More Information About IDEA-IPT English Test

Updated on April 05, 2009
S.W. asks from Plano, TX
5 answers

Can somebody give me a better idea about what is covered in IDEA-IPT English Proficiency Test? My son tested at level 3 (Intermediate), and as a result recommended for ESL program for Kindergarten. Many people I talked with and including myself are surprised that he did not get level 4 (Proficient) or even 5 (Above Proficient). He was assessed because he is trilingual, but English is still his strongest language. He is also normal developmentally. He is going to be in Plano ISD.

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So What Happened?

Thank you very much to everyone who responded.
My husband went back to the testing center to talk with the people there. He was told that our son scored 3 in one area and 4 in another (my husband forgot what those areas were). He was also told that the placement is optional, so he (we) can opt not to place our son in ESL. At the moment, that is what we are going to do (not place him in ESL).

My husband also mentioned that at first our son was given a level 2, and when I acted surprised, the lady called me back and said that he actually got level 3. When my husband talked with the testing center person, she said that it is all scored by the computer, so she doesn't know why it could change from level 2 to level 3.

O well... Once again thank you so much for your responses.

More Answers

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A.J.

answers from Dallas on

You dont have to agree with that placement. you can apeal and request that he be placed in an english class.

Good luck
A. J

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.A.

answers from Dallas on

Hi I am not familiar with the testing but I teach ESL to adults at a community center. My very limited experience with my own children (who have trilingual parents but speak and understand ONLY english) is that the mere fact that their parents seem "foreign" (bc we speak more than just english) was enough to cause some early educators to believe that despite their language scores being in the normal range they (my kids) needed ESL! For me this was a cultural bias. Both my husband and I are college educated and we both scored in the above 90 percentile of the SAT verbal portion...clearly English is not a problem for us. However when we had our oldest son tested in Pre-K we were told that bc he had "foreign born" parents that spoke 2-3 languages in the home...it was going to put him at a disadvantage for K vocabulary! The absolute most ridiculous short sighted thing I have ever heard. If you took a sampling of native english speaking kids and tested them at age 3 and 4 there would be many there that fell in the intermediate category too. I would request a meetign with school officials and ask for a case by case review and a retest. Good luck!

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R.W.

answers from Dallas on

my daugther was born here and speaks perfect english , but just because she speaks 3 languages , i took her to take this test and come out level 3 ( intermediate ) , the other mother mom and son that were there ,happened the same thing and he also was born here , so in my opinion they try to get as much as students to ESL classes as possible in Plano

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T.C.

answers from Dallas on

It could of been that he was not comfortable with the examiner. It could of been a picture or two that he did not know the name of what the object was etc. Honestly if we tested a lot of kids using that test at this age they might qualify.

Just because he tested intermediate doesn't make him not normal. This is a test of language skills and not IQ.

Your son is fortunate that he is trilingual. For school though he needs to have a strong vocabulary and with some children that have more than one language this can cause them to have vocabulary difficulties with school language. I'm not saying this is the case with your son...just what I've observed with students in the past.

In my district the parent has the choice to deny the services. Since I don't know your child I can't say one way or the other would be best for him. We don't do an ESL pull out in our district. All our teachers are ESL certified so there is no need for a pull out. We do have an ESL specialist on campus and she helps the teachers and goes into the classrooms as needed.

Hope this helps some. :-)

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S.W.

answers from Dallas on

We were worried about my daughter (who is bilingual) having to be tested, so we made sure to complete our Home Language Survey with that in mind. :)

If you are not happy with the results, can you ask that he be retested? If you have a good administrator, he or she will take into consideration the fact that English is his strongest language. Push for flexibility within the district, especially if you don't think he was placed fairly.

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