The PER Report compliments the standard achievement test report by pinpointing the items missed by the student. To make the best use of the information this report provides, I’ve suggested parents use a three-step approach when reviewing the results with their children. The first two steps are: • Dignify their response by identifying, but not…
Earlier this week I presented the first step of a three-step process you can use to point out mistakes your children may make. I presented a way to re-direct them toward the correct answer without taking away their motivation. This step, first presented to me years ago by a mentor, Madeline Hunter, is to dignify…
Very few students like to be evaluated or tested for a simple reason. It bothers them to be wrong! And, if we’re honest, it bothers us too. That’s because we often see our children as a reflection of our academic and parenting efforts. It may explain partly why some parents experience difficulty in giving their…
Remember how you felt when you took your driver’s test and heard the words, “You passed!” You probably didn’t care by how much or what your score was. Even being told “You barely passed” was probably OK with you since you got what you wanted- a license to drive. With achievement tests, it’s different. On…
It’s one thing to know and have mastered the academic objectives for a particular grade level. It’s another thing to be able to demonstrate this knowledge on a test. So, how do you help your child do his or her best on their next achievement test? One option is to buy a book of drills….
Many students are scheduled to take, or have already taken, some form of an end of the year test. For many it was likely a nationally normed achievement test. Some families only tested at those years required by their state’s law. Their aim was compliance and making sure their students “passed the test.” Other families…
The most meaningless test score is perhaps the most important one. It depends on its use. Once the raw score (the number right out the number possible) is determined, it is then converted into this score. Apart from the raw score, this score is the most important one because all the other scores like percentile…
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt you needed to act as if you understood something when the fact is you knew you didn’t get it? I think most of us will admit to this. Sometimes we find ourselves in a conversation where we feel the need to nod our heads in…
I think very few of us are what you call “numbers people.” Most people when they finished algebra 1 or algebra 2 in high school, or college math for that matter, had no intention of ever returning to it “just for fun.” Why? Because it lacked relevance and usefulness to their life. NCE (normal curve…
Most car insurance companies offer high school students a discount if the student can prove he or she is academically “above average.” The standard to qualify for the discount is a “B” average on the student’s transcript. The creation and maintenance of a high school transcript is one of the features and benefits of our…