The idea is to educate, not follow anyone’s schedule about when something should be studied. –Ray Drouillard
As required by my state every three years, the Princess did her standardized test. It was the California Achievement Test (CAT) from Academic Excellence. This time I chose the untimed online version. Last time my daughter was in tears because she was unable to finish math portions of the timed online version, even though she still score above average in math. I wanted her to have opportunity to build her confidence with this test and I hope to to the timed test next year to challenge her.
She did very well. I ranked this from highest to lowest scores like I did in Still Pleased Homeschooling Mama. The Language Usage & Structure portion did not get recorded the first time she took it and she rushed through it the second time, making more errors than she might have the first time, so I think her score reflected that. I was also pleasantly surprised with her score in Mathematics Concepts & Problems, but not really because I have always thought that she is strongest in that area of math.
Remember that a percentile rank of 50 means that 50 percent of all the tests scored in that range. The raw scores are finite, but the percentile scores fluctuate year to year. However, in this test it does not because it is based on 1970 percentiles, which I am sad to say are still higher than our present day scores because the raw scores are lower now.
The grade equivalent score do not mean that she knows as much as someone at the 13.6 level, but that if a person at the 13.6 level took this same test, he would be in the same range of right and wrong answers for the raw scores.
The Stanine is a bit different. It is based on 100% broken down in set percentiles for each rank of 1 - 9. For instance, the 9 rating would only be received by 4% and on the other end the 1 rating would only be received by 4%. 7% is set for 8 or 2, 12% for 7 or 3, 17% for 6 and 4, and 20% for 5.
I am writing this not just as a brag but for any homeschooling parent to understand something. This year of homeschooling for us...well, my state requires the equivalent 180 days with 4.5 hours. I do not even think we did even half of that, because of many emotional issues that were going on within our family and yet my daughter still learned. She loves to write and read, so she still learned. I provided her with a strong foundation for all the years previously and I see how that pays off.
My goal in homeschooling was to have a child that loves to learn, be challenged, and finds what she loves to do using her talents. I have to remind myself of that often because I get caught up in what we might be missing too much.
She did very well. I ranked this from highest to lowest scores like I did in Still Pleased Homeschooling Mama. The Language Usage & Structure portion did not get recorded the first time she took it and she rushed through it the second time, making more errors than she might have the first time, so I think her score reflected that. I was also pleasantly surprised with her score in Mathematics Concepts & Problems, but not really because I have always thought that she is strongest in that area of math.
Remember that a percentile rank of 50 means that 50 percent of all the tests scored in that range. The raw scores are finite, but the percentile scores fluctuate year to year. However, in this test it does not because it is based on 1970 percentiles, which I am sad to say are still higher than our present day scores because the raw scores are lower now.
| Subject | Raw Score | Grade Equivalent | Percentile Rank | Stanine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Language Mechanics | 77/80 | 13.6 | 99 | 9 |
| Reading Comprehension | 37/45 | 13.6 | 95 | 8 |
| Language Spelling | 28/32 | 13.6 | 93 | 8 |
| Reading Vocabulary | 31/40 | 13.0 | 82 | 7 |
| Mathematics Concepts & Problems | 36/50 | 13.6 | 79 | 7 |
| Language Usage & Structure | 28/54 | 10.7 | 58 | 5 |
| Mathematics Computation | 35/48 | 10.3 | 52 | 5 |
The grade equivalent score do not mean that she knows as much as someone at the 13.6 level, but that if a person at the 13.6 level took this same test, he would be in the same range of right and wrong answers for the raw scores.
The Stanine is a bit different. It is based on 100% broken down in set percentiles for each rank of 1 - 9. For instance, the 9 rating would only be received by 4% and on the other end the 1 rating would only be received by 4%. 7% is set for 8 or 2, 12% for 7 or 3, 17% for 6 and 4, and 20% for 5.
I am writing this not just as a brag but for any homeschooling parent to understand something. This year of homeschooling for us...well, my state requires the equivalent 180 days with 4.5 hours. I do not even think we did even half of that, because of many emotional issues that were going on within our family and yet my daughter still learned. She loves to write and read, so she still learned. I provided her with a strong foundation for all the years previously and I see how that pays off.
My goal in homeschooling was to have a child that loves to learn, be challenged, and finds what she loves to do using her talents. I have to remind myself of that often because I get caught up in what we might be missing too much.
My Lord, thank you for guiding us through a very tough year and seeing that it was not really a set back for my daughter gave us both confidence. Bless our homeschool efforts this year.
