them in kits. Three years ago, we evened out the discount to 20%. So purchasing kits cost 20% less than purchasing items in the kit individually. This year, we discounted the prices even more. Kits are now 25% less than purchasing the items individually.

• Lower Testing Prices

This year we’ve dropped the prices of Iowa and Stanford 10 achievement tests by 15%. This is good news for families, especially when you’re testing multiple children. Remember that many states require testing. If you’re planning on testing your children this year because your state requires it or if you do it for your own benefit, this is a great time to order—before the busiest season kicks in.

How My Family Benefited from Standardized Testing

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standardized testing bubbles
Have you ever wondered if your homeschooled child is falling behind? One of the challenges of homeschooling is that it is difficult to know whether or not your child is on track academically. I found this to be true in my own homeschool.

My two oldest children are different in almost every way possible. Their personalities are different, their hair color is different, their likes and dislikes are different—and their academic strengths are different. My firstborn learned to read quickly. When we sat down to read the phonics stories in K5, she always read them with ease and had no trouble answering the accompanying comprehension questions. By the end of K5, she was reading short chapter books. I had no worries about her academic performance—I knew she was excelling.

But then my second daughter started K5. Unlike her older sister, she struggled through those K5 phonics stories and word family lists. No matter how much we practiced, she didn’t seem to be catching on. And I began to get worried. Was she falling behind? Did she need a reading tutor? A different curriculum?

An Objective Measurement

Standardized testing was so helpful to me in this situation because it provided me with an objective measure of my daughter’s academic performance. Instead of comparing her performance with only her sister’s, the results compared my daughter with a much larger group of other kindergartners (called a norm).  I felt like she was falling behind, but her standardized test results indicated that she was actually right on track.

A Sense of Assurance

You could compare doing standardized testing with getting a checkup at the doctor’s office. At those doctor’s visits, I’m always interested in knowing if my children are staying on their growth curve. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to me that they have gained much weight or gotten much taller, so it is always reassuring to me when my pediatrician shows me that they are still developing normally.

It’s the same with standardized testing. Such tests aren’t a perfect measurement, so they shouldn’t be the only assessment tool you use to evaluate your child’s academic performance. Throughout the year, you can also use chapter tests, section quizzes, lesson interactivity, and projects to evaluate learning. But yearly standardized testing can be very beneficial, especially when you need assurance that your child is staying on track.

Help in Identifying Academic Weaknesses

Standardized test scores are also useful because they help you discern if your child is falling behind. Since standardized tests are no-stakes tests, you don’t have to be afraid of poor test scores—they don’t mean that you’re a homeschool failure, just as a medical diagnosis doesn’t mean that you’ve failed as a parent. And low test scores don’t mean that your child is somehow unintelligent. They should only be viewed as opportunities for growth and improvement. If you need help knowing how to reinforce academically weak areas, your local HomeWorks consultant or a BJU Press representative is available to assist you.

My children and I really look forward to standardized testing each spring. For me, it’s an opportunity to give them an academic checkup. For them, it’s a chance to get together with friends and enjoy special snacks and extra playtime. Keep an eye out for Jenna’s next post, in which she will share some ideas for making testing fun and stress-free so it can be a great experience for everyone.

Take the Stress out of Standardized Testing

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standardized testing bubble sheet
Standardized Testing can be stressful.

It’s cool in homeschooling circles to hate standardized testing. Since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed, standardized testing has had a huge impact on public schools. Many parents and classroom teachers alike have pushed back. Their distaste for standardized testing has reached into the homeschool movement as well.

Of course, there are legitimate concerns about the overuse of these “bubble tests.” They can’t tell everything about a child or a teacher, but government bureaucracy relies on the scores to judge both. And that leads to one of the biggest problems with big government testing—it’s creating what’s called high-stakes testing.

High-Stakes Testing

Standardized tests have far-reaching implications for the test-takers. Your score on a high-stakes test might determine if you pass a course or if you get into medical school. Preparing for such tests becomes all-consuming for a student and introduces copious amounts of stress into the test-taking  experience.

Low-Stakes Testing

In contrast, low-stakes tests have limited impact on the test-takers. Such a test contributes to determining a student’s grade or placement, but the test is only one small part of the grade or one factor among several. Think of a yearlong course with fifteen tests. Each test matters, but none of them is a make-or-break situation by itself. If you fail one test, you can make up ground later on. These tests place some pressure on a child but not overwhelming stress.

No-Stakes Testing

What kind of test would have little to no impact on the test-taker? That’s the case when the results are only for the parents’ benefit or to set the child up for what he or she is going to learn next. One example would be a pre-test you give your child over what you plan to teach, but there is no grade on the test. This test puts no pressure on the child to perform at a certain level but informs you about what your child needs help with since the results provide clear insight into the child’s knowledge and skill level.

Removing the Stakes

The key to successfully using standardized testing is to remove the stakes. Make sure your children know that these tests won’t determine their grades or whether they go on to the next grade. Let them know that they should do their best because you want to know how great they’re doing. But also tell them that their results won’t change how proud you are of them.

As a homeschooler growing up, I was tested in our homeschool group every year; my mom made sure of that. But she always told me to do my best and not to worry about the results. I knew she used the results somehow, and I thought it was to determine what grade I would be in the next year.

Then the day I finished third-grade standardized testing, as I climbed into our white minivan, I glanced in the front seat. There I saw a bag containing all my fourth-grade curriculum. “Mom!” I said. “How do you know how I did on my tests? I just finished!”

My mom explained to me that my standardized tests didn’t determine what grade I was going into. She already knew I was ready for the next grade.

That experience changed my view of testing. I knew that my academic career didn’t hinge on the test.

Homeschool families test for a variety of reasons. You may test because you find it provides valuable feedback. Or perhaps you have to test because you live in one of the twenty-two states that require it. In any case, consider eliminating the stakes.

Two Questions

This advice raises two questions, which we’ll address in upcoming blog posts. First, if there aren’t any stakes, why test? So in our next post, my wife will talk about some benefits we’ve seen through testing our daughters.

The second question that arises is how to remove the stakes and make mind-numbing bubble-filling tests fun. Jenna will post six tips on how to make standardized testing enjoyable for children.