BJU Press Blog

standardized testing

Understanding Testing Norms

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understanding testing norms
Trying to understand testing norms can be confusing. Thankfully, norms are not too complicated! Norms can be a great resource to help you identify your children’s educational needs. Our testing specialists have heard a lot of concern about testing norms being affected by COVID-19. We worked with Grant, one of our testing specialists, to put together some helpful information about testing norms and how to interpret them.

What are testing norms and how are they created?

Norms are the average results from a group of students using the same test. The publisher of each test or form gathers scores from a comparison group to create a norm group. This comparison group typically includes thousands of students, with the best norm standards coming from tens of thousands. Norm groups for most standardized tests are composed of a representative sample of students from various educational contexts across the United States. This diversity creates a balanced representation of students’ abilities to use for creating norms.

Creating norms is an expensive and time-consuming process. Because of the expense and time, the publishers update norms when new samples are necessary. For example, the original 2011 norms for Iowa Assessments Form E were updated in 2017.  If they measured norms each year, it would increase the wait time for scores while norms are created. Also, test prices would rise to pay for the resources and personnel needed to create the norm.

A norm update does not mean that the test has changed. When publishers revise a test’s content, it will have a different copyright date and will generally have an updated name or form number.

Why are they important?

Test scorers, like the Testing and Evaluation team, compare the data for different students’ performances on the same test. Achievement test scores allow us to calculate two numbers. The first number is your student’s percentile rank, or what percentage of similar students your student has performed better than. The second number is the stanine, which quickly determines your child’s percentile ranks and makes it easier to see where your child’s scores fall. Both of these numbers show how your student compares to his or her peers and helps you understand your child’s strengths and weaknesses.

Testing norms create a benchmark to which you can compare your child’s scores. Without norms, achievement tests would be a single pass or fail grade. Also, they would not be as useful to organizations like honor societies, which need to know whether a student is in the top tier nationally.

Will COVID-19 affect norms?

Because testers don’t gather norms on a yearly basis, COVID-19 will not affect norms for Iowa Assessments or the Stanford 10. The Testing and Evaluation team is committed to providing accurate and reliable test results; if you test with BJU Press this year, you will receive the same precise scores you have come to expect from us.

Remember that testing norms do not reflect a standard that your child has to meet. You know your children and their needs better than any test. While test scores can be helpful, they are not authoritative. Testing is just a tool to track your child’s progress and identify areas for growth.

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.

6 Ways to Have a Better Achievement Test Day

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You know that an achievement test won’t make or break your children’s education. You know that it doesn’t have to be high-stakes. And you know that the test results can give you valuable insight into how their education is going. But all of that means very little to your kids when they hear that ugly word test.

Tests are not fun.

If your children test well, then an achievement test means several hours of concentrated bubbling with short breaks. If your children do not test well, then it may mean several days of stress and a few hours of panicked bubbling.

While I can’t give you foolproof tips that will make testing fun—that depends on your children’s likes and dislikes—I can suggest ways for you to get the greatest benefit and more accurate results from your testing experience by ensuring that they go into the tests calm and prepared.

Preparing for the Achievement Test

  • Use practice test materials

Some achievement tests offer a practice test that introduces your child to the testing experience. They give a preview of the questions, the format, and the wording of instructions. By becoming familiar with the test, your children will know what to expect and won’t fear the unknown—at least not as much. Though not a practice test, the Better Test Scores workbooks also create familiarity with tests in addition to giving tips on testing strategies.

  • Get them on a sleep schedule

A good night’s sleep the night before will help children keep from panicking. A couple of weeks of good nights will help them stay calm in the first place. Try to stick to your sleep schedule, especially as you get closer to test days. If they typically sleep later, bump bedtimes up a few minutes during the week before so they have time to adjust and can get adequate sleep the night before exam day.

During the Test

  • Help them pick comfortable but confident clothes

Depending on where you test, you may not be able to control the environment. While you may think that taking a test will be easier in cozy clothes, that may not be an option. And if you want authentic test results, it may not be wise. The clothes kids wear can be just as distracting to them as they can be to others, even if they’re completely appropriate. They should wear something they’re confident about wearing in front of people. A favorite outfit may be a better choice than a cozy sweatshirt.

  • Give each of them a full water bottle

Most test moderators will let your children keep a water bottle during breaks. Pausing to drink during the test breaks keeps them hydrated, gives them a moment to regroup, and lets them breathe. They can go back to bubbling refreshed and focused.

After the Test

  • Stick around for a bit afterward

If your kids are testing with several other familiar homeschool families, after the test is a perfect time for them to unwind together. Some children may be exhausted, but others may need to release a lot of pent- up energy. Maybe you can set up a movie and snacks in the testing room or go to a nearby park as a group so they can run around.

  • Have a post-test pizza party

While most people recommend several healthy meals leading up to test day, everyone expects post-test meals to include the foods kids usually don’t get to have a lot of such as pizza, chips, and ice cream. So why not go all out and make it a party? Even if your pizza party is just your family, it will give your kids a chance to celebrate the end of another testing year and a job well done.

Do you have any other suggestions for keeping your kids cool during achievement tests? Share your testing experiences below!

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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.