VCM is a free online classroom tool that can be used to measure children’s verbal and spatial reasoning strengths. * VESPARCH - Verbal and Spatial Reasoning in Children
- Analysis of VCM results and comparison with School Attainment records can identify those children who are underperforming academically at school relative to their potential.
- Research has shown that the VCM can identify some high capability students that are not identified by SATs or CATs.
- No preparation is required as the questions are not reliant on knowledge recall.
- VCM is not reliant on reading ability as the instructions and questions are spoken through headphones at the same time as they are displayed on screen.
- It is primarily aimed at two age-groups: children aged 7-9 and children aged 10-12.
- VCM is administrated and delivered on-line through a PC internet browser.
- The multiple-choice format only requires use of a mouse, so no typing is required.
- A whole class can take VCM at the same time or it can be used with groups or a single child.
- The verbal questions measure verbal capability using words and concepts that would be highly familiar to children of the relevant age group.
- The spatial questions are not reliant on language and therefore suitable for assessing the ability in children whose English is limited or an additional language.
- The children are able to listen to the instructions or words as many times as they like to help ensure they understand the question.
- There is no time limit and children can pause the quiz and complete it at a later time.
- Each question is delivered and read at a comfortable pace and children are prevented from selecting an answer until the question has been delivered in full.
- Five practice questions, with detailed supportive feedback, precede each section of the quiz to ensure children understand the principles and how they should answer the multiple-choice questions.
- Once VCM is setup, most children take about 1 hour to answer both the verbal and spatial sections.
- Scores are age-standardised to allow for the variation in children’s ages over the academic year.
- Advanced analytical methods are used to ensure the questions are a valid and reliable measure of a child’s capability.
- The video below demonstrates the delivery of a brief follow-up individual test that can be administered by a teacher or classroom assistant to identify the root-cause of underperformance in children flagged as URP. Please contact us if you would like more information.
VCM is a collaboration by Cambridge and Oxford Universities.