I had recently written about the conference I attended but failed to mention that we saw the tests and went over them in the group sessions with fancy whiteboard presentations. Company officials were on hand to go over details of their educational assessments and we were enlightened (and delighted). The evidence shows that children that are enriched will score higher on these tests than children with little or no enrichment.
Manhattan Edge is the only test prep company in New York for the pre-k through 2nd grade children that has this information. No other company in New York even has experience in this area of test prep. We have refined our methods, tested our games on hundreds of children and gone through endless workbooks to find the right mix to boost the capability of the children entrusted to us for enrichment. Below is information on the various NYC tests. I will be adding more daily.
NYC OLSAT/ BSRA
We have been busy meeting with people today who went to the NYC DOE to see their children’s OLSAT / BSRA tests. Many brought with them sketches they made of the different questions they saw on the test. I also made the request and went to see my daughter’s OLSAT/BSRA tests. After seeing this year’s test, one point I will have to make is that the material on the KTSS package does not cover what is on this test given in New York City. All of the individuals we met with said the same thing, some had used it instead of hiring us and were disappointed with their results. There was so much more on the NYC OLSAT that the package was lacking.
BSRA hint for the day, make sure your child knows the following terms : similar and alike and can identify a curve and an angle in a group of drawings.
Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT), published by Pearson Education, Inc., is a test of abstract thinking and reasoning ability of children pre-K to 18. The Otis-Lennon is a group-administered (except preschool), multiple choice exam, which measures verbal, quantitative, and spatial reasoning ability. It is organized into five main sections of verbal comprehension, verbal reasoning, pictorial reasoning, figural reasoning, and quantitative reasoning.The test yields verbal and nonverbal scores, from which a total score is derived, called a School Ability Index (SAI). The SAI is a normalized standard score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16. Scoring is measured against peers in age groups of 3-month bands. For example, children born October 4 through December 4 are compared with each other and children born January 4 through March 4 with each other and so on. With the exception of pre-K, the test is administered in groups.
Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA) is a cognitive test designed for children, pre-K through second grade. It assesses six basic skills:
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- Colors — identify common colors by name
- Letters — identify upper-case and lower-case letters
- Numbers | Counting — identify single- and double-digit numerals
- Sizes — demonstrate knowledge of words used to depict size (e.g., tall, wide, fat, thin, etc.)
- Comparisons — match or differentiate objects based on a specific characteristic
- Shapes — identify 2 and 3 dimensional shapes by name.
Raw scores can be converted to percentile rank scores and standard scores. The BSRA can be used with children as young as 2.6 years of age.
ERB / Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) is an intelligence test designed for children ages 2 years 6 months to 7 years 3 months. The current revision is called the WPPSI–III. Harcourt claims it provides subtest and composite scores that represent intellectual functioning in verbal and performance cognitive domains, as well as providing a composite score that represents a child’s general intellectual ability (i.e., Full Scale IQ).
Some studies show that intelligence tests such as the WPPSI-III, especially for pre-K level, are unreliable and their results vary wildly with various factors such as retesting, practice (familiarization), test administrator, time and place. There are claims that some commercially available material improve results simply by eliminating negative factors through familiarization which in turn puts children at a comfortable frame of mind.
There are 14 parts
1. Block Design – child uses one- or two-colour blocks to re-create a design within a specified time limit.
2. Matrix Reasoning – child looks at an incomplete matrix and selects the missing portion from 4 or 5 response options.
3. Information (checks enrichment base) – child responds to a question by choosing a picture from four response options or the child answers questions that address a broad range of general knowledge topics.
4. Vocabulary – child names pictures or gives definitions for words that the examiner reads aloud from the stimulus book.
5. Picture Concepts – child is presented with two or three rows of pictures and chooses one picture from each row to form a group with a common characteristic.
6. Symbol Search – child scans a search group and indicates whether a target symbol matches any of the symbols in the search group.
7. Word Reasoning – child identifies the common concept being described in a series of increasingly specific clues.
8. Coding – child copies symbols paired with simple geometric shapes. Using a key, the child draws each symbol in its corresponding shape.
9. Comprehension (checks enrichment base) – child answers questions based on his or her understanding of general principles and social situations.
10. Picture Completion – child views a picture and then points to or names the missing part.
11. Similarities – child is read an incomplete sentence containing two concepts that share a common characteristic. The child is asked to complete the sentence by providing a response that reflects the shared characteristic.
12. Receptive Vocabulary – child looks at a group of pictures and points to the one the examiner names aloud.
13. Object Assembly – child is presented with the pieces of a puzzle in a standard arrangement and fits the pieces together to form a meaningful whole within 90 seconds.
14. Picture Naming – child names pictures from the stimulus book.
Stanford-Binet 5
Since the inception of the Stanford-Binet, it has been revised several times. Currently, the test is in its fifth edition, which is called the Stanford-Binet 5. Low variation on individuals tested more than once indicates the test has high reliability, although its validity is debated. The test has been revised to analyze an individual’s responses in four content areas: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, abstract/visual reasoning, and short term memory. A general composite score is obtained. The test is scored by comparing how the test taker performs compared with other people of the same age. The five factors assessed in the test are: Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing, and Working Memory. Each factor is assessed in two separate domains, verbal and nonverbal, in order to accurately assess individuals with deafness, limited English, or communication disorders. Examples of test items include verbal analogies to test Verbal Fluid Reasoning and picture absurdities (last year’s included a picture of a man sawing a limb that he is sitting on off a tree) to test Nonverbal Knowledge. The test makers state that the Stanford-Binet 5 accurately assesses low-functioning, normal intelligence, and high-functioning individuals.
Be back with more info very soon.
Harley Evans
Edge for Life 