IOWA

STANFORD

Listening Section

Grades K-2 only

Grades K-8

Color pictures

No

Yes

Timed test

Yes

No (general guidelines)

Testing age groups

K, 1, 2, 3-8, 9-12

K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-12

Version norms dates

1995

2003

Student profile

Seems fairly standard

Seems more watered down (students may score “Post High School with just a few more correct answers than “average grade level”)

Subjects covered

Basically both have the same topics: Eng, Math, Science, Social Studies, reference materials, graphs and charts etc

Length of test

Full test is about 7 hours for each for grades 3-12.  Varies for K-2

Acceptability/recognition of test

Both are national standardized achievement tests which have been around for several years, tested on hundreds of thousands of students each year.

How younger grades are done

IOWA:  K-2 have all directions read to them,
 and students pick the answer that best fits.
  For Stanford, K-3 have directions read to them.  
There are some silent reading portions required for grades 1-3 for each test.