RAVENS test for preps - anyone with information ?

Hi - Caitlins school did a Ravens test on her last week (with my permission) and the principal said her result was in the 90th percentile.

I feel a bit dippy for not knowing what to ask at the time - but what does it mean for her schooling this year ? 90% of what ? of who ?

Her teacher said early in the year that she is bright and that she would have to have ways to extend her during class - but the readers she brings home each night don't hold her interest and the work sheets are a lot of 'color the pictures that start with the letter 'whatever the letter of the week is'.

I centainly do not want to push her because in every other way she is very five years old, but if she has some extra skills in literacy and numeracy, then I guess I would like to see something more.

Thanks,
Barb.

Hi there. The RAVEN test is a developmental/ intelligence test.

It is often used by schools because it has a low level of cultural bias, and is therefore more reliable than some more language based tests. It involves completing a series of sequences...this is over simplifying it, but an example would be; circle, square, triangle, circle, __________, triangle. The child would then show which shape fills in the blank.

To gain a result in the 90th percentile means much the same as it does when your baby measures on the 90th percentile for weight, growth etc. If 100 children took this test, her results would place her somewhere in the top 10 of the students who took the test.

The testing will show the teachers where she's at in terms of intelligence, how best to extend her, what areas she may be lacking in etc. I would be asking to have her seen by someone with experience in gifted and talented students. Do you have such a co-ordinator at your school?

Just a quick note on the readers...while she may know all the words "The dog is a big brown dog", they may be working on reading for understanding (retaining the concept and themes of the story), prediction (what do you think happens to the dog next?), fluency (getting each word pronounced properly), or expression (reading with emotion, different voices for different characters etc). It's not just all about reading the right words, there's much more to it. I'd talk to the teachers about what they are aiming for with the readers.

Sorry, the reader thing is a pet peeve of mine, sooooo many of my parents (year one) didn't get that just being able to read each word wasn't what it was all about. Also that it is better for emergent readers to have a 90 + % success in reading a book. If the book is too hard, they get turned off reading for pleasure, and it sets them up for problems later on.

Hope that helped.