Assessment and Evaluation

Do Your Child's SSAT or ISEE Scores Really Matter?

Standardized admissions tests are part of the drill in most private school admissions offices. You may well be wondering why your child's academic transcripts and teacher recommendations from her current school are not sufficient. Why is it necessary to prepare and register for a standardized admissions test? The results of a standardized admissions test indicate to the school what your child knows and doesn't know academically. Essentially, it would serve no purpose to accept your child only to have her flounder academically. You would be unhappy. Your child would be miserable. The school would also be in a difficult position of being unable to deliver the academic results it can achieve. To avoid this losing situation, most private schools will insist on all applicants taking a standardized admissions test.

SSAT and ISEE

The two most commonly used admissions tests are the SSAT and ISEE. These tests measure your child's language and math skills. How do the admissions offices use the test scores the testing organizations send them? Primarily for comparison purposes. For example, if a school has an applicant pool with an average verbal score of 600 and yours is 700, you will be at the top of the list in that one aspect of all the factors the school looks at. Conversely, if your quantitative score is 550 and the pool average is 750, you will be at or near

Athletic programs in private schools are an integral part of school life. They are not 'optional'. All students participate in some athletic activity weekly while school is in session. Most private schools set aside a weekday afternoon - generally Wednesday - for athletics. There are no classes. Everybody is involved in some athletic activity somewhere on campus. In boarding schools, part of each Saturday is also given over to sports. Throughout this article, I have quoted from private school websites so that you can get an idea of how private schools view competitive and recreational sports.

"Competitive or recreational sports at Putney are valued for fostering individual skills and strengths. Sports do not conflict with art activities, so there is no need to choose between one or the other."...The Putney School, Vermont

This is also a fundamental difference between private and public schools. I am not saying that sports in public schools are not important. It's simply that when money has to be trimmed from a public school budget, it is often trimmed from the athletics budget. Why? Because the board would rather trim that expense than lay off more teachers. It is a tough choice that most private schools don't have to make and will not make in most cases.

"The Gunnery's sports program cultivates competition and cooperation in the context of organized athletics. This is a tradition that stretches back, unbroken, to Mr. Gunn's era. A staunch advocate of physical fitness, he created the school's

Most parents expect to see a progress report with grades on it. The standard letter grades tell where your child stands at a glance, or at least, that's what we have been led to believe. More important than the grades are your child's teacher's comments and the discussions you have concerning your child's progress. This is particularly important in the primary grades when learning difficulties surface. For example, our youngest daughter began struggling with math in 4th grade. We monitored her progress closely and did our best to help. Finally, it was obvious to us that some tutoring would be helpful. We arranged several months of math tutoring, which developed our daughter's confidence in understanding math concepts. Put another way, a grade is simply an indicator. Always look beneath the surface to determine what the real issue is.

Standardized grades. Common grading schemes.

Most schools use letter grades these days. But not every school uses the same letter grade scheme. This can cause problems when sending your child's transcripts to college admissions offices. For example, the A at one school may not be equivalent to the A at another school.

The most common grade scheme is the following:

A+ 97-100
A 93-96
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F Below 60

If your school uses a variation of this scheme, then be sure to send a key or explanation sheet attached to each transcript. Failure

Your child has taken the SSAT as part of the admissions process for several schools. You have received the Scores Report. Now, what does it mean? How do you read the Scores Report?

Background

The first thing to remember about the SSAT is that each private school you are applying to views SSAT test scores through its own admissions lens, as it were. That means that your child's score won't necessarily mean the same thing in the various admissions offices. Why is that? The answer lies in the fact that each private school is an independent, legal entity. In other words, each school does its own thing. Each school has its own educational philosophy, its own idiosyncratic approach to teaching, and so on. Most schools also have had years of experience and tradition teaching young people. That means that their admissions officers know what kind of applicant will be successful in their educational and community setting.

So, where does a standardized admissions test like the SSAT fit in? It provides a common platform for assessing basic academic knowledge. Put another way, if Sally from Middle School A applies, she will be taking the same admissions test as every other applicant, regardless of where they go to school. Standardized testing provides a level playing field; at least, that is the theory behind standardized testing. Read Aaron Churchill's essay Bless the three reasons for standardized testing for an overview of the subject. Most standardized admissions tests

Many Roman Catholic high schools don't use the SSAT or ISSE admissions tests as part of their admissions requirements. For instance, Roman Catholic high schools in the Archdioceses of New York and Brooklyn/Queens administer the Test for Admission Into Catholic High Schools or TACHS.

Elsewhere in the country, you will find the Cooperative Admissions Exam (COOP) or the High School Placement Test (HSPT). What the admissions staff are looking for is readiness for high school level academic work. The tests are generally given in the late fall of grade 8. Study.com offers a Practice and Study Guide for the COOP exam.

This video from Petersen's offers strategies for taking the HSPT.

Diocesan and archdiocesan high schools generally admit most of their new students from elementary schools within their own dioceses. (A diocese is a legal territory and entity under the control and jurisdiction of a bishop.) Consequently, most of the students have been educated to certain standards that are well-known within that diocese. Standardized tests are not necessary in order to develop a student profile. That profile is already well-known. as well, the teachers and principals of the diocesan elementary schools themselves are known quantities. That being the case, it is simply a matter for the admissions office to identify any marginal performers and decide on those applicants. The testing per se has already ben done.

Questions?