Turn to
p. 559 in Ormrod’s text. Now, imagine
that you are meeting with Ingrid’s grandmother today to explain her scores on
the recent standardized achievement test pictured at the bottom of p. 559. What will you tell her about Ingrid’s
performance? her strengths? her weaknesses?
I would tell Ingrid's grandmother that after being tested in multiple subjects, her tests revealed where she stood academically in terms of standard deviation units. I would explain to her what Ingrid mastered, but also what she needed to improve on. Ingrid's strengths would include reading comprehension, science, and social studies. Her weaknesses would be in spelling and math computation and that she was below average, average, and even slightly above average in those subject areas. I would also tell Ingrid's grandmother that some of Ingrid's below average scores could have to do with the amount of error that might have affected her performance on the test. Also, in a normal distribution, Ingrid was in the middle percentile where she scored average and slightly above average (displayed from the numbers being closer together at the bottom of her results).
If
grandmother asks you what she could be doing at home to help strengthen
Ingrid’s skills, what will you suggest?
If Ingrid is well above average in reading, social studies, and science, she probably doesn't need to spend much time studying these areas, but she should briefly review them to keep the information fresh on her mind. For spelling and math, I would suggest that Ingrid's grandmother call out words to Ingrid, and have her spell them out. She could also research game sites on the internet for Ingrid to match, spell, and even sound out words. For math, it would be helpful for Ingrid to use flashcards, and maybe include some fun in the "all around the world" math game. I would tell her that it would be helpful to provide Ingrid with some type of motivation or incentive. If Ingrid knows that she has done poorly, I'm sure she wouldn't be too excited about studying for that subject, and expects to struggle when doing so. Taking practice tests, playing games, and reviewing would be a general place to start.
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2011/03/five-ways-make-standardized-test-prep-engaging
After today's class, I was trying to think of ideas about how to help my students feel less anxiety towards TCAP testing. This site had 5 creative ideas to use in the classroom in preparation for the test. I will want to remember the part about using the internet for games (like jeopardy), so the students won't think I am just trying to drill TCAP information into their heads. I would also like them to be more hands on with their learning and preparation, so this was a helpful site for me!
Shelby,
ReplyDeleteI had similar thoughts about how Ingrid's grandmother could help her learn her spelling and math computation. I suggested that her grandmother could say words to her and then she have to either write or spell them out loud. I also suggested that her grandmother go through her reading assignments and take an approach of having her figure out words that she does now know and then spell them out. These tests are so confusing, as they score one thing one way and another thing another way. I am confused just thinking about Ingrid being able to read and comprehend what she is reading but not being able to spell. Or that she knows math concepts but cannot compute the math she is learning. These tests are so complex so I think as teachers, no matter the content area, we must stick together and help our students feel less anxious through our own behavior.