High Scores on the Terra Nova
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q:
My son is 7 years old and took the terra nova this past year (1st grade)
i got his test results in the mail and realized he scored perfect in the
Math and Science categories. His scores were 99 across the board. He
scored above average in the other two categories but his science and
math scores really just stood out to me. I have always know he was
slightly above average due to him teaching himself to add and subtract
at 3 years old. Should I get him tested, I want to make sure he is
getting the proper education. Or do you think he is too young? Also what
kind of testing is recommended? I really have no idea where to begin but
there is something very different about him than other children I meet.
A:
I will start with explaining the distinction between achievement tests
and intelligence tests. The Terra Nova is an achievement test that
measures how well a child has learnt what has been taught. In principle,
achievement tests are more directly concerned with what is taught is
schools, which is not the case with intelligence or ability tests. Most
achievement tests items resemble closely to the knowledge and skills
taught at school. As for ability tests, the skills tested may not be
school-based with less reliance to specific knowledge (e.g., analogical
thinking, although essential for success, is not something that is
taught at school). This is why students who score lower on an
achievement test than on an ability test may be regarded as
underachieving. However, this is not true as there is no single test to
measure potential in general and perhaps a combination of different
tests may be better to determine the potential of a student.
Furthermore, on ability tests, there are clear-cut tests of nonverbal
skills, which may not be as important or sometimes non-existent on
achievement tests. Therefore, students who may have scored very high on
nonverbal tests but much lower on verbal and quantitative parts of an
ability test may be perceptually oriented, but this may not be regarded
highly in school as school-based subjects are mostly about symbols, that
are numbers and letters. The Terra Nova tests compare students with
others in their grades around the nation. Therefore, the scores are
listed in percentiles. It also includes a component that acts like an IQ
test. This component measures the students’ ability to use information
and apply it to new and different situations. It also gauges how a
student analyses and employs higher-level thinking skills. But, do bear
in mind that this is a very rough measure of intelligence.
It would be a good idea to do an intelligence test to gauge the
strengths (or weakness, if any) of your son. Any standardised
intelligence test would do. He is at the right age and if he meets the
cut-off for admission to a gifted and talented programme, it would help
him develop his potential. It is also a good idea to speak to his school
to find out the provisions made for highly able children. They may
recommend a suitable plan to best engage him in his learning. Wishing
you all the best!
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