more of a mess
Brenda Rose
mamabeth,
If Sarah is working "on grade level" then the Kaufman test is relatively easy. The reason the state of VA accepts it is that it is a "nationally-normed standardized achievement test." It's used often for special ed kids becaues it's given one-to-one, mostly orally, and is untimed. The name is the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, and even the "comprehensive form" (long test) only has five sections that take about an hour to complete. The sections are: Math Applications (word problems, read to the student and they answer orally but may use scratch paper); Reading Decoding (they read aloud individual words, five per page); Spelling (like an old-fashioned spelling test, word is called, used in a sentence and repeated, they write the word - this is hard for some but is not heavily weighted in the total scoring); Reading Comprehension (read a passage, aloud or silently, then answer 1-2 questions for each); and Math Computation (problems printed on a page, they can do their work on the page or on scratch paper). This test is published by American Guidance Service. One nice thing in the scoring is that it can be figured either by grade (like the schools do it) or by the child's age (two-month increments). I always give the benefit to the child (if their birthday is after about February, they probably will score higher by age).
In VA if test results are turned in to a district, they look at Reading and Math Composite (total) scores, and some districts argue that they can look at the Battery (whole test) Composite also. Usually if the reading and math are okay, then so is the total. They never officially look at the sub-test scores.
This is a lot of perhaps unwanted information, but if you or anyone is ever in a bind and "must" have your child tested, then this is the one I always recommend as least threatening, yet meeting the "standards." Good luck to you, your husband, and Sarah as you work this out. By the way, I also have the "comprehensive books" for almost every grade so if my boys think they "need" to do some "schoolwork" they can. The mood doesn't usually last very long!
Brenda in VA
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
If Sarah is working "on grade level" then the Kaufman test is relatively easy. The reason the state of VA accepts it is that it is a "nationally-normed standardized achievement test." It's used often for special ed kids becaues it's given one-to-one, mostly orally, and is untimed. The name is the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, and even the "comprehensive form" (long test) only has five sections that take about an hour to complete. The sections are: Math Applications (word problems, read to the student and they answer orally but may use scratch paper); Reading Decoding (they read aloud individual words, five per page); Spelling (like an old-fashioned spelling test, word is called, used in a sentence and repeated, they write the word - this is hard for some but is not heavily weighted in the total scoring); Reading Comprehension (read a passage, aloud or silently, then answer 1-2 questions for each); and Math Computation (problems printed on a page, they can do their work on the page or on scratch paper). This test is published by American Guidance Service. One nice thing in the scoring is that it can be figured either by grade (like the schools do it) or by the child's age (two-month increments). I always give the benefit to the child (if their birthday is after about February, they probably will score higher by age).
In VA if test results are turned in to a district, they look at Reading and Math Composite (total) scores, and some districts argue that they can look at the Battery (whole test) Composite also. Usually if the reading and math are okay, then so is the total. They never officially look at the sub-test scores.
This is a lot of perhaps unwanted information, but if you or anyone is ever in a bind and "must" have your child tested, then this is the one I always recommend as least threatening, yet meeting the "standards." Good luck to you, your husband, and Sarah as you work this out. By the way, I also have the "comprehensive books" for almost every grade so if my boys think they "need" to do some "schoolwork" they can. The mood doesn't usually last very long!
Brenda in VA
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]