Academic achievement encompasses an important set of life skills. There is no question that strong reading, writing, and math skills are key to college admission and academic success in higher education. Teachers often assess their students, to be sure they are acquiring the appropriate skills and abilities. Monitoring progress toward the goal of competence in academic skill areas is not just the concern of teachers, however -- concerned parents often want to know just how well their student is doing.
The Academic Achievement Battery, published in 2014 by Psychological Assessment Resources (PAR), is a comprehensive individual test of achievement that was developed using academic standards set by Common Core, Reading First, and the National Council of Teachers. Scores on this test are based on national norms, meaning that they allow comparison of a student's performance to students of a similar age across the USA -- just like college entrance exams! Scores on this test will provide strong information about skill development, quickly identifying any areas of difficulty so that skill delays can be addressed via tutoring, practice, and where appropriate, special intervention at school. Also, students with exceptionally strong academic skills may benefit from enriched educational opportunities, and individual testing can help identify students who may qualify for Talented & Gifted (TAG) programs at school.
Testing includes measures of sight word vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling, writing, math reasoning, and math calculation. Results of achievement testing are often available later in the same day.