Boulder Country Day School

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Outstanding faculty, small class size and a rigorous curriculum prepare BCD students for success in any quality high school and beyond.

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“Being at BCD helped me realize that I am smart and that I can get good grades. This school gave me confidence that I couldn’t have found at a public school.”– BCD Alumna

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BCD TEST SCORES

Does  Boulder Country Day use standardized testing and if so, which one? 

We do test children grades 3rd -8th.  The name of the standardized test used is the Comprehensive Testing Program 4 (CTP4); however, it is most commonly referred to as the ERB.  This is a reference to Educational Records Bureau, the name of the company that sells and scores the test.

 

Why does Boulder Country Day use a nationally normed test like the ERB?

The more selective normative population of the ERB’s allows us to compare ourselves against a much stronger group of schools than the Iowa tests we’ve used in the past.  Most accredited ACIS and NAIS schools take the ERB’s.  This will allow us to review our program against some of the best schools in the nation.

 

What is the overall goal of the standardized testing program at BCD?

Our goal is simple:  to ensure academic excellence and student achievement by evaluating ourselves each year with the top independent schools in America. 

 

How does the school know if the goal has been reached?

We review the scores of our students as a whole against two normative groups; national norms (a random sampling of all types of schools in the nation) and independent schools.  The goal is met if the BCD results are very strong when compared against the national norms and are very similar to the distribution found in the independent school norms. 

 

Are there specific goals for individual students?

Yes.  We use the ERB scores, along with our internal assessments, to determine what type of academic differentiation a student might need.  Students who score at a very high level will continue to be challenged in our rigorous curriculum, but may receive individual enrichment through our resource and classroom teachers.  Likewise, if a student’s scores are not in the top percentiles, we will work to provide additional support to ensure the acquisition of the skills needed to improve student learning and future scores.

Is the data available to view?

Yes.  However, because we have only had our children take this test for one year, it isn’t that helpful.  Typically schools would have 2-3 years’ worth of data in order to assess school and individual student achievement.  In summary, we did quite well.  Our students scored particularly well in Math, Vocabulary and Verbal Reasoning.   Next year we will post the multi-year report on our website but until then, we felt it was better to provide previous years data taken through the Iowa test.

 

2006-2011 IOWA Test Results

Grade Equivalent (GE)
A grade equivalent score represents the typical performance of students tested in a given month of the school year at a particular grade. For example, a grade equivalent of 5.3 represents the score achieved by the median student in fifth grade after three months of instruction.

Test Year 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
2010-2011
Reading Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv.
Grade Equiv.
Kindergarten
1.7
1.9
1.7
1.9
2.2
Grade 1
2.9
3.0
3.0
2.8
3.2
Grade 2
4.8
4.9
4.7
4.5
4.3
Grade 3
5.8
5.9
6.4
5.9
5.9
Grade 4
7.0
7.0
7.2
8.1
7.5
Grade 5
8.2
8.5
8.3
9.1
10.0
Grade 6
10.0
9.3
9.3
9.6
9.9
Grade 7
13+
12.2
11.9
10.4
10.8
Grade 8
13+
13+
13+
13+
12.4
Test Year 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
2010-2011
Language Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grad Equiv.
Grade Equiv.
Kindergarten
2.4
2.3
2.3
2.4
3.0
Grade 1
2.7
2.9
2.9
2.9
3.0
Grade 2
4.2
4.1
4.4
4.2
4.0
Grade 3
5.7
5.5
6.2
5.9
6.0
Grade 4
7.6
6.9
7.6
8.7
8.5
Grade 5
8.9
10.4
9.3
9.7
11.5
Grade 6
10.3
9.4
10.4
10.8
10.0
Grade 7
13+
12.6
12.2
11.4
11.4
Grade 8
13+
13+
13+
13+
13+
Test Year 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
2010-2011
Math Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv.
Grade Equiv.
Kindergarten
1.9
2.1
2.2
2.2
2.7
Grade 1
2.6
2.7
2.7
2.8
3.0
Grade 2
4.3
4.3
4.5
4.3
4.1
Grade 3
5.7
5.3
5.9
6.1
5.9
Grade 4
6.5
6.2
6.5
8.0
7.8
Grade 5
7.9
8.3
7.8
8.7
10.2
Grade 6
9.1
9.1
10.0
9.8
10.0
Grade 7
12.3
11.6
11.8
12.2
11.1
Grade 8
13+
13+
13+
13+
13+
Test Year 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
2010-2011
Science Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv.
Grade Equiv.
Kindergarten
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Grade 1
2.6
2.6
2.8
2.6
2.6
Grade 2
4.0
4.5
4.6
4.2
4.4
Grade 3
6.0
5.8
6.7
6.0
6.3
Grade 4
7.8
7.5
7.5
9.2
8.2
Grade 5
10.3
10.2
9.5
9.7
11.7
Grade 6
11.8
11.6
11.3
11.5
11.7
Grade 7
13+
13+
13+
13+
13+
Grade 8
13+
13+
13+
13+
13+
Test Year 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
2010-2011
Social Studies Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv. Grade Equiv.
Grade Equiv.
Kindergarten
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Grade 1
3.1
2.7
3.1
2.9
2.9
Grade 2
4.4
5.0
4.3
4.1
3.8
Grade 3
5.7
5.4
6.1
5.6
5.7
Grade 4
7.4
7.1
6.5
7.7
7.5
Grade 5
9.2
9.2
8.1
8.8
9.6
Grade 6
10.6
9.9
9.6
9.2
10.0
Grade 7
13+
12.9
12.7
10.6
12.0
Grade 8
13+
13+
13+
13+
13+