Iowa Myths Busted

If you have a child or children in 2nd through 8th grade, you have hopefully received an Iowa score report in the mail. I typically receive many questions following the release of the Iowa scores and find there are some common misconceptions about standardized score reports. Here are my top three misconceptions and clarifications:

"My child scored a 75, that's like a C, right?"

The Iowa's are a norm-referenced test, which means a child's score is determined by the correct answers given compared to the correct answers given by the students in the 2011 norming group. This is called a percentile rank and a score of 50 is considered average. Anything above a 50 is considered above average, so a score of 75 really means your child scored in the 75th percentile (gave more correct answers than 75 percent of the students in the norming group).  

"My child should skip a grade and this proves it!"

Perhaps the most confusing measure is the GE or Grade Equivalency score. This is usually a decimal number, with the first number representing the grade and second number representing the month of the school. Therefore a GE of 4.2 would mean 4th grade, 2nd month of school (September since August is 0). 

CAUTION: A grade equivalency of 4.2 for a 2nd grade student in math computation DOES NOT mean they are ready to perform 4th grade math. It means that compared to the norming group, your child performed as well on the 2nd grade math computation section as a 4th grade student in the 2nd month of the school would perform on the 2nd grade math computation section. Typically, the higher the percentile rank, the higher the grade equivalency. 

Although not a good measure for convincing someone your child should skip a grade, comparing a child's grade equivalency each year is helpful to measure individual growth. An increase of one whole number from year to year is considered adequate yearly progress. 

"No one really looks at these, so who cares?"

While these standardized test score results are not as high stakes as those of our public school counterparts, they still have meaning. On a school level, we look at results by skill area to help with curriculum planning. We also use Iowa scores as one indicator for placement in math at the middle school level. 

Also, for students applying to International Baccalaureate programs, it is the only measure, other than grades, used to determine acceptance into these high schools--in fact they ask us to send our applicants' scores from back to 6th grade. 

For students going to public high school, Iowa scores are also used for placement into honors level courses and required reading electives. While these uses are geared towards middle school, the experience, effort and habits formed in taking these tests begin in 2nd grade. 

This does not mean that we should pressure our students to the point of a nervous breakdown about their performance.  Instead, we should continue to encourage them to give their best effort and use this as opportunity to shine.

Still have questions about the Iowa?  Please come by the cafeteria after school mass this Wednesday, May 10, for a brief overview with Mrs. Metz on interpreting the score reports.

For more detailed information about the Iowa Assessment, please see the featured post on the left where I provided some background information about this standardized test, how we use the scores, and how you can interpret them.