For those waiting, we tested with C-Mites and DS's scores arrived this morning in the mail.

Cat

What date did you test? DD took it February 19th.

January. Also, maybe it would be helpful, if people would like to see the distributions for other talent searches, to list which talent search you did, and if you are willing to share additional data via PM.

We did it in January through Belin-Blank BESTS. I hope it comes soon--dd is asking every.day! Thanks for sharing.

DD did Duke TIP and took the EXPLORE on February 19.

Got ours today from NUMATS. Yay!

Got ours today from Duke. It's a proud and happy day in our house

Got them today from Belin-Blank BESTS. Proud of my dd!

Got ours from NUMATS! :-) YAY! I'm very happy with my kid's scores, but a little twitchy on a couple areas that I don't think quite reflect other scores/achievement we've seen. But given that it was his first LONG fill in the circle test, very happy indeed! I've been curious about his ability to do a test like this.

Kimck, I was surprised as well that my DS's "area of strength" was his lowest score as normed against the 8th graders, but it wasn't his lowest area when normed to the other talent search kids.

However, as a wise person on this board reminded me - this is all just one little piece of the puzzle and best used with a lot of other data over time combined with our own observations.

It would be interesting to know how raw scores convert to test scores. . .I liked getting raw scores with SCAT.

Cat

We did ours through Duke in January and received them on Saturday. Very pleased, especially considering she did not finish Math and Science, but curious as to how to use these to advocate for differentiated instruction. Our school district is very "test" oriented and mainly teaches to the state test. Although identified, my DD is not allowed to move ahead in the curriculum. Wondering if her scores would make them pay attention?

You might want to take a look at this chart which has info on what scores are considered "gifted" on above level tests by grade level of the tester. If her scores are at or significantly above the gifted cut point, they may help with advocacy.

The 2010 data from the regional talent searches is still available online as well, but I'm not seeing much 2011 data out yet. Seeing how she compared to other talent search kids throughout the country also might help in determining how much the scores will work for advocacy. As much of the 2010 data as I can find is near the bottom of this page.

Has anyone gotten Feb. test scores already or are these just Jan. scores about which you all are posting?

Hello!
I'm new to this forum (just registered today after getting results from Explore test)
We had E tested and she scored between 80th and 99th percentiles on the Explore for everything except math.

We have never had her IQ tested, but she was consistently scoring in the 98-99th percentile on grade level tests so her principal last year recommended the Explore test.

Her highest score (99) was in the Rhetoric portion of the Explore test. I'm wondering:
1. Are there programs in Rhetoric for gifted kids that any of you know of and
2. Should we/ Do we need to get her IQ tested for those programs, and
3. Should we worry about her math scores being lower than the other scores on the Explore test? Or might that be lack of algebra training?

Thanks for your help!
Sarah

EandBMom -
Welcome!
From what I understand, the rhetorical skills questions are part of the English section of the Explore. Supposedly it tests the more intuitive skills in writing, not necessarily the mechanics. So, maybe you could explore an on-line writing class for your daughter, or a language class (Greek/Latin?)

If her overall scores qualify, I would suggest the Gifted Learning Links from Northwestern University. There are on-line classes that are self-paced (I'm only familiar with one of the science classes, but you could check out the writing classes or other humanities classes).

http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/

Thanks, twomoose! I will check those out. I had tried to get E to take a short Chinese class last year, but she balked.

She isn't a risk taker (thinks she isn't smart...).

An online class might be the right first step for her.

Cricket2,

I think they are all from the January date.

EandBMom, hopefully the scores will help convince her that she is in fact smart!

Hi,

I'm new here. My 10 year old homeschooled daughter took the Explore test in January because we thought it might be a good experience for her to do a "fill in the bubbles" test. Her results are much higher than I expected (except in the math section where she seems to have gotten confused and given up). Will the analysis NUMATS has promised us clarify what her results mean? Despite her math score, her results and composite score are good enough to help qualify her for the Young Scholars program. Would this mean that she is profoundly gifted? Or not necessarily? She's certainly quite bright, but since we homeschool and hang out with a lot of gifted kids, I don't have much feel for what "normal" is, KWIM?

