Time of Year to Test

In view of the main purposes for testing outlined elsewhere, the fall is the most ideal testing time. This section provides a rationale for that recommendation.

First, the ITBS and ITED both were developed primarily for the purpose of supporting instruction. That means that the information derived from administering them is best used by teachers to help them make instructional decisions about their classes or individual students in them. The two main uses of the scores are to check year-to-year progress in the various skills areas and to determine areas of relative strength and weakness. For test scores like these to be of greatest value, they must be available early in the school year so that teachers (and administrators) have a chance to incorporate the scores in the decisions they make about selecting instructional materials or methods, forming instructional groups, providing remediation and enrichment, and assessing the need for individualizing instruction. Obviously, if test results come back in May, the teachers have little or no time to use them that school year. If they become available in March, there is still some time, but having results available by early December is far better. In sum, the earlier testing occurs in a school year, the sooner results will be returned and the sooner teachers can use those results in the classroom.

A second reason for testing earlier in the year relates to the use of class/group reports. Several of the score reports that come back to the teacher have information about the teacher's class as a group. These reports are perhaps more widely used with intact classes at the elementary level, but high schools can receive similar reports. The Group Item Analysis or the Class Item Record reports give information about the class or group and provide information that can help a teacher decide how to deal with the class or group instructionally. Neither of these reports would be of value if it came back to the school in late April or May. School would be nearly over and, more important, the students in a particular class or group would not likely be in the same instructional group the next fall. Because classes of students generally have an instructional lifetime of a single school year, testing in the fall is the best way to take advantage of score reports grouped by classrooms.

A third reason for testing in the fall is that the results are far less likely to be used mainly for accountability purposes. Spring testing permits or encourages the use of scores to evaluate schools, administrators, and individual teachers because the scores are obtained so close to the end of a major instructional segment -- the school year. Even when the scores are not intended to be used that way by the school board, the press, the public, or other educators, the perception of teachers is that the scores might be used that way. Teachers know this is both unfair and inappropriate, and they fear that such misuse of scores will be damaging to them professionally.

ITBS and ITED scores do not tell the whole story about what kind of progress students are making in the school's curriculum. They do provide considerable information about such progress, but there are many aspects of the curriculum that the batteries are not intended to address. There is, for example, no assessment of writing and speaking, no measurement in music, art, and other performance areas, or no attempt to deal with computer literacy, contemporary health issues, or physical education. In short, the ITBS and ITED offer useful information about the skills they cover, but they do not cover all the important skills that comprise a school's curriculum.

A school district should test at the time of year that will allow the school personnel to use the scores to accomplish its purpose for testing. It would be good for decision-makers to (1) review their reasons for wanting the information the ITBS and ITED can help provide and then (2) decide which time of year will allow them to get the best information. Most schools in Iowa do test in the fall, but that fact should not dictate what any particular school should do.

Finally, if a district decides that fall testing is best for its purposes, testing too early in the fall may not be wise, especially in the primary grades. Teachers need time to establish rapport with their classes and young children need time to adjust to their new classroom relationships and surroundings. Generally, by early October the classroom climate is conducive to testing.