What are the ERBs?

Each April, Shorecrest students in grades 3 through 8 participate in four mornings of standardized testing. The Comprehensive Testing Program (CTP5) is written by the Educational Records Bureau (ERB), a nonprofit educational organization that oversees the development, administration and scoring of standardized assessments. This test is commonly referred to as “The ERBs” and is an assessment tool for high achieving students used by more than 1,600 schools, mostly independent schools, including Shorecrest, and some public schools. 

The ERB is broken down into timed subtests that test both for achievement, which measures skills students are already learning in the classroom, and aptitude, which measures what students already know and their ability to learn new material. Depending on the grade level achievement sub-tests include sections on vocabulary, writing concepts and skills, writing mechanics, reading comprehension and mathematics. The aptitude subtests assess verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning. Each day students take two sections of the ERB. 

General test-taking strategies are taught and reviewed in all Shorecrest classes throughout the school year. Classroom teachers do not teach specifically to the ERB test, however content presented on the ERBs contains material that is covered within Shorecrest’s curriculum. On the achievement subtests, the skills measured by the ERB are valuable skills and we want students to be successful in acquiring them. 

Starting in third grade we prepare students for the ERBs, both how to take the test and for the skills that will be measured. Simply taking a standardized test is a new task for many younger students. They must first learn how to bubble in a circle, which can be a challenging fine motor skill. In fourth grade the students use a scantron sheet for their answers, which is often the first time that Shorecrest students will encounter this approach. In the weeks prior to the ERBs, students practice on sample tests. In addition, teachers review ERB specific strategies with their classes. 

In the Lower School students are not used to having projects or assessments that are timed. In fact, in their daily routine teachers will encourage students to take their time and check over their work. In each timed ERB section, however, there are always more questions than minutes, so students encounter a new experience of a timed assessment. Teachers take notes so they are aware of who runs out of time and may have left some questions blank. Teachers also note who finishes too quickly, and will encourage students to go back if they have sufficient time. Time management becomes another skill that is developed in taking standardized tests.  

 

The results of the ERBs offer important data for Shorecrest. The ERBs provides norm-referenced scores for students compared to a national pool of students and a much smaller and higher-achieving pool of independent schools students. We use this information to evaluate our curriculum and look for trends over time. It is a starting point for curriculum planning, identifies if there are gaps in our curriculum and helps our teachers and administrators make decisions about academic programming. Analyzing a student’s ERB results also provides one piece of a child’s learning profile.

While ERB results can give some important information, there are a number of important aspects of learning ERBs cannot measure. The result of a standardized test is a snapshot of a child’s performance at a moment in time. ERBs tell us nothing about students' 

Effort

Creativity

Academic grit

Problem-solving ability

Ability to work with others in a group setting

Commitment to core values

As an independent school our focus is on student growth and development. As a college-preparatory school, Shorecrest students will encounter standardized testing during their educational career. It is appropriate for the School to prepare students to be successful in this realm, as well as develop other skills to become lifelong learners. We believe that the ERBs are a valuable learning experience for students, provide helpful information for Shorecrest and are worthy of the time devoted to them.  

All the best, 

Nancy