I apologize if I've put this in the wrong forum. I wasn't sure where it would belong.

Thanks!

Welcome, Fern!

Congratulations on your daughter's results. The data given by the talent searches (NUMATS and others) can give you some perspective. It sounds like you already found DYS cutoffs, so that gives you some idea of the level of giftedness. I've never been comfortable with the "profoundly gifted" label despite my kids' scores qualifying for DYS - maybe that's just me. I think the scores help as a piece of the profile of an unusual learner - very high scores, precocious achievement, and often an internal drive. I found that the scores were consistent with what teachers and other adults were observing about my kids. Maybe the scores will help you plan her curriculum, or qualify her for on-line classes I mentioned above.

I just registered on this board, too, after receiving Explore scores for my 10-year-old ds yesterday.

My ds did horrible in math and, oddly enough, not great in English. But his science score and reading score were both decent.

He is "gifted" in Science and Reading, according to this chart http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?Page=3&TopicRelationID=961&Content=89304,but he falls short on all areas in the DYS qualifications chart.

Is it normal to be SO across the board? Now I'm worried about his math skills, and I'm confused about his English scores! He's only in 4th grade. As we move forward, should I look for enrichment opportunities in Reading/Science, where he clearly excels, or find courses in Math/Grammar to help him improve in those subjects?

He is my oldest, and we're new at this! I'm proud he took the Explore test. He was not phased by any of it - took it all in stride.

Another new member here. We got Explore results for my DD (4th grade) yesterday as well. We tested through NUMATS.

I was surprised by her results. I've always considered DD to be MG, but based on the results, I'm wondering if I should consider her HG instead. She met the DYS criteria, but I don't think she falls into the PG range.

Interestingly, DD scored poorest in math, which is the one subject she was accelerated in this year. I think it may be mostly because she wasn't familiar with some of the symbols/terminology. She score best in reading, which really surprised me because her reading ability on at-level tests has been steadily dropping as compared to her peers.

Can you translate for me? What does MG mean? HG? PG?

Congrats on good scores! We tested through NUMATS as well.

I, too, was surprised by my ds's math scores. Perhaps the test befuddled him somewhat....

DS8 received his results from Belin Blank. He has done very well given that he was ill that week. We are proud and happy but also suprised that he did so much better in the language arts and reading portions than in math. He is by his choice highly accelerated in math so it was indeed surprising but I guess it also makes sense: my theory is that he missed out questions (he mentioned he had) and since he does not like computation and timed tests and also refused to use the calculator, it all adds up. I'm guessing this is something time and patience will help with and am hoping I am not wrong. He is only in third grade after all.

He qualifies for DYS (even with the lower math score) so we are going to try to apply with the EXPLORE result and a portfolio and keep fingers tightly crossed that they won't need IQ results because we don't plan to have him assessed. Whether or not he's PG will probably always remain a question mark to me and I think I'm okay with that now.

I wanted to send my congrats to all your amazing kids for doing the test. It couldn't have been easy despite their obvious smarts...awesome job and I can clearly see the amazing support from parents as well. Very proud to be a part of this forum. And thanks so much to everyone who answered one question or other from this always-anxious mom.

Sorry, MG=moderately gifted, HG=highly gifted, PG=profoundly gifted. There's a thread somewhere that has acronyms.

Oh, and I agree, all of our amazing kids deserve congratulations for taking the test. My DD does not do well in pressure situations. She walked into the room with tears streaming down her face, but she did walk in and take the entire test.

Wow, she is one brave girl. Hugs and lots of respect from me. I disliked tests so much and wonder often how nervous I would have been if I was in DS's shoes. Take care!

Hello,

First thing: I am sorry in advance if I double post this!

Has anyone else received an email from their talent search about mistakes on scoring the Explore test?

