Need to brag :)

[tankgirl73]

I just really felt a need to brag about my son's latest testing results and thought you folks might indulge me... 

At the end of each year, my son does the PASS standardized tests -- if you're not familiar with this one, it's designed specifically for homeschoolers.  The content is basically the same, but you take leveled tests depending on actual ability rather than grade level -- you're still compared against your grade level, of course, but this gives a better degree of accuracy especially for outliers.  

We're not required to test by law or anything, we just started testing when his dad and I divorced and it was part of the agreement where he would "let" me homeschool.  But as it turns out, my son enjoys doing the tests and I like the positive reinforcement we get each year.  Even in years where we don't seem to be doing very much, whether we were mostly unschooling, struggling with various issues (he has ADHD and Asperger's), constantly fighting over curriculum, or just not seeming to get very far in whatever we were using... his test results were always Just Fine.

The PASS test gives 2 main indicators.  First is the percentile, of course -- and there are 2 percentile numbers.  One is the comparison with only the other homeschooled kids who took the PASS test.  For the other, they norm those results against national testing.  Usually, that percentile is significantly higher - the homeschooled students tend to perform better overall, so your score will be lower against the other homeschoolers.

The other indicator is a RIT score, which is a raw measure of progress.  For instance, at the end of grade 4, his RIT score in Reading was 214.  End of grade 5, 228.  Grade 6, 232.  And the latest, end of grade 7, is 236.  Their average result for grade 7 is 230.  Anyway, that gives you the idea.

Within each subject tested (reading, math, and language), you also get a ranking of 'high', 'avg', 'low', etc, in each of the sub-topics.  

So yeah, we just got our results back for his end of grade 7 testing.  I mentioned his Reading RIT score.  His percentiles for Reading are 76th (against homeschoolers) and 95th (against everyone).  That's exactly the same percentiles as last year!  So that was great.

His Language score (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc) was not as great.  His RIT actually DROPPED from last year's.  We didn't do any formal language stuff this past year, and he's always struggled with spelling and capitalization, so it wasn't a big surprise.  Our plan had been all along that we were taking a year off that kind of thing and would get back into it this year -- in fact we've already started the new program and he's enjoying it a lot, he's actually interested now in learning to write essays, etc, so it's so much easier!

Anyway, it might have been disappointing to have those results even though they weren't unexpected.  But it was actually still good news.  Even in spite of dropping from last year, his results were STILL 58th percentile (against homeschoolers) and 90th against everyone.  So even when I think "wow, he's really struggling with this," he's still actually performing better than 90% of other 12-13yos.  My mind boggles.  But it helps me not to fret!!  He was rated "avg" in spelling and grammar, and "high" in everything else!  So the year off did produce some backsliding, but he was so far ahead to start with (97th percentile last year) that there's no real harm done!!  

But what I really wanted to brag about, was his math results.

This is a kid who has STRUGGLED with math.  Despite showing early talent and a gift for finding novel approaches to solutions, he quickly developed a hatred for it (possibly my fault in pushing too soon and using the wrong programs for him) and came to believe that he was STUPID.  Even when the test results showed he was 'just fine', he still spent many years believing that he sucked at math.  Any error he made wasn't because of inattention, or a slip, or needing to think in a different way... as far as he was concerned, any error was simply because he was stupid.

It took years of time off, and then approaching it again from a different perspective to start to break through his belief.  And the past year or 2, he's finally been really "cooperative" and enjoying his math.  And it's showing now in his results.

The average RIT score for grades 4-7 are 215-216-227-235.  For grade 8, it's 239.  His scores for grade 4-5-6 were 220, 222, and 238 (so, already above average).  This year, end of grade 7, it's 259.  Two-five-nine.  Yup.  That's a 21-point jump, where the average jump for this grade is just 8.  And it's 20 points higher than what's expected for the end of grade 8!!

His percentile against HOMESCHOOLED students is 96.  Nine-ty-six.  Against the homeschoolers.  And 99th against everyone.  

I'm just flabbergasted!

I mean, I'm a math geek.  I literally have multiple awards for math competitions.  My percentiles were ALWAYS 99th in math.  So it's not really surprising that my son does well, from a genetics perspective.

But given all the struggles we've had through the years, with his issues, with my mis-steps... given how many times he had to do a math problem and loudly proclaimed "I'VE NEVER LEARNED THIS" even though in fact he'd learned it MULTIPLE times in MULTIPLE different courses... given how he would stubbornly insist that "8 times 7 is 48!!!  It just is!!!"... and despite all my frets and worries that he'd ever 'get it'... well, he gets it.  And gets it good.

Of course he still makes mistakes.  He got 9 questions wrong on the test, a couple were things that indeed he hasn't learned yet, but others were just head-scratchers.  Inattentive slips or just plain doing it wrong.  He's not about to become a math major!!  

But WOW, does this ever show that the programs we've been using are finally the right approach!  Or that mental maturity etc is starting to develop and we'd have seen this improvement anyway!  But in either case, that I don't have to worry!!  We can keep doing what we're doing and all will be well!

Anyway, thanks for letting me spew.  The point that can be drawn from this for ANYONE, I think, is that we really don't have to worry about every little thing that we're doing, or not doing.  Overall, our kids still manage to do Just Fine.

[Tjej]

Congrats - it feels good sometimes to get an objective understanding of how things are progressing.

Tjej

[AAK]

That is great to hear!  I love celebrating test scores (esp. when the kids weren't taught to the test).  I may be in the minority, but as a kid I loved standardized tests.  

Amy