The AABL ® Test and iPads

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - October 16th, 2014

Word is out in New York City and across the country about the AABL ® test, or Admissions Test for Beginning Learners ®. The AABL test is an achievement test that measures kids’ kindergarten readiness. Subjects tested on the test include phonics, math, and pre-reading. After private schools in New York City announced recently that they will be phasing out the ERB test, which had been used for admissions for a number of years, several announced that they will replace the exam with the AABL test. Schools that have announced they’ll be using the test include Riverdale Country Day School and Horace Mann.

An interesting aspect of the AABL test that wasn’t true for the ERB test is that it will be administered on an iPad. This means that, in addition to getting your child familiar with the skills measured by the test and the format of the exam, you’ll need to ensure that they have at least a basic competency in working on a tablet.

The reality is that lots of kids today already know how to use iPads and similar devices. Stories are legion of little kids swiping a magazine – only to be shocked that the pages don’t turn when they move their fingers across them! But in “training” your child to use an iPad for the AABL test, try to spend most of your time using educational programs and materials that will help them get ready for the test and for school. Online questions and interactive games that measure the same skills they’ll see on the test are available for download on tablets, and will help you kill two birds with one stone since they’ll teach your child how to work with an iPad while also helping them get ready for the test.

Of course, you may also want to use workbooks and hard-copy materials to prepare your child for the test, just so that they have a variety of materials to work with and so they don’t get “burned out” using just one method. But it’s important that your child have a familiarity with how to use an iPad long before they enter the testing room.

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Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence™ – Third Edition (WPPSI™ – III) and Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence™ – Fourth Edition (WPPSI™ – IV) are trademarks of Pearson Education, Inc or its affiliate(s), or their licensors. TestingMom.com is not affiliated with nor related to Pearson Education, Inc or its affiliates (“Pearson”). Pearson does not sponsor or endorse any TestingMom.com product, nor have TestingMom.com products or services been reviewed, certified, or approved by Pearson. Trademarks referring to specific test providers are used by TestingMom.com for nominative purposes only and such trademarks are solely the property of their respective owners.