Duke sent an email this AM stating "ACT informed Duke TIP today that an error was made on a small percentage of January EXPLORE test score sheets, resulting in erroneously low scores for these students. Other talent searches across the United States that offer EXPLORE as an above-level test were also affected. The problem occurred on students� answer sheets where the test form ID number was not bubbled or was incorrectly bubbled which can alter the scoring system. ACT�s quality control system failed to identify the problem prior to processing, resulting in incorrect scores."

Thankfully, the scores were erroneously LOW. They can only improve from here. Those affected should receive their corrected scores in about two weeks.

We didn't get an email (DD took the test through NUMATS). How frustating though.

I actually contacted ACT--EXPLORE division as ds's scores were half of what they were the prior year. We knew something was obviously wrong. ACT has since called me and informed me that his name is on their list of those affected by the scoring error and that his answer sheet is being rescored and we should receive new results by April 2. We tested through Belin-Blank for what it's worth.

It was shocking to open up the report and see such low scores. DS immediately said "Those aren't my scores." and I looked to verify it was his name was on the report. I was encouraged to hear when I called ACT that others had also noted a problem and they were looking into it.

It's frustrating having to wait longer, but glad to know it's being straightened out.

Yes, I spoke to Numats yesterday about something else and heard about this scoring issue. We did find out that dd is not in that pool, but that Numats is in the process of contacting families today. It did sound like it would eventually be fixed.

momto2boys,

Were the results suspiciously low across the board or only on certain subtests?

We received that email through Duke TIP, and my daughter was on the list of those affected, so we will be waiting until April for the scores. I'm relieved--I couldn't believe how low the scores were when I first saw them. My first thought was, "Did you even bubble an answer in??"

I emailed Duke TIP asking if everyone who took the test in January needed a new score report. Approximately 360 students out of 3500 were affected by way low scores. My concern was that the percentiles for everyone else would be out of whack. The email I got said that they are working with ACT about that.

ETA: All of DD's scores were bizarrely low, with two of them in the 1st and 2nd percentiles. No score was above the twentieth percentile. Her composite was in the single digits. A close school friend who also performs/tests well was also affected, and his scores were quite similar to my DD's scores.

Nina--All his scores were low. They ranged from the 3rd through the 7th percentile, whereas last year his scores ranged from 41st through 90th percentile, so we knew something was up.

Anyone receive February scores yet?

Dazey

I'm just glad to get the scores from January at last, as my daughter's scores were among the mistakes.

She did fine, and her scores qualified her for Young Scholars. We just don't have the IQ score done yet. My husband doesn't agree with paying for a test. Right now, I'm looking into getting a graduate student to do it with her supervisor on a sliding scale.

Can someone tell me - what is the benefit to this test? DS could take one through Belkin but not sure what we would do with the results. He was invited to a Saturday program from the same center but not sure about that either.

Steph,

We did it in part for the reason LittleCherub expressed. It was much less expensive to do Explore than to pay for a private achievement test. We also wanted to get scores in science, to help with some school advocacy efforts.

We received DD's scores today from the February test administration.

Maybe we'll get dd's Feb scores today. That would be cool.

We got our scores from the February testing (through Numats). Not sure which day, as we've been on vacation.
The scores were sent from ACT with a paragraph stating that Numats will be sending along further information on the scores and what to do with them later in the Spring.
Very proud mama

I just opened the envelope. OMG!

???

Chrys,

Yes, I hope that is a good OMG.

Yes. Maybe too good.

Congrats to the February test takers!

Does anyone know how useful the follow up information NUMATS sends out is? We're trying to decide what would be best for DD#1 next year. She's unwilling to miss 5th grade at her school for several non-academic reasons. I'm not sure that her classroom teacher will be able to sufficiently differentiate the curriculum for her, so we're considering additional subject acceleration (which would require transportation to the middle school), some kind of online class or partial homeschooling. I'd like to have some objective suggestions, both to help us with the decision process and to help us gain support from the district.

