OFF TOPIC - any experts on the Iowa tests

"Dr. Brat" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, Cheryl, but it's been a roungh couple of weeks (ending with having to put my 17-year-old cat to sleep on Thursday).

My understanding is word analysis is being able to recognize and interpret things like letter patterns, syllables, prefixes and suffixes, compound words, plurals, etc. -- analyzing words based on language rules. It makes sense that she would be low in both spelling and word analysis, since they are both rule based, recall tasks, that need to be taught. (You should ask where the other students stand based on national standards -- I wouldn't be surprised if they were all on the low side if they haven't been taught this stuff).

Reading (usually comprehension) and vocabulary require interpretation and often rely on context. It seems like your daughter can recognize words when she sees them and knows both the literal (vocabulary) meaning of words and sentences and the inferential meaning needed for higher-level reading comprehension. If she reads a lot of her own, or if you read to her a lot, asking questions about the reading, she will have developed those skills.

It's actually a not a bad dichotomy to have, because she can learn spelling and word analysis rules; comprehension is harder to teach. You can make some games out of it for her, and there are lots of resources out there for practice. Since she's only in first grade, she should be able to catch up just fine.

(Can I use this example when I teach the psychology of reading to my ed psych students?)

Hi Cheryl-

You've gotten a lot of good advice on this topic already, but I wanted to put in my two cents. Your daughter's situation sounds *exactly* like my sister's. Throughout school, her grades were exceptional, but her standardized test scores were in the lowest percentiles. After she graduated /from college/, we finally figured out why: It turns out she's dislexic, has diseidesia (simply put, an inability to spell), and problems focusing her eyes.

Your daughter really could have just had a problem w/taking a standardized test for the first time. This could just be a fluke, and she'll get better with more practice. I seem to recall having to take these stupid tests every year. (Don't get me started on the geography section!) But if I were in your situation, I would definitely talk w/her teacher(s), the school administrators, and/or councilors, and get their opinions. After all, they probably know more about her situation than we do on this newsgroup.

My parents were never taken seriously when they questioned the test results; after all, my sister was getting good grades. So be prepared for being brushed off. I certainly hope that you are taken seriously, but... having a back up plan is good. You may need to look into having your daughter take a practice test or two (outside of the classroom), just to see if this was a one time thing.

And I would have her eyes checked! My sister's reading glasses have been a huge improvement!

(((((Hugs.)))))

With best regards,

--Mickey Mansfield, MA

to reply: mickey18385 at yahoo dot com

"The American Revolution began because" Judy

Judy,

I don't know why you felt you needed to spend the time and energy to correct me when I was trying to be friendly (particularly when I don't ever feel a need to participate in the slugfests), but I assure you that you won't have to worry about my bad grammar anymore.

Nope, maybe her sisters and brother.

It was great, saved my bacon a time or two when I was doing psych classes.

Cheryl

So switch. Can't DH be hockey-mom for the night?

Elizabeth

Be my guest.

Her eyes are checked yearly. So far, no problems.

And from talking to lots of other parents, they are as confused as I am. Albeit a small sample, I can not find a kid that had a "word analysis" score over 12; hers was 11.

I have an acquaintance that was a local principal; I think I'm going to talk to her.

Cheryl

Doesn't get out of work until too late - he's got second shift to get up and running.

Cheryl

From

From idea.uoregon.edu/assessment/analysis_results/aram/iowa_aram.pdf

"This test / subtest assesses: For Levels 5 - 6, the test measures letter recognition, letter-sound correspondence and phonemic awareness. For levels 7 - 8, the test assesses phonological awareness and decoding skills; including initial sounds, vowel sounds and rhyming sounds and identifying and analyzing word parts. Levels 9 - 14 assess phonological awareness and decoding, including: initial, medial and final sounds, and identifying and analyzing word parts."

Best wishes, Ericka

Is she still at an age level where the word analysis section has lots of pictures? Some kids do poorly at that because they find the pictures confusing. In other words, if the question tells them to circle all of the pictures of items that start with a "c," there may be a picture of a "church" and they think of it as a "building" and therefore don't circle it. See what I'm saying? A lot of bright kids in particular find the pictures very confusing because they can think of more alternative terms for the pictures.

Best wishes, Ericka

Or because their family calls it something different. In German, "gift" means poison. Hence, I would never have circled a box with a bow if they asked me for words starting with G, because in my family, that thing had only one name: Present.

Somewhere in the later stages of elementary school, a teacher showed us a series of drawings and had us write down what it was, then made a list of all the names we came up with. My family was flush enough to have bought a stereo when they became available; other kids identified the same thing as a phonograph, hi-fi, record player, turntable, Philco, radio, gramophone, or (one really poor immigrant kid) I don't know.

Thereupon ensued a lesson on regional variants in vocabulary.

C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me, but in England it's Biscuit starts with B.

My mother tells a story of being very embarrassed as a young newlywed in a new part of the country. A woman with a small child had come to visit and the child kept asking for a soda. And my mother kept saying she didn't have any soda. All the while there was a six pack of Coke sitting on the floor in plain sight. But to Mom, that was either Coke or tonic and soda meant soda water.

Elizabeth

One of my northern friends swears, when she first moved South, she ordered a Coke and was asked "what kind?" This was back before the flavored varieties, so it took some discussion before she was eddykated that in the South (or at least that part of it), Coke refers to anything with bubbles, so you can order a 7Up Coke or a Root Beer Coke or a Dr. Pepper Coke. Or a plain ole CoCola Coke.

I didn't mean to be mean, but after seeing the next post quoting your one, I had to point it out. I thought it was funny in a post about english. I am a grammar freak off line as well. No hard feelings? I am sorry if it upset you. Judy

Accepted.

Can you tell me why it was wrong in the first place, other than that it was in passive voice and not active?

I am not sure if it is technically wrong; I don't think so, but it is awkward. To me, it is a bit like "articulateness". Judy

I understand, and I agree, actually. I was just typing off the cuff about how to take essay tests, as described by my high school history teacher.

I am very interested in this topic too. I don't have faith in the tests, although I always tested very high and did poorly in school. Some people are just great at taking tests. Judy