Standardized Testing

Most people would agree that the occurrence of something happening once may be a fluke, and twice may be a coincidence, but three times may accurately be termed a pattern.  An obvious positive pattern is demonstrated below in the three or more consecutive years of above average scores on virtually every element tested in the TerraNova assessments from 2003 through 2009.   These above average scores over time serve as a testament to the commitment to education and the outstanding quality of our students, our parents, and our teachers.   

Archdiocesan policy mandates that OLV administers the TerraNova Assessment only to students in Grades 3, 5, and 7 during the first week of March each year.  A special circumstance that provided additional funding for a Longitudinal Study enabled OLV to test all of its students, including Grade 8, in 2006.   OLV confidently invites the observer to judge and predict what the Eighth Grade scores would have been, if OLV had tested Eighth Graders, in 2007, 2008, and 2009.

A standardized test cannot measure the entire curriculum of a classroom, a school, or a system. This method of assessment must be reviewed with the students actual classroom work and many other factors. Overall, OLV students achieve higher than the national average. The OPI is an estimate of the number of items for a specific objective that a student could be expected to answer correctly if there had been 100 items for that objective. An OPI value of plus or minus 4 is considered to be significant. 

TerraNova Assessments are also available for the years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 for Grades 2 thru 7.

TerraNova Assessment Summary for Select Classes - '06, '07, '08, '09