Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion EXPLORE/Duke Tip...should we bother?

So we just got the letter that DD9 (4th) is eligible for the Duke Talent Search and to take EXPLORE. We are satisified(...ish) with her current school situation and have no plans to advocate for anything different. We do not want to after-school her because she is buried in homework, though we'd consider a summer class, perhaps. We also have a decent roadmap for middle school and high school. We do suspect that her IQ test was a bit mussy (it was the RIAS and she was six and refused to guess), but it got her in and that was close enough for government work, as they say.

Do we want to pay for this? Should she take this test? I admit to curiosity, but is that enough? Is there another reason that it's worth it at this age? It might be interesting to know if she is a killer achievement test-taker like her father. We have VERY little data on that--this is the first standardized test I have ever gotten data on for her. An award ceremony is of no interest to anyone here, though. DD read the letter but was very blase about it.

We signed ds11 up last year when he was in 5th grade. We did it for one reason: it gave him experience with a test for which he wasn't expected to know most of the answers, which was helpful to get him used to letting go of the idea of perfection--he could do poorly on it and it wouldn't be "his fault" but simply a test that was so far above him. Of course, after we received the results we realized we had underestimated him--by a lot--which led to him getting an IQ test done by the school. Which led to...
It's a good tool, if you need it, at a reasonable price and I've read somewhere that as children age, these above level tests become more of an accurate gauge of ability than IQ tests.
You could wait a year or two and see if your dd's situation changes...

Like KADmom, we signed our older DDs up when they were in 4th grade, but didn't test until 5th. We tested again in 6th. We will do the same thing with DD9. Both of our older DDs liked having the exposure to the test and we were able to see growth for both of them from the 1st year to the second.

Our former district used the Explore test for 8th graders, and I feel the early exposure played a huge part in my oldest DD having the top scores at her school. And, because the Explore format is so similar to the ACT, it helped her to feel comfortable with the ACT when she took it.

With our middle DD, we moved districts this year and honestly, her Explore scores played a big part in showing her need for math acceleration.

Let your DD take it. It is cheap, useful, and of good quality (as mini-ACT), though you might have to travel. I support all the reasons given upthread. (Oh - and DYS accepts it as an achievement test.)

My DD9 took it last year as a 4th grader. And EXPLORE score was used for DYS admission.

My DD is a good test taker. She plans to take it again next year and SAT in 7th grade.

For under $50 (Duke fee + EXPLORE testing), this is the cheapest way to see where our kids are.

We doubt very much that DD is DYS material, though I guess we could be wrong. I think her initial IQ test came out a little low, but I don't think by a whole lot. What she does have, and this is clear, is a very good working memory, which gives her a great advantage at school. She's also very well-rounded, which is nice.

I looked at the sample questions and I actually think DD will NOT do very well on the math, mainly because she has not been exposed to any math beyond a 5th grade level and is likely not to try very hard. (I know her. She'll just go "Agh--I don't know this!" and not attempt, when it comes to math--although she is a good guesser.) However, she is really good at grammar and writing, and will probably do very well on the English section. I also think she would do well on the Science section--that is really a strength for her. I keep telling her so, and she seems to not believe me. So, maybe it would build up her confidence a bit. But as I say, it is quite unlikely to do anything for us in terms of school options/choices. Which is okay--she's doing okay, and any other advocacy we would do would really be pushing way outside the box (keeping in mind that she is in a full-day GT magnet).

I don't know how excited she really would be about taking this, either!

What about the other benefits of TIP? Anything worth writing home about?

Ds11 took French through their discounted Rosetta Stone. I'm not sure how much he retained because it's been a year and we didn't do it again, but still, it's a great opportunity. There are other opportunities which are free, but unfortunately, ds had too much homework last year to add anything else to his plate.

I would never have guessed dd12 would have done as well as she did. It gave us the push to really consider meeting her needs better and ultimately led to a very successful skip. If not for the Explore scores I think we would have just plodded along.

Yes. Yes. Yes. So true for us, as well. I realized ds was gifted but not how much. And if not for the Explore results, I wouldn't have been on the computer frantically trying to figure out what it meant and subsequently found this forum.

I think you'll be surprised. If nothing else, it's good experience. DS wasn't taught much of the math either, but he did fine.

Thanks for the reminder here - When I looked this up a year ago Duke TIPS seemed so far off as DD was in grade 2 and it didn't start until grade 4. Now that she skipped she can do this - cool!

If I read things correctly if she has qualifying WISC results from a test administered < 2 years ago she is eligible, right? Or did I miss something? I really don't want to make DD a performing seal and have her take more tests if I can help it but the TIPS program does appear to have some interesting stuff....