Archbold Elementary School
Testing Information
The amount of testing students will experience during their school careers has increased over the past several years. The purpose of providing this letter is to help parents stay informed about the testing that their child will experience during the present school year.
All second graders will take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAt) at the beginning of the school year because of state laws in Ohio mandating the identification of gifted students. Archbold Area Schools developed a policy to comply with the mandate and tests all second graders, as well as tenth graders and all new students who enroll in the district at any grade level and are referred for gifted testing. The ITBS is an achievement test, which measures what the students actually know and are able to do. The CogAt is an ability test that predicts a student’s potential for academic success. Using the ITBS and CogAt allows the school to compare the child’s achievement to their ability to see if the child is working up to their potential. Both tests are multiple choice tests. The tests are norm referenced, meaning the child’s score is compared to scores of other students across the United States. If a child scores at the 95th percentile or higher (meaning that they did better than 95% of the students their age taking the test), they are considered to be in the gifted range.
All second graders will be given diagnostic tests in reading, writing, and math. The purpose of diagnostic testing is to provide an early indication of students who may need intervention. It is also a road map for instructional action which helps teachers and principals understand what additional professional development they need to be successful with their students. Diagnostic testing may include oral responses, written responses, or performance tasks where students need to demonstrate their knowledge. Because these tests were developed based on what students should know and be able to do at the end of second grade, we plan to administer the diagnostic tests towards the end of the last trimester.
Classroom teachers will administer the diagnostic tests to the students. The writing test will be given in a whole group setting and will take 60 minutes. The reading test will be given individually to each student by the teacher for 10 minutes and in a whole group setting for 70 minutes. The math test will be given in a whole group setting for 45 minutes and in a small group by the teacher for 15 minutes. A total of 200 minutes of diagnostic testing is required for each second grade student.
Any new child who enrolls in the 2nd grade at Archbold Elementary after the first full week in October will be given a screening assessment within 30 days of enrolling if it can not be determined that the applicable diagnostic assessments were administered in their previous school. The screener is a shorter version of the diagnostic test and will measure a child’s ability in reading, math, and writing. The purpose of this test is to help the teacher determine the student’s academic strengths and weaknesses.
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