Hi there, All new to this PAT testing. My son sat his first Maths PAT test at the Year 3/4 level - test 1A. He scored a stanine 5. He is only 6 1/2 and in Year 2 and we were told he would have scored a stanine 9 in his year level if there was such a test. What does all this mean? Does anyone know what the stanines = in percentages? Would like your comments.
Test 1A is an easier test for those Y4's who may find test1 too difficult and more suitable for Y3's than test1. So it is aimed for the average Y3 kid?
This is all according to a google I did!! So I really don't know how accurate it is.
Basically my understanding is if your son was of the age of a Y3 kid and got this same result then he would fall within the 40-59th percentile for kids that particular age....I think they score them for their exact age ie. stanines for Yr and mth....Someone correct me if its wrong... :) So because they won't have stanines for a 6.5 yr old they will have used the minimum age they did have, maybe 8yr olds?
Sorry, I suppose this is all as clear as mud to you!!!???
Dear Sue2
Thanks for that. I unsure re: % and at what age they usually tested from. Actually my son scored Stanine 6, typed the wrong no. in so all in all I think he did rather well considering his age and that he actually hasn't been taught alot of the geometry and measurement and statisitics. He scored really well on the number knowledge and number strategies which is apparently what he has learnt and been taught so far. To know that he in up in the top 4% of his age fits into what we have been told and from his tests - SB5 and WJIII. But I assume the schools need to confirm the tests with these tests of their own. Who knows? Thanks for your input.
PATs are tests of achievement - they are designed to test how well a child has learned material he/she has been taught. They are not tests of potential and as such are not by themselves good indicators of giftedness. They simply show that a child has learned something well. Many schools equate high achievement with giftedness - this is quite wrong. Certainly, some high achieveing children will be gifted, but many gifted children do not achieve highly at school for a variety of reasons. So, if a school uses the PAT results as the primary identifier for giftedness, they will miss some gifted kids.
Most schools do not administer PATs until children are in year 3 or year 4. The tests are not designed for Yr 1 and 2 levels. Many NZ schools are moving away from PATs now and using the aSTLe tests, which provides much more information for teachers about areas of strength and weakness.
Your little boy did extremely well to score in Stanine 6 at 6 1/2 years old. Had he been taught all of the material in the test, he would no doubt have done even better.
The youngest age for comparisions on the PAT tests is 8 years old which is why there aren't usually done until Year 4 as until then any age comparisions are a guess at best. But you can be confidence that scoring in the 6th percentile at 6.5 years is a great result.
My daughter thrives on testing and the week of PAT tests has had her buzzing.
Must follow up on the aSTLe testing thanks Sue, sounds interesting.
The aSTLe tests were devised by Prof John Hattie and his team at Auckland University.
If you go to the TKI site (www.tki.org.nz) and search the site there, you will find info on these tests.
My kids have done the aSTLe tests for the last 3 years at their schools and the data from the tests has been shared with both the kids and parents. I have found it very helpful.
Thanks Sue and Country Girl. It's great to know how these things work. I am very proud of him doing so well. He just loves maths so it helps. Thanks again.
My son is doing these tests at the year 11 level apparently and is scoring about as high as the scores go for english, but struggling a bit in maths. I know nothing about these tests. Can anyone point me to a specific website? When I search ww.tki.org.nz it tells me it doesnt have anything about them.
Thanks
I would like some more guidance on how the asttle tests should be interpreted. My child has just tuned 11 and is in Yr 7. The class has been given tests which i am told are "Level 3/4/5" as pre and post tests. My child has been getting all or virtually all of the questions right (statistics, algebra) and given a 'level' of 6. We suggested a higher test and they gave the class a number strand test Level 4/5/6. Child made one silly mistake and ran out of time for last couple of questions. Still a level 6 result. We understand this is good for child's age, but not quite what it means in terms of what work/materials should be being assigned. Teacher seems slightly resistant to actively teaching higher in the curriculum (which is what child says they want). Child has been teaching self from a Year 11 book, most recently seems to have the hang of factorising quadratic equations, but would like more active teaching/learning at school. There are other very able kids in class but they are mostly just given worksheets to do on their own. It is a state intermediate school.
hi, new here,
My daughter was tested on both the pat and aSTLe tests. She is in year 2 at school and has been grade accelerated, she is 6 years old and scored in the 6th percentile in the yr 3 PAT but scored 4th percentile in the aSTLe designed for year 2. Im a little confused???
