Writings about Sudbury Education

They asked. Honest. An older student wondered about personal academic standing, thinking about further schooling, and requested that the school administer (to that one student) a standard academic achievement test. Other students thought that sounded pretty cool and asked if they could participate, too.

There was no adult prodding, neither overt nor subtle. Because of the way it came about (suddenly and mostly within a single school day), we also believe that "hidden" pressure at home is unlikely to have been a factor. Indeed, many parents didn't know about it until after the plans were made. (Parents were informed prior to administration of the tests.) In addition, among some of the staff there is a distinct disapproval of achievement tests. (Evaluation of The Circle School's success in achieving its stated objectives is a subject of controversy among the staff and the Board of Trustees just now. Achievement testing, whether for measuring individuals or the school, is a white hot subject.)

Ten students chose to take achievement tests. Among the six students who have never attended another school, all but one chose to take the tests. Eight students did not take the tests. Of those eight, four were pre-school or K level; another was absent from school during the entire testing period; and the remaining three perhaps simply didn't share the perception of coolness about achievement tests.

Metropolitan Achievement Tests were administered at school during the week of March 22, 1993. Results are reported in the accompanying table, in which each line represents one student's results. Results are printed with permission of the students (obtained individually by telephone, at home, without parent participation.) No student denied permission, so all tested students are represented in the table.

The table is presented in order of the number of years the student has attended The Circle School, from greatest number (nine years) to least (one year). Since TCS does not assign students to grade levels, the column labeled "Grade Level At Date Of Testing" is the grade level to which the student's age peers are assigned in public schools, assuming no skipped or repeated grades.

Test results are presented in two forms: grade equivalents and percentile rankings. The "GRADE EQUIVALENT" number indicates the student's nominal grade level of achievement. For example, the test designers tell us that a grade equivalent of 9.3 in Reading means that the student's reading achievement is approximately equal to that of an average student in ninth grade, 3 months into the school year. In the jargon, a student whose grade equivalent is equal to or greater than their actual grade level is said to be "at or above grade level". A grade equivalent of "PHS" indicates a "Post High School" level of achievement, surpassing the highest level measured by the test.

The "PERCENTILE RANKING" number indicates what percentage of the student's age peers scored lower than the student. For example, a percentile ranking of 85% may be interpreted to mean that the student answered more questions correctly than 85% of her/his peers. A student whose number of correct answers is exactly average will show a percentile ranking of 50%.