Got our results today. How do we compare results with other gifted kids? His scores still qualify to apply to DYS, so I guess that is good starting point!

Math and Science were the lowest scores for DYS9 (he is a verby/musical guy). Anyone know what kind of Science is on the test? I know that my son didn't have time to finish science.

English and Reading sections: 85-93%.

thanks for the info.
-cc

I found this when I was looking for more information. http://www.thinkingahead.com.au/StatSum%20EXPLORE2010.pdf Assuming that the numbers haven't changed too much from last year, it might be useful.

?? Are you suspicious there might be another scoring error by ACT?

Congratulations for some great scores over there.

Did you ever go ahead with the WISC? Will the school do a WISC and WJ achievement for you?
Grinity

No, we'd have to do it on our own. Money's a little tight at the moment, so I'm having a hard time justifying the expense. I'm not sure if we'd gain enough to make it worthwhile. On the other hand, I'd hate to wait if it's something that will really help us with DD.

Dd's came in a few days ago as well. Her science score dropped quite a bit from last year, but she was quite sick, so maybe that's it? Her math score, however, was really good. She actually got the exact same score for math as her 8th grade sister. Granted, math is her sister's weakest area, but still good.

We got our Feb scores too. We did it last year also - most of the scores were similar, but Science dropped from 98 to 90th percentile. Obviously still a great score - I'm just wondering if I should read anything into it, or think oh, just a bad testing day......

Interesting...ds's scores all improved from last year except science which dropped a couple points. Of course, when I was pondering why he did admit to being bored and ancy by the time he got to the science section and so he didn't soncentrate/try as hard.

I too am puzzling over scores. While the composite remained the same, two scores decreased and one increased, off-setting the decrease. DS said he felt this test was harder than last year. We are HSing so I'm not sure what to make of this if anything....

Comparing the NUMATS summary for 2010 to the one for 2011, I think the test may have been a little harder this year.

Is the summary out already for 2011? I'd love to see that if you were able to point me somewhere!

:-)

If you have done NUMATS before, did you find their Planning and Resource Guide helpful?

Where is the summary for 2011?

The director of our talent search said that historically the numbers stay very even from year to year. So one would not expect large shifts. I wouldn't worry about changes in %, especially if you started high. Say a kid gets 22 of 25 right in science (I'm just making this up) in 3rd grade. The next year, there isn't a lot of space to improve, but other kids will start to catch up, so your % will likely shift some. I am not facile with statistics, so not sure if this is accurate, but it makes sense to me.

I'm not sure that most of us are talking about shifts in percentiles. My dd, for instance, dropped a number of raw points on science and went up the same # of points on math from the year prior. That is her actually answering fewer questions correctly on one part than the year prior in that one area. For example, and these aren't her actual scores, but it would be like a child getting a 19 on reading one year and then a 15 the next.

In her case, she may have been fuzzy headed since she had a fever I didn't realize until I picked her up, though. She is also an erratic little person, so who knows.

I know I'm referring to raw points, not percentiles. All of ds's scores improved 3-4 raw points except science went down 2 points. Ds says he wasn't trying as hard by the end of the test, but maybe this section was also more difficult from last year--who knows.

I may have made things confusing by starting to talk about percentiles. DS's scores in science went down by 4 points from last year. All his other scores stayed pretty consistent. When I saw others saying science went down, I just wondered if it was harder this year, perhaps...who knows? :-)

NUMATS sent us an email about their online toolbox yesterday. It had the course recommendations I was hoping for. Somewhere on the site was the 2011 statistical summary. I can�t remember where I found it though. The statistical summary link on the academic plan page was for the 2010 summary, and the 2011 one was in a different spot. It either only included 2009-2010 information or was missing some data though. My DD (4th grade) took the test this January and scored 22 in reading, but the summary showed no fourth graders with that score. At any rate, her percentiles were higher using the 2011 summary than the 2010 summary.

Great forum!

