What are the Iowa Tests?

First Published:

Wednesday 24 October, 2012

The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), also known as the Iowa Tests, are standardized tests provided as a service to schools by the College of Education of the University of Iowa. They are used by some US curricula schools in the UAE.

ITBS are written in levels 1-8. Each test level consists of a series of tests administered in content sections with each section designed to measure specific skills.

Test levels 5-8 are administered to students from kindergarten through second grade (K-2). School districts employ the series of tests in primary grades to gain information about classes and students for instructional planning, to supplement teacher observations regarding student abilities, and to establish a basis for subsequent annual evaluation of student progress.

Sections for levels 5-8 include: Vocabulary, Word Analysis, Reading Comprehension, Listening, Language, Mathematics, Social Studies (Levels 7 and 8 only), Science (Levels 7 and 8 only), and Sources of Information .

Test levels 9-14 are administered to students from third grade through twelve grade. Like test levels 5-8, the primary purpose of levels 9-14 is instructional development. School districts use the standardized achievement battery to learn supplementary information useful in choosing curriculum and lesson planning.

Teachers may use ITP testing batteries to suggest areas where the skills of individual students are most and least developed. Sections for levels 9-14 include: Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Spelling, Capitalization, Punctuation, Usage and Expression, Math Concepts and Estimation, Math Problem Solving and Data Interpretation, Math Computation, Social Studies, Maps and Diagrams, Reference Materials, Word Analysis (Level 9 only), and Listening (Level 9 only).