TTCT Training – at The Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development

Want to learn more about scoring the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking  (TTCT) Verbal or Figural tests yourself? The Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development at the University of Georgia offers training for scoring the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) at your school as well as periodic workshops onsite at the University of Georgia.

Once individuals reach mastery, they will be issued a personalized certificate of proficiency by the Torrance Center.

Click here to learn about scoring the TTCT, scheduling, and prices.

Springtime Sheltering at STS

Thoughts from our Managing Editor and new Homeschool Administrator Traci Johnson.

Hello STS customers and friends:

Like many of you, STS employees are sheltering in place at home with our families while we deal with the Covid-19 virus. In my case, I’m an editor and a brand new homeschool administrator for a 6, 11, and 15 year old.  Here are a few of the things that are helping me juggle work and school right now.

• Create a brand new schedule. I am 4 weeks into the work/school juggling act. In the beginning I had a grand ideas of the kids waking up at seven-thirty and being done with their work by noon. All that got me was three grumpy kids. So we adjusted. My kids have their weekend bedtimes unless they have an early meeting with a teacher.  We also allow them to linger in their pjs in the morning.  They are much happier and it gives me time to focus (alone) on my work in the morning.
• Create some accountability (and make it fun).  Our district has an online grading system where parents can view grades and assignments. I also have my kids keep an informal log of what they did each day. If they make it through the week without me hounding them about assignments, they get a reward. My kids like Chipotle and Starbucks so they get to place an order weekly.
• Go outside. We live in the Chicago area and last week was our first 80 degree day. I told my 6 year old to read outside and then she spent the rest of the day happily playing in the yard.  All of us walk, ride a bike or ride a scooter outdoors every day. Because we’re stuck inside most of the time, that outside time has become a welcome release.
• Find some help online. My older kids have regimented school assignments and meeting times, but my little one has tons of free time. Finding websites that offer her something to do has been a godsend. Attractions like the Shedd Aquarium offer virtual tours. My daughter has also done virtual safaris with the Cincinnati zoo. Some zoos even offer live feeding sessions on Facebook. Scholastic.com also has free learning resources for all grade levels that include books and videos.
• Have fun. The Corona virus is awful and sheltering in place is not how any of us planned to spend the spring. But I’ve found that it is important to plan some fun for your family. We’ve done movie nights, game nights, lip sync challenges, formal dinners. Anything to break up the monotony of quarantine. We don’t do this every day – parents are not camp counselors and kids do want some alone time. But we will never spend this much time together again so we want our kids to have some good memories of this tough time.
• It’s OK if you’re struggling. Actor Drew Barrymore said on the Today show that Corona parenting is not good days and bad days. It’s good hours and bad hours. That rang true for me. This is hard. Kids get bored. Parents and teachers are stretched thin. We’re all new at this quarantine thing. Last week my youngest daughter had movie day and watched Trolls all afternoon. Every day will not be equally productive.

So while the world is a lot quieter these days, all of us at STS are working hard at home. Call us if you need us. We’re still answering the phones and happy to assist you however we can.

Traci Johnson
Managing Editor
Scholastic Testing Service, Inc.
1.800.642.6787
www.ststesting.com

We invite feedback or sharing of your own ideas and experiences on this topic.

Try the QUIC Tests for Immediate Student Results

The fastest way to place your new students!

Are you looking for a “quick” assessment to check class performance or to help with student placement for grades 2-12? In just 35 minutes or less, the QUIC Tests provide immediate feedback in the areas of mathematics and communicative arts.

QUIC Tests consist of item sets that focus on content uniquely representative of that specific grade level. The test booklets are reusable and a carbonless answer sheet is provided for students to mark their answers. When testing is complete, the teacher simply opens the answer sheet to access the answer key.

---

Choose your format:

• Self-Scoring with student response forms
• Machine-Scorable answer sheets with STS scoring and reporting
• QUIC Online is the fastest way to assess students and receive reports

---

 

QUIC Tests generate a competency-based grade equivalent and a raw score. The raw score can then be converted to a standard score in order to determine if the student is performing at, above, or below grade level.

