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Achievement Testing at Blessed Sacrament School
Quick Reference:
- What achievement tests does Blessed Sacrament School
use?
- Why does BSS use these particular tests?
- How do the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills differ from
the End of Grade Tests used by North Carolina’s Public Schools?
- Why are the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills given in the
fall at BSS?
- How do I interpret ITBS scores?
- ITBS Results for 2002/2003
- ITBS Results: 2000/2001 Comparison
 | What achievement tests does Blessed Sacrament School
use?
BSS uses the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.
These achievement tests, for grades three through eight, are
designed to measure how well a student has learned the basic knowledge
and skills that are taught in elementary and middle schools. |
| Why does BSS use these particular tests?
The ITBS are used annually to test millions of students in both
public and private schools. Schools across the nation have used The
Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) successfully since 1935.
The Mental Measurements Yearbook, the authoritative
reference book on testing, describes the ITBS as “the oldest and
best in the business.” Additional
quotes follow:
 | The overwhelming evidence is positive, that is, the ITBS scores
provide valid measures of basic academic skills... |
| It is a set of standardized tests of basic skills that is
supported by exemplary research and documentation. |
|
| How do the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills differ from
the End of Grade Tests used by North Carolina’s Public Schools?
The End of Grade tests used in North Carolina only allow the
state to compare students in North Carolina with each other.
These tests do now allow any national comparability.
The ITBS allows BSS to compare its students to students across
the nation in terms of academic achievement. |
The EOG tests in North Carolina are only given in the areas of
reading and math. Currently,
there are not any EOG tests in the areas of science and social studies
for students in grades 3- 8. The
ITBS provides testing in reading, math, science, social studies, as well
as other subject areas.
Finally, NC End of Grade tests are designed and developed by North
Carolina educators. The
ITBS are research-proven, independent tests developed by national
experts.
| Why are the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills given in the
fall at BSS?
These tests are administered primarily for the purpose of supporting
instruction. Information
derived from test results can be used by BSS teachers to help them
make instructional decisions. Test results can be used to check
year-to-year progress in various subject areas and to determine areas
of strengths and weaknesses. BSS
teachers receive their scores in the fall enabling them to incorporate
the scores in important decisions they make regarding their classes
and individual students. |
| How do I interpret ITBS scores?
ITBS scores are reported using National Percentile Rankings (NPR)
instead of raw scores. The
percentile rankings indicate how well students perform in a particular
subject relative to everyone else in the country who took the test
that year. If a student
received an NPR of 50 on the ITBS reading exam, for example, he or she
scored higher than 50 percent of all students taking that test. |
|
|
Grade
|
|
Reading
|
Language
|
Math
|
Core
Total |
Social
Studies
|
Science
|
Composite
Score |
|
3
|
ITBS National
Student Norms
|
80
|
83
|
71
|
80
|
|
|
|
|
ITBS National
School Norms
|
93
|
98
|
76
|
94
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
ITBS National
Student Norms
|
85
|
83
|
79
|
84
|
85
|
84
|
86
|
|
ITBS National
School Norms
|
99
|
99
|
91
|
98
|
99
|
99
|
99
|
|
5
|
ITBS National
Student Norms
|
81
|
82
|
74
|
80
|
80
|
79
|
80
|
|
ITBS National
School Norms
|
96
|
99
|
82
|
95
|
95
|
96
|
96
|
|
6
|
ITBS National
Student Norms
|
69
|
55
|
59
|
61
|
68
|
74
|
68
|
|
ITBS National
School Norms
|
84
|
59
|
64
|
70
|
81
|
90
|
81
|
|
7
|
ITBS National
Student Norms
|
88
|
84
|
80
|
86
|
80
|
81
|
85
|
|
ITBS National
School Norms
|
99
|
99
|
94
|
99
|
96
|
99
|
99
|
|
8
|
ITBS National
Student Norms
|
81
|
80
|
76
|
81
|
73
|
80
|
80
|
|
ITBS National
School Norms
|
96
|
97
|
91
|
94
|
87
|
99
|
97
|
| Scores
are from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) administered during
October 2002 |
| ITBS
is a norm reference test. (NRT).
