Do you know how to read assessment test results?
December 21, 2009 by colleen
Filed under Brain Training to Improve Learning, Ezine Archive
When you decide that your child has a learning disability and you ask for tests to prove it, do you ever wonder if the test results are interpreted correctly? If the tests are read incorrectly, this can cause problems for your child when it comes to correcting the problem.
If the tests are read wrong, the teacher could say that your child doesn’t have a problem or it could go the other direction and they could say that your child has a problem in an area that doesn’t really need help.
One of the common tests that are given to see where learning disabilities are at is the IQ test. While this is a good test to administer, it’s not always a good idea. The main reason for this is because they don’t really identify the problem. There are several sections to an IQ test and it’s possible to overall average normal, but struggle in certain areas that can cause issues that need to be looked into more.
One of the major problems that are attacked in the wrong way is when a child struggles in one area and does really well in another area. More times than not, a person thinks the best thing to do is compensate the weak skill by ultimately improving the skill that is already strong.
It’s also possible that one weak area can overtake the strong areas which may lead you to believe that the child is struggling with everything. When this happens you may try to help the child with the wrong area. If you do this you’re not helping them in the right problem area and you may miss it when you test again and see the improvement.
In the 60’s when testing began a child with a learning disability were placed in special classes so they would receive more help and they were able to learn easier. Now that is not the case. The school systems want children to be in a regular class setting no matter what the problem is. When this happens, teachers may find themselves lowering the bar or expectation and this can do more harm than good.
When a child is placed in special education classes or they are pulled for tutoring, they may have a lower self-esteem. This is not good either, because it may cause them to not work as hard as they should or they may give up completely. This defeats the purpose of the extra help.
You will need to decide on a technique that will help the child improve. You’ll need to be creative and consider all options so the outcome will be what you and the child want to see. Consider before or after school help or some other option so that they won’t have problems with other children.
This is why it’s so important that tests the school administers to a child who may have a learning disability are read and interpreted correctly. It’s vital that a child be placed in a class that will help them to succeed in school. It’s also crucial that a child receive the extra help that is necessary for them to improve the problem areas.
Source: Unlocking the Einstien Inside by Dr. Ken Gibson
