Nonverbal Assessment Testing?

[SunshineJ]

I'm not too sure how I feel about this. We got a letter home the other day for my first grader saying they're going to be administering the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test soon. Basically it's a lot of things like pattern completions and matching from the examples given. Now, I'm ok with their wanting to get an idea of where a class of kids are as a whole; sometimes a group comes through that's just ahead a bit or behind a bit and I can understand why the school would need to know this. But on the back it states that this test is used to determine the "services and support to best meet student needs", so this isn't a general the class is at x level, but more looking at each child's score. I'm not sure why this bothers me, but I'm thinking it's because the way it's presented, they use the results from just this one test to pigeonhole where a child's abilities are, regardless of if they're having and off day or just generally suck at tests. And I know part of that is just the way formal education rolls as well. I don't know, I was just taken aback by it. Thoughts?

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by SunshineJ

But on the back it states that this test is used to determine the "services and support to best meet student needs", so this isn't a general the class is at x level, but more looking at each child's score. I'm not sure why this bothers me, but I'm thinking it's because the way it's presented, they use the results from just this one test to pigeonhole where a child's abilities are, regardless of if they're having and off day or just generally suck at tests

I think you are reading too much into this. I truly doubt that they are going to decide on the basis of ONE test to pigeonhole a child. One of my kids is currently receiving special services from the school, and the reality is that kids who need services end up being evaluated in a variety of ways to try to make sure they get the right services to help them succeed.

I suspect this test is just a way to check a few things out to see if any of the kids are having some problem than can be easy to overlook in a classroom and yet can keep them from being successful. They most likely are not using this test for anything more than to check and see if there are kids who should be evaluated more carefully, to try to keep a kid from falling through the cracks.

My DD has a variety of labels and yet I never feel like anyone at school is trying to pigeonhole her or her abilities. I'm wondering if part of your emotional response to this is the assumption that if a child needs extra help, they've been pigeonholed and aren't expected to achieved. My reality is that the special help my DD is receiving is helping her be successful.

Wouldn't you rather the school find the kids who need help and provide the help rather than let a kid sit there all year, not catch on to what is going on, and just decide they are a stupid loser?

[TiredX2]

Do you have many special needs children in the class? Or kids who are not primarily English speakers? Because from what I understand that test is excellent at identifying gifted children who fit into a "minority" population. Is this uncommon for the school/district to do, or are all 1st graders assessed in this way?

[egoldber]

Because from what I understand that test is excellent at identifying gifted children who fit into a "minority" population.

The Naglieri is used in many school districts to screen children for gifted programs and is considered to be "language neutral" (although it is a good fit for highly visual learners as well).

[SunshineJ]

Thanks for the insight. It did stress this was a non-verbal, more fair across the board test. Probably the person putting out the letter just wasn't very good at conveying what he meant - it said that this test and their reading skills would be used to evaluate them, and made it sound like those are the only 2 factors they would base their judgements of the children on. Logically I would hope that would not be true (though I could totally see it in their old school), but I think that's what bothers me about the letter.