Just got DD�s (3rd grade) scores yesterday. She tested via C-mites. Her English and Science scores are quite high, but Math is somewhat low. The scores do qualify her for DYS though.
The test result got me thinking about DYS, but I am just not sure if we want to go ahead and try applying. I have a couple of questions and I appreciate any advice from you here on this matter.

1. DD took WISC IV almost two years ago by a school psychologist for gifted program at school. Her GAI was 143. If I remember correctly, she hit the ceiling on one of the subtests. But regardless of the score, will Davidson consider a school issued test report eligible?

2. Since DD�s IQ score does not meet the requirement, we may have to get a private test anyway. Does anybody have any recommendations on test providers around Philadelphia area? We are open to travel if the tester is really really good. Also, what�s a reasonable cost for a WISC IV test?

3. Lastly, for parents of current young scholars, what do you think of the program? Do you benefit a lot from it?

Thank you in advance!

Would it be possible for you to get the raw scores for her test? If she hit the ceiling, and the testing psychologist did not use the extended norms, re-scoring with the extended norms may put her GAI over the threshold.

DYS should accept the school-issued scores, in any event.

This is a question for the more experienced score interpretation people (Dottie?) -- I had this random recall the the extended norms only applied if the child had multiple (i.e. -- more than one) scores in the 18-19 range. My dd12, for instance, when tested at 7, had one 19 and a number of other varied scores but the next highest ones were at the 17 point. If I recall correctly, when I looked @ the extended norms chart, her 19 would become a 23 which would, of course, raise her GAI, but I didn't think that one would use the extended norms in a case like hers where she only had one 19.

oops, well in that case it doesn't help much does it.

I would think being sick would be a huge factor. No one can perform their best under those circumstances.

Cat

Thanks for the heads up. I found the 2011 statistical summary at the very bottom of the Resources tab.

http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/docs/ctd/StatSum2011.pdf


My dc's percentiles weren't included in table on the home page of her online report (only her raw scores). Did anyone else have this problem? I know they mention that there would be no percentiles if no grade level had been given, but this isn't our situation. Her grade level is stated clearly on our report.

Regarding the earned score in reading that isn't on the table-- I've copied this from the report:

Over 25,000 students in grades 3 through 9 participated in the 2011 NUMATS program. This statistical summary is based on scores from an even larger sample of NUMATS test-takers, including all 2009 and 2010 NUMATS test-takers (over 50,000 students). Using such large numbers is a significantly reliable method of establishing percentiles for this year�s NUMATS test-takers.

So I guess this means that the 2011 scores aren't included in the statistical analysis; the percentages are based off of the scores from 2009 and 2010 only.

I'm reading that as the summary including scores from '09-11, but maybe I'm reading it wrong. Either way, thanks for the link! I'm adding it to my page with links on interpretting achievement test scores.

Dd12 came quite close to the 90th percentile on the reading and english parts of the ACT for 8th graders on that list, but I know from years past that she's been at that spot or higher as compared to kids in other regional talent searches and not made the top 25% for ours, so we'll see how that goes this year.

Thanks! I couldn�t remember where I had seen the 2011 summary.

My DD�s percentiles weren�t listed either, even though her grade level was listed on her score report. I wonder if NUMATS somehow �lost� her grade level, which is why her reading score didn�t exist on the statistical summary. I sent them an email to ask.

Does anyone know what the cutoff for the Wisconsin award ceremony is? DD�s scores place her in the top 4%, so she won�t qualify for the NUMATS ceremony. We have an opportunity to go out of town the weekend of the state ceremony. If she makes the cutoff, I�d like her to go to the state ceremony, but if she doesn�t, then I�d like to make plans for the weekend.

The NUMATS summary is counting only the two previous years scores (i.e. for 2011, they are counting only 2009 and 2010). They could have been more clear in phrasing it.

MidwestMom: I think last years WCATY was at top 5%, (DD qualified with a 77 in 4th), so unless things change, your DD probably qualifies

I just looked at the Numats site and didn't see percentiles either but dd was registered as a 3rd grader and that was on the report. Friday her scores were not yet posted, so maybe all the data is just in the process of being posted???