ORDER NOW • REQUEST A PREVIEW • REQUEST MORE INFORMATION

For immediate service, call our office at 1.800.642.6787 .

Test Preparation and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking

Test preparation is a hot topic with teachers and parents because the costs of student failure seem huge. So it seems to be a good time to write about test preparation and our Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) ­– Thinking Creatively with Pictures and Thinking Creatively with Words.

The immediate question is – should we prepare students to take a creativity test? The author of the TTCT, Dr. E. Paul Torrance, believed the answer was no because test prep may help students achieve entrance into a creative class or gifted program, but preparation could not increase a student’s creativity or determine how creative they can be.

We also believe that students should not be “prepped” prior to taking the TTCT for three reasons.

(1) One of the features of test preparation is that students often learn about how to take a test without increasing their ability to master test content. As a result, students who participated in test prep courses might receive spuriously high test scores that will cause them to be misplaced in a program for which they are not well-suited.

(2) The TTCT is a standardized test. Standardized test situations are prescribed so that all students taking the tests have the same opportunity. In other words, all students should be seeing the test for the first time, and they should all be prepared to do their best without any extra pretest help. On the TTCT, “doing their best” requires focusing on showing the examiner something creative that has never been seen or thought of before. When standardized testing is completed, prescriptive and diagnostic teaching should be used as a means to follow-up with students. In fact, we believe that any standardized test scores should be followed up with explanation and more directed teaching.

(3) When people ask us for test prep materials, we suggest that students and parents review the student’s current test scores and identify areas for improvement. Based on this review, students can focus on acquiring educational materials that will help them succeed in areas where they currently struggle. This kind of preparation will help students become better students not just better test-takers.

For more information on the TTCT, visit our website www.ststesting.com.

---

Related:

Books by E. Paul Torrance and Torrance Scholars

• Learning and Using Primes, Fractions, and Decimals Creatively
• Learning to Use Place Value Creatively
• Learning to Solve Mathematics Word Problems Creatively
• The Future of Creativity
• Gifted and Talented Children in the Regular Classroom
• E. Paul Torrance, “The Creativity Man” an authorized biography
• Everyday Creativity

A Parent’s Guide to HSPT

At Scholastic Testing Service, we realize that testing is an issue of great concern to most parents. From September to March every year, we receive inquiries from parents of students who are about to, or have already taken the High School Placement Test (HSPT®). Generally, the issues of greatest concern are test preparation and scoring. The following links provide additional information on those topics.

Questions relating to:
HSPT® Prep
HSPT® Score Distribution

You can also ask a question in the form of a comment here, and we will get back to you.

Are you seeking a new readiness test?

Schools may find that STS’ Kindergarten Readiness Test (KRT) and School Readiness Test (SRT) are good substitutes for the Metropolitan Achievement and Readiness Test.

With the retirement of the Metropolitan Achievement and Readiness Tests, we have received numerous calls from educators searching for replacement assessments. We are excited to advise each caller (and often hear a sign of relief in return), that Scholastic Testing Service (STS) offers three assessment tools that will effortlessly replace existing testing programs, provide efficient and reliable score reporting, and integrate seamlessly with current administration procedures and testing windows.

• The Educational Development Series (EDSeries) is a standardized test battery that provides the most comprehensive coverage of all STS instruments. Featuring a total of nine skill areas, the EDSeries provides fast and useful score reporting, local and national norms, normal curve equivalents and a cognitive skills quotient.
• The newly revised Kindergarten Readiness Test (KRT) and School Readiness Test (SRT) are effective tools for determining a student’s readiness for beginning kindergarten and first grade respectively.  Both KRT and SRT levels of readiness are related to national percentiles and stanines, allowing educators to learn as much as possible about individual student ability as well as group performance.

For more information, educational professionals can request preview copies (below) of KRT, SRT and EDSeries.

