Stanford Achievement Test Series
Encyclopedia
The current Stanford Achievement Test Series, usually referred to simply as the "SAT 10", is considered the benchmark of excellence in standardized
achievement test
s utilized by school district
s in the United States
for assessing children from kindergarten
through high school
. First published in 1926, the test is now in its tenth incarnation, or "Series". Although in many states it is being replaced by state-created tests (mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001), it is not equivalent to most of these tests, in that the Stanford series are more comprehensive in scope than the newer assessments. The test is available in 13 levels that roughly correspond to the year in school. Each level of the test is broken into subtests or strands covering various subjects such as reading comprehension
, mathematics
problem-solving, language
, spelling
, listening comprehension, science
, and social science.
The Stanford Achievement Test Series is used to measure academic knowledge of elementary
and secondary school
students and provides highly reliable data on student progress toward content standards. The use of the Stanford Achievement Test Series helps make data-driven decisions as a range of user-friendly score reports, designed with the input of administrators and teachers across the United States, supports teaching, learning, and accountability requirements. The reports include narrative summaries, process and cluster summaries, and graphic displays to clarify the student's performance and guide planning and analysis. Administrators obtain critical data to document and monitor the progress of all children and to disaggregate results according to federal mandates. Teachers receive specific information to support instructional planning for individual students and the class as well as to improve their teaching. Parents better understand their child's achievement level and get direction for home involvement.
Stanford 10 Features & Benefits
- Can be administered in print/paper, online or a combination of print/online with combined reporting.
- Content is aligned to state and national standards
- 2007 norms allow comparing of student performance with that of a representative sample of students across the country with current information.
- Identification of student strengths and needs supports effective placement and instructional planning.
- Stanford scale scoring for monitoring student growth.
- An achievement/ability comparison can be made when Stanford 10 is administered with the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test
currently OLSAT 8.
- Test design reflects curricula and best instructional practices.
- All questions are unique across forms and levels.
- Each item is designed to measure up to four achievement parameters: content cluster, process cluster, cognitive level and instructional standard.
- Test questions assess all core content areas.
- Full-color, consistently formatted testing materials help motivate students to answer all questions.
- Unique, easy-to-navigate answer documents provide a clear road map for students to mark their answers.
- Untimed testing gives all students the opportunity to show what they know.
- Braille and large-print versions are available for special accommodations.
The tests include three types of questions: multiple choice
, short answer, and extended response. Besides requiring a written answer of five or six sentences, the extended response may also require the student to graph, illustrate or show work. Such answers are usually included within the areas of science or mathematics.
Test scores can be reported in several different formats that measure performance in different ways, including a developmental scale, norm-based scores that compare a student's performance with that of a representative sample
of students across the United States, and achievement-to-ability comparisons with scores from the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test
(OLSAT 8). One type of report indicates the grade level of a student who, if answering those same questions, would have gotten the same percentage of questions correct as the real student. For example, if a 5th grade student scores a 6 in Science, it means that an average 6th grader would get about the same percentage of questions right as that particular 5th grade student.
Standardized test
A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a...
achievement test
Achievement test
An achievement test is a test of developed skill or knowledge. The most common type of achievement test is a standardized test developed to measure skills and knowledge learned in a given grade level, usually through planned instruction, such as training or classroom instruction...
s utilized by school district
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
s in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for assessing children from kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
through high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. First published in 1926, the test is now in its tenth incarnation, or "Series". Although in many states it is being replaced by state-created tests (mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...
of 2001), it is not equivalent to most of these tests, in that the Stanford series are more comprehensive in scope than the newer assessments. The test is available in 13 levels that roughly correspond to the year in school. Each level of the test is broken into subtests or strands covering various subjects such as reading comprehension
Reading comprehension
Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a text. This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text. ....
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
problem-solving, language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, spelling
Spelling
Spelling is the writing of one or more words with letters and diacritics. In addition, the term often, but not always, means an accepted standard spelling or the process of naming the letters...
, listening comprehension, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, and social science.
The Stanford Achievement Test Series is used to measure academic knowledge of elementary
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
and secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
students and provides highly reliable data on student progress toward content standards. The use of the Stanford Achievement Test Series helps make data-driven decisions as a range of user-friendly score reports, designed with the input of administrators and teachers across the United States, supports teaching, learning, and accountability requirements. The reports include narrative summaries, process and cluster summaries, and graphic displays to clarify the student's performance and guide planning and analysis. Administrators obtain critical data to document and monitor the progress of all children and to disaggregate results according to federal mandates. Teachers receive specific information to support instructional planning for individual students and the class as well as to improve their teaching. Parents better understand their child's achievement level and get direction for home involvement.
Stanford 10 Features & Benefits
- Can be administered in print/paper, online or a combination of print/online with combined reporting.
- Content is aligned to state and national standards
- 2007 norms allow comparing of student performance with that of a representative sample of students across the country with current information.
- Identification of student strengths and needs supports effective placement and instructional planning.
- Stanford scale scoring for monitoring student growth.
- An achievement/ability comparison can be made when Stanford 10 is administered with the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test
Otis-Lennon School Ability Test
The Otis–Lennon School Ability Test , published by the successor of Harcourt Assessment — Pearson Education, Inc., a subsidiary of Pearson PLC — is a test of abstract thinking and reasoning ability of children pre-K to 18...
currently OLSAT 8.
- Test design reflects curricula and best instructional practices.
- All questions are unique across forms and levels.
- Each item is designed to measure up to four achievement parameters: content cluster, process cluster, cognitive level and instructional standard.
- Test questions assess all core content areas.
- Full-color, consistently formatted testing materials help motivate students to answer all questions.
- Unique, easy-to-navigate answer documents provide a clear road map for students to mark their answers.
- Untimed testing gives all students the opportunity to show what they know.
- Braille and large-print versions are available for special accommodations.
The tests include three types of questions: multiple choice
Multiple choice
Multiple choice is a form of assessment in which respondents are asked to select the best possible answer out of the choices from a list. The multiple choice format is most frequently used in educational testing, in market research, and in elections-- when a person chooses between multiple...
, short answer, and extended response. Besides requiring a written answer of five or six sentences, the extended response may also require the student to graph, illustrate or show work. Such answers are usually included within the areas of science or mathematics.
Test scores can be reported in several different formats that measure performance in different ways, including a developmental scale, norm-based scores that compare a student's performance with that of a representative sample
Sample (statistics)
In statistics, a sample is a subset of a population. Typically, the population is very large, making a census or a complete enumeration of all the values in the population impractical or impossible. The sample represents a subset of manageable size...
of students across the United States, and achievement-to-ability comparisons with scores from the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test
Otis-Lennon School Ability Test
The Otis–Lennon School Ability Test , published by the successor of Harcourt Assessment — Pearson Education, Inc., a subsidiary of Pearson PLC — is a test of abstract thinking and reasoning ability of children pre-K to 18...
(OLSAT 8). One type of report indicates the grade level of a student who, if answering those same questions, would have gotten the same percentage of questions correct as the real student. For example, if a 5th grade student scores a 6 in Science, it means that an average 6th grader would get about the same percentage of questions right as that particular 5th grade student.
External links
- Stanford Achievement Test Series, Tenth Edition, product page, Assessment & Information group of Pearson