Yes, the TerraNova/CAT 6 is a timed test and takes from one and one-half hours to five and one-half hours of actual working time for the students to complete, depending upon the grade level and the test taken. All levels of the TerraNova/CAT 6 are timed. No section for the TerraNova/CAT 6 is longer than 40 minutes. No more than two or three tests should be given in one day. The tests should be spread out over a 3 or 4 day period. View what is tested on each level and the completion times for each section.
The TerrraNova/Cat 6 is a nationally normed achievement test. Achievement tests measure skills that are learned in school and address specific content areas such as reading and mathematics and measure academic progress. Your child’s scores are compared to the scores of other children who have taken the test, the norming population for the test. There is no direct correlation between the number of correct answers and the percentiles reported. If, for example, a student scores at the fifty-seventh percentile, it indicates that a student scored higher than fifty-seven percent of students who took this test in the national sampling group for his grade level, not that the student got fifty-seven percent of the questions correct.
The TerraNova, Second Edition, known as the CAT 6 is the 6th edition of the California Achievement Test. It tests grades 1-12 students in the areas of Reading (Grades 1-12), Language (Grades 1-12), Math (Grades 1-12), Social Studies (Grades 1-12) and Science (Grades 1-12). It is available in Complete Battery or Survey form. Also included is the Plus Test, which tests Word Analysis (Levels 11-21/22), Vocabulary (Levels 11-21/22), Language Mechanics (Levels 12-21/22), Spelling (Levels 12-21/22) and Math Computation (Levels 11-21/22). Click the following link for a detailed document of the TerraNova Scope & Sequence.
The Survey edition is a shortened form of the TerraNova/CAT 6 that is composed from a subset of items found in the Complete Battery. Administering the Survey form of the test takes about half as much time as the Complete Battery. Both the Survey and the Complete Battery measure the same content areas, but the Survey has fewer questions. The Survey is a shorter test and does not provide the breadth of coverage for each objective that is found in the Complete Battery. The Plus tests are the same for both forms of the test.
The publisher suggests that you should use the Complete Battery when making high stakes decisions (such as acceptance into an academic program), when you have three or more hours to administer a test, or when the results of a test are likely to be challenged. Use the Survey if the testing time is short, if you are screening for a program entry or exit, or using this as a pre/post test model for which the Survey would be your post test. The Survey w/Plus is offered for grades 2, 4, and 6-12. The Complete Battery w/Plus is offered for grades 1-12.
The Plus section is additional math, reading, and language questions that are all optional.
The TerraNova/Cat 6 test is designed so that almost all students have time to complete the test. The percentage of students completing the final question in each section of each subtest varies by grade and format. Approximately 94-99% of students complete the tests in the time allotted. Please read and adhere to the testing directions for the timing of each test section.