NRTs allow you compare a student’s performance to other
students. The SATs, GREs,
are NRTs |
| Scores
are given as percentage rating, i.e., a National Student Norm score of
75 means that the average student at BSS scored better than about 75%
of other students nationally, a National School Norm of 84 means that
BSS as a whole did better than about 84% of other schools nationally. |
| The
difference between student ranking and school ranking occur because
Student Norms compare individual students to other students while,
School Norms compare our scores as a whole to other schools |
| Public
schools in North Carolina take the “EOG” (end-of-grade test).
These are not NRT, so you can not compare BSS scores to local
public school. However, for school year 2002, the average SAT score of
Burlington/Alamance high school students was 960 which is below the
50%, the NC average was 998 and the US average was 1020. |
| The
core total is the composite score of the students’ performance on
the reading, language and mathematics section of the test. While the composite score is the composed of the results
from all of the sub-sections of the ITBS (reading, language,
mathematic, social studies, science, and abilities to uses maps and
reference materials |
|
Listed below are the ITBS results for Blessed Sacrament School for 2000 and
2001. 2001's scores are highlighted in gray. As you see, the students and
school have demonstrated a high degree of achievement across all grade
levels. Gains from 2000 to 2001 reflect the
strength and effectiveness of the instructional program now in place.
High scores in 8th grade represent the benefit of students
attending BSS through middle school.
Please note that there are no
scores listed for grades five and seven. Students at these grade levels
are given an aptitude test to measure ability, and these scores are
indicators of what students should be able to do. The school has little
influence on these scores and they do not represent levels of
achievement, which is why they are not included.
|
ITBS Scores
2001 vs 2000
|
|
|
3rd (01) |
3rd (00) |
|
4th (01) |
4th (00) |
|
6th (01) |
6th (00) |
|
8th (01) |
8th (00) |
|
|
Vocab |
96 |
90 |
|
89 |
83 |
|
81 |
79 |
|
98 |
90 |
|
READ. |
Compre. |
95 |
91 |
|
95 |
91 |
|
95 |
91 |
|
97 |
90 |
|
|
Total |
97 |
92 |
|
95 |
91 |
|
92 |
88 |
|
99 |
91 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spell. |
97 |
94 |
|
97 |
94 |
|
98 |
90 |
|
97 |
93 |
|
|
Cap. |
80 |
70 |
|
90 |
29 |
|
89 |
74 |
|
93 |
85 |
|
LANG. |
Punct. |
82 |
73 |
|
87 |
63 |
|
97 |
67 |
|
99 |
88 |
|
|
Usage |
93 |
84 |
|
93 |
89 |
|
98 |
93 |
|
99 |
93 |
|
|
Total |
93 |
82 |
|
94 |
69 |
|
99 |
84 |
|
99 |
89 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Concepts |
99 |
90 |
|
94 |
85 |
|
88 |
88 |
|
88 |
38 |
|
MATH |
Prob. Slv. |
97 |
78 |
|
92 |
86 |
|
97 |
93 |
|
97 |
69 |
|
|
Total |
97 |
78 |
|
91 |
77 |
|
86 |
81 |
|
87 |
29 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CORE |
96 |
86 |
|
93 |
82 |
|
94 |
84 |
|
97 |
78 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Soc. St. |
|
|
|
84 |
76 |
|
95 |
83 |
|
95 |
82 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sci. |
|
|
|
87 |
79 |
|
94 |
93 |
|
99 |
81 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SOURCE |
Maps |
|
|
|
92 |
85 |
|
91 |
90 |
|
99 |
79 |
|
OF |
Ref. Mat. |
|
|
|
95 |
86 |
|
87 |
93 |
|
98 |
89 |
|
INFO |
Total |
|
|
|
95 |
87 |
|
90 |
93 |
|
99 |
84 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Composite |
|
|
|
89 |
81 |
|
93 |
88 |
|
99 |
83 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Math Comp. |
91 |
74 |
|
94 |
44 |
|
73 |
65 |
|
69 |
2 |
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