Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Good grades but low ERB score?

I am a junior in high school and my ERB test scores were abysmal.
I will only discuss my verbal reasoning score here because that category surprised me the most. I thought I was pretty good at verbal reasoning in real life because I like to argue with people.
I have pretty high grades in High School. This year, I am taking two APs( US Government and Psychology) and 2 Honors( Pre-Calculus and English). My total grade average for all my subjects is an A.
Most my teachers and friends think I am pretty smart.
I've written for my high school newspaper and MUN newspapers. I was often told that I am a good writer( though you might not see it here in this forum, haha).
Despite of such, my ERB score for verbal reasoning is in the high 70s or 80s.
This really depressed me because I was considering law as a potential major in college and needless to say, a lower than average ERB score discourages that notion.
I know I sound like a total narcissist for bragging about my achievements the wayI did, but I am really in desperate need for help here. Does the ERB test mean I should reconsider my career path? Can Verbal reasoning be improved over time?

Did you prep for the test? From what I've read some places are actually abandoning that test because so many parents spend gobs of money having their children prepped for it - making the scores nearly useless.

I'm also not aware of it being any sort of cognitive assessment, so don't take the score of that test to mean you aren't a smart, focused student!

Alyssa, one test score at one point in time is only that - one data point. It might be representative of either ability or knowledge, or it might be low due to any number of reasons (do you remember if you were feeling well that day? Did you run out of time on the test? Etc). Also - are the 70s and 80s actual scores or percentiles? The ERB reports I've seen usually just show the scaled scores and percentiles.. and I'm just guessing that if you recieved a score in the 70s that would have to be a raw score? Did you get either percentile or stanine scores? (please don't feel like you have to answer that or share #s, just wanted to make sure you didn't accidentally mistake one type of score for another).

I wouldn't rethink any career paths or college plans yet - no way! I'm curious why you are taking the ERBs - is that the brand of standardized score your school uses for yearly assessments? Since you're a junior in high school, are you planning to take the PSAT (or did you take it already?). Have you considered taking either the SAT or ACT this year?

I suspect that your scores on the SAT and/or ACT will be what the colleges you apply to will want to see, not your ERBs. JMO, but once you're in college - what it takes to be successful never fully hinges on any one test score or even necessarily on having extra-high ability - it takes motivation, hard work and drive. Passion doesn't hurt either

Good luck!

polarbear

I think this applies mostly to the ERB being used for young children being admitted to private school - kindergarten admissions. I haven't heard of concerns re this for children later on in school when the ERB is used for yearly school assessment testing. OTOH, maybe it's in some places used for secondary private school admissions?


From what I understand, the verbal reasoning subtest of the ERB is supposed to be an ability assessment.

polarbear