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1st-7th GRADE ACHIEVEMENT TESTS
Each 32 page test booklet contains two tests, Math and Language Arts. The seven test books range from grade one to seven with results ranging from below Kindergarten level to the beginning of 10th grade.

Here it is! A simple do-it-yourself testbook to determine your youngster's grade level. Each 32 page test book houses two tests, one for language arts and another for math.
To order call 1-877-702-1419 with your credit number, or send a check or money order to:

The first achievement test is $7. Additional tests are $6 each. Test books are usually shipped within 24 hours.

Test Book Grade	Number of Questions	from below	to	level:

1 s t	486	Kindergarten	to	2nd grade 6th month
2 n d	1060	1st grade	to	3rd grade 6th month
3 r d	705	2nd grade	to	5th grade 9th month
4 t h	663	3rd grade	to	6th grade 9th month
5 t h	619	4th grade	to	7th grade 9th month
6 t h	512	5th grade	to	9th grade 3rd month
7 t h	354	6th grade	to	9th grade 9th month

Tests are tools used by instructors to track student progress. Classroom teachers rely on test since they cannot afford much one on one time. Tests are also often administered when a student transfers to a new school and, for home schooled students in most states, at the end of each school year.

Because we live in a test oriented society we transfer the need to test in the classroom to home where it is not as necessary for evaluation since instructors and students work together. Most do not go beyond the once a week spelling test, section reviews, unit tests, or end of the book tests that are included. Most courses have tests in the textbook or in separate test books. Schedules indicate when they should be administered.

You may have noticed that Curriculum Services does not offer a testing service. We refrain from doing so as we do not believe that to be in your best interest. It is our view that a long distance testing service, is by its very nature, subject to speculation.

Determining a student’s grade placement need not be an exact science and most parents are more than qualified to do so since they have, to some degree, helped with homework, gone to parent teacher nights, and so forth. However, if you feel you still need help the test books are ideal.

For those who feel they need to locate someone who specializes in learning problems check with your local support group. Here you should be able to find, locally, qualified people who can administer the kind of test your youngster needs and may do so at a fraction of the cost of a testing service. If you hire someone privately, you may be able to keep test results to yourself. However, you do not have that option for tests that are mandated by the school board.

A state organization may not only help you locate a support group in your area but, because of the growth in alternative education, you may have more than one to choose from. Often, among other things, are lists of qualified people who can explain the testing process and the various tests available. These may be administered quickly and professionally in a safe environment.

Test anxiety, simply put, is the fear of taking tests. Scores for students thus afflicted will show results well below the student’s true abilities. Only by working one-on-one can you get an idea of what this student has accomplished. Only with enough encouragement and time can this student eventually be tested with results that more closely reflect his or her true level of achievement. For some, test anxiety plays a major role in their decision to choose alternative education as they can have some measure of control in this area.

As parents and educators we need to remind ourselves that learning is a natural and rewarding experience and that resistance, at any age, is the result of feeling forced or frustrated. Educators faced with resistance often employ prodding and punishment in effort to teach class. Thus we can see that at the heart of the failure of public school is the system’s inclination to force education.

As discussed in other articles, by nurturing the development of patterns of success with daily work academic achievement can be attained with any student. A pattern is established by jointly correcting work before you end each school day. Daily work is not to be graded as grading is reserved only for tests. By experiencing successes on a daily basis confidence is built which makes tests less forbidding. If, after administering tests traditionally, you are not achieving good results alter the way they are given. Some alternative methods include:

It is not recommended that you eliminate testing because a student suffers from test anxiety anymore than you would abandon mathematics because of math anxiety. Test taking is a vital skill that needs to be mastered and any student can be nurtured to embrace them. The ability to test well is especially important for those hoping to further their education after high school.

Just as you nurture the development of patterns of success with daily work you do likewise with test taking. Those that have chosen to eliminate testing eliminate the very opportunities for the student to experience success. By altering the way test are given, as discussed above, even students strongly afflicted can be brought to the point where the fear is gone and test results reflect his or her actual level of achievement.

If your student does poorly on tests you may allow them to be retaken. For this reason and for the sake of neatness, students should do all their work in pencil as pen is suitable only for older students and then only for the final draft of a hand written composition.

Low test scores that continue after applying SACC are an indication that something is wrong. One possibility is that this student suffers from ‘test anxiety’. Today’s parents and educators are becoming very knowledgeable when it comes to this common problem as well as those related to it such as, ‘fear of failure’, ‘math anxiety’, and so forth.

Sliding, another reason for failure, happens when the student does not read all the directions, questions, or text carefully. This student must be continually monitored as, not only is it not an easy habit to break, many never outgrow it. A common practice, sliding, can for many students, stem from exasperation or a deep belief in personal failure. It is as if the student has come to believe that to do otherwise would not make any difference. Sliding is a behavior that could impede, not only academic progress, but other areas of his or her life.

To help your student overcome these hurdles you must direct them down a new road, one where they experience rewards such as good feelings for their hard work. This can be achieved by following the methods outlined in this article, coupled with the outstanding materials Curriculum Services provides.

Remember to focus only on the positive because negative attitudes breed negative results. It is vital to refrain from any negative labeling or describe your youngster in a negative way.

When a child experiences difficulties with learning or progressing in reading often the first recommendation is to administer tests to discover what kind of disability may be responsible. Whether or not a problem is identified there can be no better solution then to use the Orton-Gillingham method. While developed for students suffering from various language processing disorders it works equally well for all students. For this reason we recommend that you consider skipping the testing process altogether. Besides being costly and time consuming, this kind of testing only serves to suggest that there is something wrong with the student. Afterwards he/she may be awarded with the stigma of a negative label.

The Orton-Gillingham curriculum is on CD-ROM and includes a card pack featuring the Orton-Gillingham phonograms plus a manual. This self-directed multi-sensory phonics based program works for learning disabled students as well as older students who need to improve their reading or who never learned to read at all. For the non reader it can, in 87 lessons, take a student up to the post eighth grade reading level. Because this is a computer delivered course you can begin at the student’s current level. While the school version costs thousands of dollars this single user version is available for a fraction of the price and can accommodate up to two students.