Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Scores for 2011 – 2012 School Year
All Archdiocese of Denver Catholic Schools students in grades 2 – 8 take the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) annually. The following is an analysis of the result for the 2011 – 2012 school year for Nativity students.
The ITBS is a norm referenced test. The scores register what students know. Students bring to school knowledge related to native ability, family education level, socioeconomic status, the language or languages spoken in the home, and life experiences, which are reflected in these scores. Schools focus and organize this knowledge and add to it. While we hope to see a year’s growth from one year to the next, some of our Nativity students score 2 or more grade levels higher than the grade in which they are registered, so the growth each year in each subject area may not be one year’s growth as our students, especially those in our middle school, are already scoring above grade level. The students “max” out at 13+, and as is seen in the chart below, this happens in several subject areas for our 8th graders, and they therefore do not show a year’s growth.
The ITBS is most effective when used to compare the progress of a single student over a period of several years. Our chart below shows the growth in grade equivalent scores over the past two school years.
