Mis-reading the easy stuff…

[Anonymous]

DC /8th grade /dysgraphia—did poorly on a civics test they were well prepared for. Literally knew all the relevant details, broad concepts etc….

When I looked at the content (all multiple choice) there were several questions—all essentially worded the same—asking about branches of government and which branch checks which branch…they reversed the checked vs checker. In total 20 pts. They got almost every other question correct.

It seems similar to word problem issues…despite reading comprehension issues they are largely doing ok with complicated material.

[Anonymous]

Common issue with bright dyslexics — great reading comprehension with longer passages but can miss small details when it comes to short multiple choice questions.

[Anonymous]

Or also ADHD, careless mistakes from rushing through work

[Anonymous]

It’s really sad that 8th graders are getting multiple choice history tests. I’m sure he would have done much better with an essay or at least short answer test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really sad that 8th graders are getting multiple choice history tests. I’m sure he would have done much better with an essay or at least short answer test.

Op, sigh...you are right on so many levels. It was a Google Form / auto grade.

[Anonymous]

Classic dysgraphia

[Anonymous]

No suggestion, just commiserations. My son is in the same boat. Knows all the content really well then will not read the question closely and miss a word like "not" embedded in the questions so gets the answer wrong.

Or the question says to write in the letter choice and he will circle the correct answer but then not fill in the correct letter. For example, the correct answer is C and he will circle it but the teacher wanted the students to fill in the answer on the side of the question (I assume so he can more quickly grade the tests). Answer C starts with a sentence that begins with "A" (ex. A program aimed at ....) So then he will carelessly write in A instead of C.

[Anonymous]

Encourage your child to underline the important parts of the question or word problem. It can help slow down the rush and then confirm you are answering correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Encourage your child to underline the important parts of the question or word problem. It can help slow down the rush and then confirm you are answering correctly.

Op— agree, sadly so many tests are online (this one was) making practical solutions like this impossible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really sad that 8th graders are getting multiple choice history tests. I’m sure he would have done much better with an essay or at least short answer test.

Ugh, NP and my 8th grader adhd kid (who has a shockingly broad and deep knowledge of US history that he's learned in class, he really loves information and is exceptionally good at retaining it).... his teacher just uses the mcgraw hill online tests. She doesn't tell them their grades, they just check when they're available later. And DS consistently gets mid-70s on them because they are garbage written tests. Badly worded, confusing questions . I can't believe teachers get away with this. Last year, he was consistently the highest grade on every history test all year.

[Anonymous]

The only way I got students to improve on this was to go over each test with them and have them make corrections and they started to see that if they could slow and be more careful they could get a better grade. After doing this over and over they started to internalize it. You can try to prompt him before tests to be careful and make sure he doesn’t get “tricked.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No suggestion, just commiserations. My son is in the same boat. Knows all the content really well then will not read the question closely and miss a word like "not" embedded in the questions so gets the answer wrong.

Or the question says to write in the letter choice and he will circle the correct answer but then not fill in the correct letter. For example, the correct answer is C and he will circle it but the teacher wanted the students to fill in the answer on the side of the question (I assume so he can more quickly grade the tests). Answer C starts with a sentence that begins with "A" (ex. A program aimed at ....) So then he will carelessly write in A instead of C.

My kid's 504 specifically allows him to answer in the test booklet, not an answer sheet. If this is a consistent problem, I'd get an accommodation so that his teacher grades him on what he intended to answer.