Testing Service for the Christian Community
Scott County and the Surrounding Areas
Testing Dates: April 28-30, 2010
Registration deadline February 22, 2010
Standardized tests are developed by commercial test publishers to provide a snap-shot of the academic skills and abilities of a large sampling of students of the same grade level. Examples are Stanford, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, California Achievement Test, Metropolitan, just to name a few. While we often think that standardized tests indicate how our child compares academically to grade-level expectations, they actually indicate how our child compares academically to other kids at his grade level who took the same test on a given date. If for example your 7th grader scores PHS (post high school) in the math subtest, it means that someone post high school who took the same test on the same day would have had the same score. It does not mean your 7th grader is ready for or should be doing Calculus in the fall. Prepare your student for testing by explaining that the test will have questions ranging from below testing grade to well above grade level. There are questions on the test that are deliberately too hard for him and when he sees such a question he should not panic.
It is critical that the child understands that we don’t expect him to know all the answers on this test but we simply want to find out how many he does know. The Stanford 10 test is an untimed test which should also take some of the pressure off your student. Each section is timed in the following manner; for example, the suggested time for reading subsection is 30 minutes. At the end of the 30 minutes if students are actively working on answers continue to allow time to finish this subsection. The operative term for the test proctor (the one who oversees the test) is actively. The test time for this subsection will continue for a reasonable amount of time or until the students are no longer actively perusing answers. To be clear, your child will have a reasonable amount of time to complete each subtest but not an unlimited time.
The Stanford Achievement Test can be given to children from Kindergarten through 11th grade. The Georgetown Homeschool Group offers testing for students from grades two through grade eleven.
The SAT test given for grade school assessment is not to be confused with the SAT college board assessment which may be a requirement for college bound homeschoolers. If your student is in 9th or 10th grade and even remotely considering college level work it is highly recommended that you research the following tests which are required for entrance to most all U. S colleges both public and private. If you know which school your student wants to attend then you can find out which test is required. The ACT (American College Testing) sports four trademark multiple–choice tests covering English, Math, Reading, and Science. These are designed to evaluate your overall educational development and your ability to complete college-level work. The SAT (originally the Scholastic Aptitude Test renamed in 1993 as SAT Reasoning Test) is designed to evaluate your general thinking and problem solving abilities.
Need more information? www.act.org or www.collegeboard.com