Academics

The Christian School of Grace Baptist Church administers the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) annually to all students in grades K through eight.  It tests math, reading, and language arts to show our school’s progress compared to schools with similar goals and values.

These charts show the Grade Equivalency scores for grades Kindergarten through 8.  Each class score is averaged to show the progress of all students in the grade.  Since we administer the tests in April, norms are based on the eighth month of the school year.  For example, 1.8 equals the eighth month of First Grade.  A First Grade student scoring 1.8 demonstrates he is proficient.  Any grade higher than 1.8 means the student is achieving at a level higher than the eighth month of first grade.

Students at The Christian School of Grace Baptist Church consistently exceed the Grade Equivalency score by more than 2 grade levels every year.  And students who remain enrolled in the school build on that success and continue to excel further, often achieving 4 or 5 grade levels higher by 7th and 8th grade.

The ITBS is one of the three major achievement testing programs used across the United States. According to an online report from Frontline, a PBS journalistic article, “Riverside Publishing controls the remaining 20 percent of the test-design market. Its Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), a norm-referenced achievement test, is taken every year by 4 million to 5 million students.”