CAT update

From Deb:

The CAT -- that is, Californial Achievement Test -- score sheet arrived while we were in Rochester.

Remember I blogged about how I couldn't believe some of the questions on the test -- such as the need to distinguish between the spellings of "wonder" and "wander" were intended to be answered by first graders? Well, that's because they WEREN'T intended to be answered correctly.

Madison's score in the eight sections put her mostly in the 99th percentile of first graders, and one or two of them in the 97th percentile.

The scorers of the test claim that this puts her equivalent grade level at...

6.3

Yes, they claim that my 6-year-old performed as well as the average American 6th grader on this test.

I don't actually believe it; this conclusion seems ridiculous to me. They didn't even have multiplication or fraction questions in the math section. (Actually I think that in the math sections, where she got all the answers right, the maximum you could get scored to was 4th or 5th grade level.)

But if it's even close to true, it's a sad commentary on the state of American education.

In any case, it was quite a lift for me, to know that at least by some "objective" measurement I was doing this right. I love home schooling.

Laura, if you want to give yourself a lift about the great job you and Raymond are doing, give him the 2nd CAT grade test.