Cito and student monitoring systems at primary school

What do the scores your child gets at school mean? At primary school, from group 3 onwards, a system keeps track of the scores your child achieves on tests, this system is called ‘the student monitoring system’ (LVS). The LVS is mandatory for all schools. What do these scores mean and how does it work? The student monitoring system was introduced in the 1990s to make the results that children achieve at school more comparable. That is why each school annually administers a nationally recognized test to the children for arithmetic, technical reading, spelling and reading comprehension. These results can be found in the reports in the form of A to E scores. Where the letters A to E present a category of highest to lowest scoring students. See the box for an explanation of the scores.

These scores will soon be replaced by I to V scores, the distribution is different in this categorical division. This makes the children’s scores even more transparent. For example, if one looks at C-scoring children, these children may have a mild to major disadvantage. The new classification was devised to prevent this large spread.

	Description	Associated percentage
Level A	good to very good	25% top performers
Level B	more than sufficient to good	25% above average
Level C	moderate to more than sufficient	25% below average
Level D	weak to moderate	15% well below average
Level E	very weak to weak	10% lowest performers

 

Level	Description in percentage
Level I	20% highest achieving students
Level II	20% above average scoring students
Level III	20% average performing students
Level IV	20% below average performing students
Level V	20% lowest performing students

 

What student monitoring systems are there?

Cito (grades 3 to 8): two to three CITO tests can be taken and these are recorded in the Cito student monitoring system. The tests are in the areas of reading comprehension, spelling, arithmetic, English and of course the Entrance Test (group 7) and Cito Final Test.
Didactic age equivalent (DLE) (gr. 3 to 8): this expresses the results of the children in the number of months that the child has received effective education. The didactic age (DL) is the number of months that a child has received education . Each school year consists of 10 months and is calculated from the start of group 3. A student who is tested in January of group 5 has a DL of 25 months, the DLE that a child achieves on the test can be lower, equal to or higher than the DL score. A lower DLE score indicates a disadvantage.

• Eggo (gr. 3 to 8): this student monitoring system focuses on the social-emotional development of children. The teacher completes a questionnaire about the student twice a year, containing questions about work attitude, cooperation and possible disruptive behavior.
• Pravoo (gr.1 to 3): this is a system for work attitude, social emotional development and cognitive development.
• Lifestyle: this is a method that also offers a system for monitoring the atmosphere in the classroom and the well-being of the children.

The most commonly used student monitoring system (85% of schools) is that of the Cito. The disadvantage of this system is that it focuses very much on knowledge. That is why alternative student monitoring systems have been developed in recent years that focus on work attitude, behavior and social-emotional development. These systems not only provide an assessment of the capabilities and skills of a child, but also of the entire school. A school leader can see at a glance whether his/her school meets the standards.

Entrance and final test

The most well-known test is the CITO final test. It is a three-day test in February of group 8. During these three days, arithmetic, spelling and language (grammar, reading comprehension) are tested. Everything that has been offered in recent years will be reflected in the final test. A similar test is administered in group 7, namely the entrance test. This test already provides a reliable indication of the expected secondary school level.

Many children (and parents) are far too nervous about the CITO final test, it is only a snapshot and in 95% of cases only a confirmation of the image that the teachers already had. In the event of a disappointing CITO final test, there are the tests for groups 6, 7 and 8, which give a good idea of the child’s capabilities. With these test scores, teachers can then enter into discussions with the secondary school. Most secondary schools do not exclusively use the CITO final test as a benchmark for the entry level.

Range	Associated education level
501 – 522	Practical education and basic vocational learning path
522 – 527	Basic and Framework vocational learning path
524 – 528	Framework vocational learning path
528 – 532	Framework vocational learning path and mixed/theoretical learning path (the former MAVO)
530 – 535	Mixed/theoretical learning path
533 – 536	Mixed/theoretical learning path and HAVO
538 – 541	HAVO
538 – 545	HAVO/VWO first year
545 – 550	VWO (atheneum / gymnasium / bilingual education / technasium)

 

Two versions of the CITO final test

A good test matches a child’s skills. Only in this way does a test give the greatest chance of a reliable result. It is also better for children to take a test that is not (much) too easy or (much) too difficult. A test that is too easy can lead to a nonchalant attitude and (unnecessarily) careless mistakes. And a test that is too difficult gives a child an insecure feeling, which often does not improve the result.

There are now two versions of the final test, namely the basic test, intended for students who are likely to go to GT, HAVO or VWO (75% of the children). The scores of these students fall within the A, B or C scores in the student monitoring system. And the level test, for children who score lower in the language and arithmetic learning areas. These are the students who are likely to go to the intermediate vocational or basic vocational pathway, approximately 25% of the students. In the student monitoring system, the scores of these students are often at D or E level.