I'm still stunned by her scores.

Update: I checked the NUMATS site today, and my DD's percentiles are now listed.

I am new to this forum. Anyone know the cutoff score for this year award ceremony? My daughter in 4th grade got 79, I think that she is just one point away from the award ceremony.

I am new to this forum as well, but it looks like the criteria changes (slightly) based on each year's test results. I see a summed score of 81 was needed for fourth graders in 2009, and an 80 was needed in 2010. Perhaps 79 will be the cut-off this year.

I am in similar situation with my fifth grade daughter, who took the test for the first time the year. We're right on the cut-off for the 2010 criteria. I'd love her to go to the awards ceremony simply to meet some other potential program participants. She's hesistant to go away for two weeks without knowing a soul!

Thanks meisje! I hope that the cutoff tendency is one-point less each year! Let's see!

Act explore qualify score for Wisconsin NUMATS Award ceremony:
4th grade >= 78
5th grade >= 83
6th grade >= 91

Are those qualifying numbers for just Wisconsin or all of NUMATS?

To Jtooit:

I am not sure if it is only for Wisconsin NUMATS Award ceremony or all of NUMATs. I just read it from http://www.wcaty.org/. You can find it in the news section.

In fact, I really hope that it is for all of NUMATS.

That will just be for WCATY. The NUMATS cutoffs will be higher and will be posted on their web page.

The link to the numbers is near the bottom of this page, but currently only last years cutoffs are up.
http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/numats/registrantinfo/

These are silly questions but:
1) What exactly is EXPLORE? How many questions on each part would there be, and how much time would the child have to answer them?
2) Is it a full-on ACT test that your grade schooler is taking?
3) Are the scores reported 10 years from now to colleges when he applies?
4) Is EXPLORE offered every month? Every 6 months?
Thanks alot!

You can get information from the following link:
http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/numats/program/faq/

Check the explore faq section.

Hope it is helpful and answers your qustions.

Thanks for the replies! Our state doesn't have a ceremony. My son did great either way.

If a child was grade skipped, would you register for the receiving grade the child was in? Would it base it on SAS or grade-level score? As with school, you still take the receiving level grade, regardless of age. I would assume this is the same?

I believe you register for the grade the dc is in at the time of the test. Scoring is not SAS. The percentiles are calculated using grade level testers for the Talent Search results. In the case of Explore, ACT send your dc's percentiles calculated using the general population of 8th graders.

Yes, my dd12 took the ACT as an 8th grader this year b/c that's the grade she's in. Like the pp said, the percentile you get on the score report compares the child to 8th graders for the EXPLORE and high school kids for tests like the SAT and ACT. The only area where being grade accelerated is a disadvantage, per se, is when a child is hoping for an award from talent search. Grade skipped kids are compared to kids in their current grade, not kids of the same age.

Gotcha! Thanks for the replies! Seeing as they were a good candidate for the grade accel. anyhow, they would be just fine being compared to kids their grade, I am sure. Thanks again!

My ds8 EXPLORE result is in. His best subject is 25 in science. He thought the math test was easy but unfortunately the site teacher gave him a calculator. He seldom use one before so the minutes he tried to make use of it came a bit costly. He got 20 in math.

Anyone know the info about the NUMATS award ceremony? I promised my ds8 that he has a chance to get a medal. His composite score is 99.7%. The total score (E+R+M+S) is 80. He would make it cutoff for last year's award ceremony. But it seems like no award for 3rd graders. What a disappointment.

Bummer. I was hoping DD would make the cutoff because I wanted her to meet other kids her age who might be attending some of the WCATY programs.

How do you figure? I came up with the opposite conclusion. For example, from what I can figure, it looks like it will be much harder to qualify for awards as there were so many more top scores this year than last. Wondering what I am missing.

