Terra Nova - Complete Battery: English Language Arts

Overall Rating

Aligned to My Instruction

Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach  •  Assesses higher-order thinking  •  Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level

Usefulness for Improving My Practice

Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly  •  Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time  •  It is hard to use the data  •  Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher

Additional Comments

The test has a good selection of questions and assesses many skills. The main issue is that the score report you get as a teacher provides very little instructional tools moving forward in your teaching. Where as assessments from Discovery Education will show you the exact questions your students missed the Terra Nova will only tell you the area the student scored poorly in, so you can focus on teaching them "Reading", but you don't know what part of reading or what actual specific skill they are missing. If not looked at as an instructional tool (just as a bench-marking tool), it is proficient. Also for some of my students who may enter my classroom a whole year below grade level, the test is uselessly high above their comprehension, that being said, I teach first grade so being a full grade level behind is a much greater juxtaposition than a grade level behind in a higher grades.

Overall Rating

Aligned to My Instruction

Pros: Assesses higher-order thinking  •  Assesses a range of students, including those from far below to far above grade level

Additional Comments

I have actually not used this test, but my son attends a private school and as a parent I really liked the way data was presented. Also, this was used by a school that was an independent school, and as an independent school, they felt this was the best measure of their students learning.