Every large institution keeps files on its members. In the army, it is called the 201 file. In school systems, it is referred to as the cumulative record folder.
The first time you may be aware of your child's cumulative record is when you are given a report of his standardized test scores. These scores are dutifully added to the cumulative record folder. Some schools even include IQ scores which are arrived at by means of pencil and paper group tests. In addition to the scores, schools may include a computer printout which separate the questions into categories indicating the student's strengths and weaknesses in different areas.
You need to know what use the school is making of these test results and how this affects your child's program and progress.
Insist that the test scores be used as tools for planning your child's program and not merely as a statement that your child is deficient in some way
It is even more important for you to know how the school interprets these scores and what use they make of these interpretations.
If your child, for example, shows a drop in a reading comprehension score, you might ask if the school is going to give him a diagnostic test to determine if there is a problem.
The computer printout of scores is only useful as a screening tool to indicate a possible problem area. It is based on too little data to actually pinpoint what the problem is. Diagnostic tests and tests of hearing and vision are more helpful in solving a potential problem. Or, as the parent, you might ask what program is being planned for your child in order for him to learn better and possibly to improve his scores.
In other words, insist that the test scores be used as tools for planning your child's program and not merely as a statement that your child is deficient in some way.
If you question the validity of the scores for a particular year, ask that they be deleted from the folder.
In such cases, it is not very useful to subject the child to the same test again. Another kind of test might be more useful, especially for the child who does not test well. Some children fill in the answer sheet incorrectly, or they get distracted and lose their place, or they just freeze up. Retesting them on the same type of test will not help such problems and it does them a disservice.
Standardized tests are useful for evaluating the school's curriculum by establishing whether or not, on average, that curriculum is helping groups of students to learn . Ideally, the teacher should look at the results of the test for her class and see where there are deficiencies so that she can make the appropriate changes in her program. In this vein, it would be much more useful to give the tests at the beginning of the school year rather than at the end. Or, if the tests are to be given at the end of the year, the scores should be reported according to the classes the students will be in for the next year. In that way, the teacher can plan an appropriate program for the new in- coming class.
Schools also use the results from achievement tests to group children for instruction.
Grouping children for the purpose of acquiring the tools of learning, such as reading, works well. The problem comes in when one group is considered more worthy or better than another. Children can be grouped for the purposes of improving or learning skills, but they do not need to be grouped when these skills are utilized in other areas of instruction like science and social studies discussions.
Cumulative folders contain many other pieces of information besides achievement test scores. Sometimes there are teacher's comments which usually tell you more about the teacher than the student. You should know and it is your right to know what is in this folder. Make it a point to look at it at all transition periods, especially before your child moves on to middle and/or to high school .
First published in 1996
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