Stanford Achievement Test VS Iowa Standardized Test – Which is best for kids with LDs?

Parents of Learning Abled Kids often wonder if the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) or the Stanford Achievement test is the better choice for their child’s required annual standardized testing.

In addition to using standardized test preparation for your child, the information below can help you pick the best standardized test for your child.

Stanford Achievement Test VS Iowa Standardized Test : Timed Testing Differences

Timed testing can be a huge issue for children with slow processing or reading speeds.

The Stanford Achievement Test is technically untimed, even though they have instructions for timing their tests. Being able to use the test as a UNtimed test helps students who work very slowly. Since timing is optional for the Stanford Achievement Test, it’s good to use if your child has a slow working speed. However, there are drawbacks to using the Stanford, which we’ll discuss below.

The Iowa Standardized Test says to administer it with timing. Again, having a timed test is difficult for children who process information or read slowly.

That said, the publisher of the Iowa Standardized Test does mention accommodations in their glossary. They also talk about them in their explanations for the interpretation of results.  Therefore, if your child has a comprehensive neuro-psychological evaluation that documents a very slow reading or processing speed, it’s wise to give your child extra time. It’s a standard accommodation. You can give your child time-and-a-half or double time, depending upon your child’s processing speed.

Differences in Accommodations: Stanford Achievement Test VS Iowa Standardized Test

One of the things I like about the Stanford Achievement Test is their accommodations guidelines. If you’d like to see the standard accommodations for NORMAL testing with the Stanford Achievement Test, check out their info at: http://images.pearsonassessments.com/images/PDF/6942-Accom_SAT10_Supp1_v2.pdf.

Read the Stanford accommodation guidelines to help you understand accommodations. I really appreciate the support for accommodations on the Stanford Achievement Test. It truly helps parents of Learning Abled Kids®.

I’m not able to find much support for accommodations on the website for the Iowa Standardized Test. (http://www.riversidepublishing.com/products/itbs/index.html). Their documentation about testing seems to ignore the need for information about accommodations. This makes me like the Iowa Standardized Test a bit less. Since they don’t document the how to test with accommodations, we can only do what we think is best.

Riverside’s website does say the following. “To the extent that the accommodations used with a student were chosen carefully and judged to be necessary, the anticipated effect is to reduce the impact of that student’s disability on the assessment process. That is, the student responses are like those we would expect the student to make if that student had no disability. Consequently, it seems reasonable to use that student’s scores in the same ways we would use the scores of all other students. The student’s answer document should be placed among the others for scoring, the student’s scores should be included with all others in group averages.” [Ref: http://www.riversidepublishing.com/scoring/iowa/interpretation.html, Interpreting Scores from Special Test Administrations]

Stanford Achievement Test VS Iowa Standardized Testing Requirements:

With both the Stanford and the Iowa test, you can test your child in your home. This is better for children with ADHD, who are highly distractable, or inattentive. Testing in an unfamiliar setting is a distraction all by itself! Both tests are similar in this way.

The Stanford test also has an online test format. It’s offered through some independent providers. If your child likes to select answers on a computer, the computer-based testing is an option. However, the test provider gives your child the test. Therefore, your child has to take the test under the provider’s rules. Therefore, they may or may not provide accommodations.

Summary Comparison of the Iowa Standardized Test versus Stanford Achievement Test

I have used both tests. I’ve tested in several formats and group sizes. I used the Iowa Standardized Test at home with just my kids, and with other kids.  I’ve tested using the Stanford Achievement Test in a large group in a church classroom. We also used the Stanford test at my home with a few extra kids.

In each case, it all worked alright for us. However, the Stanford Achievement Test given in a large group was the worst for my kids. With the large group, there were some minor distractions. I believe any kind of distraction affects the attention of all of the kids taking the test.

For children who distract easily and have attention deficits, testing in a group is not the best choice. This is especially true for young children. Some parents want their kids to be learn to test in a group. However, I think there is PLENTY of opportunity to test in groups as kids get older. The PSAT, AP, CLEP, and tests in classes they  take, etc., prepares kids for group tests like the ACT, SAT, and others.

If you test with the Stanford Achievement Test or ITBS in a group, you have to test when scheduled. That’s because the kids will all arrive and you have to go ahead with testing.

If you can, it’s better to test when your kids are feeling ready to test. That’s where testing your own kids works best.  If you are only testing your children, you can opt to test whenever the timing is good for your children.

Test “Flow” as a Factor:

As far as the tests go, I like the flow of the Iowa Standardized Test better than the Stanford Achievement Test. I like being able to complete each section when my kids are ready for testing. It’s easier to take short breaks between sections. I can make sure my kids have a good night’s sleep, are up and ready, have no illness, no stress, etc. It also takes away the stress or excitement of other kids coming to test.

The Stanford use to require group testing to test your own kids, but they no longer have that requirement. Thus, the Stanford is more like the ITBS. You can test when your child feels ready, if you are not using the online test version.

Stanford Achievement Test VS Iowa Standardized Test Conclusion

Thus, for any child in elementary or middle school, it doesn’t matter much whether you use the Iowa Standardized Test or Stanford.  I love that the Stanford provides guidelines for providing accommodations.

Lastly, in regard to using either test at home, you have to be careful to create an interference-free testing environment. Turn off all of the ringers on your phones. Put a note on your front door for anyone NOT to ring the doorbell or knock.. Leave a notepad by your door with a sign asking visitors to leave a note due to testing.

Also, if you have a dog(s), it’s a good idea to crate them or put them outside before testing. You don’t want them to the children. Put the dogs as far away from the testing as you can because any event can cause a lot of barking. We had that one year, and it was a problem.

In the end, I think the Iowa Standardized Test and Stanford Achievement Test are both good. However, the Stanford seems more disabilities friendly. As a parent, you have to weigh the options in relation to YOUR child’s needs. Only you can decide which is best!

Don’t forget to check out How to Prepare Your Child for Standardized Testing too. Hope this info helps! 😀