<p>My D will be taking the Iowa test for 9th graders in a few weeks. After calling the HS and speaking with the GC I am still unable to get specific information about the test. The Iowa testing web-site was not helpful - nothing on tests for grades over 8th. It will be given 2hrs/day over a 3 to 4 day period. The flyer that was sent home stated there are 3 sessions along with an optional session. No information was given as to what will be covered in each session.</p>
<p>Does anyone have information regarding this test? Are the students penalized for wrong answers? Can any generalizations be made with this test and the college board tests?</p>
<p>The Iowa test has no college admission consequences directly, if that is what you are concerned about. It would be a good idea to ask your school how it places students into various levels of high school classes, because of course it is strategic to take the hardest available classes for college admission purposes, IF your child can do well in those classes. But hasn’t your child taken Iowa or Stanford or other in-grade standardized achievement tests before? They aren’t usually a big deal.</p>
<p>Those tests are usually used to evaluate the schools (i.e. what % of student score at the level of proficiency, etc.) and do not affect individual students in any way.</p>
<p>My daughters both took the test. The results are given to the parents at a parent teacher conference. The students are graded as a percentile score against their grade level and given a grade level of performance. For example your child may be reading at the 98th percentile for a 9th grader and reading ot the level of someone in the 13th grade. Subjects covered are reading, writing, math, science and social studies. In each of these there are subcategories i.e. punctuation, spelling computation etc. The test is for you to help plan your child’s education and for the school to plan its curriculum.</p>
<p>In our state the testing (WASL) is completely different from the usual standardized testing. WASL is a combination of selecting the right answer, short essay and long essay. The students are not penalized for wrong answers and they are allowed as much time as needed to complete the test. The grading is a 1 through 4 scale - (did not meet the standard, below standard, at standard and above standard).</p>
<p>My daughter says they don’t take off for missed questions, but then she pointed out that since the results were in percentiles it really didn’t matter.</p>
<p>“For example your child may be reading at the 98th percentile for a 9th grader and reading ot the level of someone in the 13th grade.”</p>
<p>That is not quite right. It typically means your child had the same score as 50% of the students in 13th grade given the test in the norming population testing. At the 13th grade level, however, it may be just an extrapolation.</p>
<p>Idad, you are correct I should have phrased it the way you did. I also agree that that may be an extrapolation as I don’t think many college students take the test.</p>
<p>Tututaxi- On the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), the raw score (# correct) is translated to Percent correct, which then is interpreted to the Grade Equivalent (grade level where student is performing at the 50th percentile). Our district started using this test for compliance with NCLB. Our district posts the scores on the students’ transcripts, but it’s doubtful that adcoms bother looking at them.</p>
<p>Krissy- Is the raw score conversion to percentile based on the number of questions answered by the individual student or the number of total test questions? Im probably not asking this correctly. Should the student take her time and answer only the questions she is confident in knowing the correct answers or should she make every effort to complete the test answering all test questions?</p>
<p>tututaxi- I just saw your question, so my apologies for not answering your post. According to the test website, the percentile is based on raw score per # of questions on the test, so the student should attempt to answer all questions. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>The 9th grade Iowa test consists of 8 basic sections, although some sections are given in two parts. The sections are: vocabulary, reading, written expression, math concepts & problems, math computation, social studies, science, and information processing (maps and graphs). Students may take the core (vocabulary, reading, writtten expressions, math concepts and problems) or the entire battery. I don’t have the total time for the test right in front of me, but it about 5 hours. It is usually given in several sittings, though.</p>
<p>Here is what the Iowa test says about grade equivalence:</p>
<p>“If Sally, a scond-grader, scored a GE of 4.7, it means that she earned a score equivalent to what a typical studen in the seventh month of fourth grade would make. BE CAUTIONED!! GEs are NOT indicators of grade placement. They are only estimates of a student’s standing in a continuum of learning. In our example, Sally’s GE of 4.7 does NOT mean she is ready for fourth grade material because she WAS NOT TESTED ON fourth grade material. It only means she has a thorough mastery of the material on the second grade test.” (Emphasis in the original.)</p>
<p>EllenF, Thanks. This information will be very helpful when D gets her results. The 9th graders at D’s school were given the test (2.5 hours) every morning for 3 days.</p>