Name(required)

School Email Address(required)

School Name(required)

School Mailing Address (samples must be mailed to a school address)

School Phone Number

Title

Name of Preview Sample Test Kindergarten Readiness Test (KRT) School Readiness Test (SRT) Educational Development Series (EDSeries) - specify grade level

Grade levels for samples:

Submit

Δ

In Memory of Dr. John D. Kauffman

The Scholastic Testing Service family is mourning the recent loss of Dr. John D. Kauffman.  John began his journey at STS in 1974 and was serving most recently as our Vice-President of Marketing. During his time at STS, his efforts helped products like the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and the High School Placement Test become bestsellers.

John was known nationally and abroad as an advocate for gifted education and an expert in creativity assessments. He tirelessly promoted the Torrance Tests by co-sponsoring creative competitions; engaging in long-term research studies; and teaching scoring workshops.  John’s scoring workshops were always in great demand because he knew how to combine his expertise and sense of humor to insure that his sessions were as much fun as his whimsical neckties.

John also had great relationships with the administrators and admissions directors who used HSPT. He loved to travel across the country to meet personally with administrators, and was always responsive to their needs and concerns.

Dr. Kauffman will no longer be answering the phones here at Scholastic Testing Service. But his presence will remain with us. In his honor, we will continue our commitment to gifted education and assessments, and every customer will receive the personal service that he insisted upon.

Back to School Daze

If you’re an educator and you know the old song lyric, School Days, School Daze, dear old golden rule days, you may agree that the beginning of the school year feels like a daze. That daze may be due to the demands of the 21^st century classroom.

Schools have been inundated with technology, and teachers are continually challenged with figuring out how to use that technology to enhance learning. If you teach in a district with one-to-one laptops, you’re required to create computer-friendly lessons. If you’re in a BYOD (bring your own device) district, you have to be concerned with how students are using personal devices when they are not involved in educational activities. In addition, staff development time for learning how and where to use the technology is challenging, and the resources may be limited.

Most educators are also grappling with the rollout of the national Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Existing curriculum must be adjusted to match the new standards, or   new curriculum must be mastered – despite limited time given to learn it.  All of these changes add to the stress of starting a new school year.

Here at STS we’re currently developing tests to match the CCSS. But we’re also continuing to use standards from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Coalition (STEM) standards as we look ahead to the integration of all of the standards in use today. Our goal is to insure that our products accurately reflect the curriculum needs of the 21^st century classroom.

We’re also offering an array of online testing options to accommodate the greater use of technology in schools. For grades 3-8, STS offers the new online Learning Standards Assessment (LSA) in Language, Math and Science. The LSA offers quick testing and instant scoring as well as maximum flexibility. We also offer an online version of our bestselling High School Placement Test. The HSPT® E-Score takes the place of an answer sheet and allows for quick scoring and convenient make-up testing.

In the midst of your hectic school year, rest assured that our attention to your ever-changing needs will help provide you with the very best educational products for your classroom.

Learning Standards Assessment (LSA) Video Demonstration

Watch a short video demonstration of the Learning Standards Assessment (LSA) on our YouTube channel.

Online Testing and the new Common Core Standards

With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), there will soon be even more online testing. Two major consortia, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, will be inaugurating their online testing during the 2013-2014 school year. These new assessments will place more emphasis on interim testing to help track students as they progress through the CCSS sequences. Yet many school personnel are concerned that while new tests may align with CCSS, their curriculum does not. Although many school districts have been working to align curricula to the CCSS, other districts are waiting for more professional development time before any alignment activities take place.

While these concerns exist, online assessments such as the STS Learning Standards Assessment (LSA) can accommodate districts in transition. The LSA is an assessment to help determine how well students are performing on a complete set of standards based on subject area, while at the same time, showing proficiencies in current curricula and standards. Available for grades 3 – 8, the LSA can be administered in the fall or spring to assist in monitoring students. The LSA is flexible, standardized, timed, and has national norms. Since it is also online, the reports for each student and class groups will be available immediately. To get more information or for a demonstration of the LSA, contact us at (800) 642-6787, or by email at sts@ststesting.com.