My twins and I went to the WCATY ceremony last year, and IMO it was not a great event for meeting other kids. They packed a large auditorium (they honor 4th-8th grade) and it was a *long* program. My kids (4th grade at the time) had really wanted to go, but I was glad I brought a bag of books with us as they both read all through the ceremony. The reception afterward was totally jammed and difficult to mingle - we took off right after getting our certificates and sugar.

All of my DD's percentiles were higher using the 2011 summary rather than the 2010 summary.

Oh, okay. Then I guess it didn't really matter. There are some WCATY programs I think DD would enjoy, but she's not comfortable going without knowing anyone. I was looking for an easy way to meet more kids.

We are in a similar situation. DD is doing a "provisional" grade skip for the rest of the school year that started after I had already registered her for the Explore test. She scored high enough to qualify for the 4th grade award ceremony, but is still registered as 3rd grader with Numats and with her school. I did call Numats about the issue before the test and they said it would be better for her to stay registered for the Explore as a 3rd grader. I guess I could call them back and see if she could get her grade level altered, but I do think there is a high probability that her school is not going to allow her to move to 5th grade next year. I've heard there can be issues with undoing grade skips and talent searches like Explore and National Spelling Bee. Hopefully, she'll qualify again next year for the Numats award ceremony. Its the effort, not the award, that matters most, right?

Absolutely - and the chance to work closer to readiness level on a daily basis at school!

Not the EXPLORE, but dd12 did find out that her ACT scores qualify her for our state ceremony for 8th graders. Since this will be her last year testing through talent search, I guess that will be a nice end.

That IS a nice way to end the series! Enjoy the ceremony!

CTD Award Ceremony Qualifying Scores are out, which are higher than last year:

4th Graders
83 29
5th Graders
92 43
6th Graders
95 38

http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/docs/ctd/acscorecriteria2011.pdf

Thanks for posting, Midwest Dad! You always seem to have the scoop early! My dd10 didn't make the cutoff for this, but I did note that the older participants have a much higher percentage of awards, given that they need to meet fixed criteria. Something to aspire to in the future!

In fact, I am confused by the cutoff scores.
The following is quoted from NUMATS faq:

Who is invited to participate in the CTD Award Ceremony at Northwestern University?
After we analyze the test scores for all NUMATS participants who test before March, we establish the criteria for award ceremony eligibility. Invitations are mailed in late April to the highest-scoring students in grades 4 to 8, usually those who score in the top 1% for ACT and SAT and the top 2% for EXPLORE.

From http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/docs/ctd/StatSum2011.pdf
The numbers of test takers are:
4th Graders N=3227 3227*0.02=64 or 65
5th Graders N=4660 4660*0.02=92
6th Graders N=3477 3477*0.02=69

From http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/docs/ctd/acscorecriteria2011.pdf
The numbers of invited test takers for 2011 are
4th Graders 29
5th Graders 43
6th Graders 38

So I think that they only invite about top 1% for Explore test takers.

Do you think that I am right?

yes I think you are right. I've wondered about that too. The actual scores the "invited" children got were well over 99% percentile and the number of participants/number invited is about 1%. (I would bet they don't realize the website says 2%.). In some cases it is less than 1% , I think 6th grade is a little more than 1%. I'd bet cutting it off at sum score of 96 resulted in too few students, and 95 resulted in a few too many (e.g. a little over 1% of students)...

The 2011 Stat Summary is data from 2009 & 2010. It's 2 years worth of data.
When looking at the percentiles it seemed it was more than 1% less than 2% invited.

My ds10's score was a 91 and his cumulative score was a 23 which was a 99.6%. The cutoff was 92 for his grade, so I'm confused also...but it's all good, he still did really well : )

I know the composite scores are rounded. The stats for composite would be a little different than cut off totals. If I understand it right the composite it the total of the 4 scores. E+R+M+S=C. So I 91 would be a 22.75, but is rounded to 23 obviously. The cut off does not involve rounding up or down. I'm sure that can effect it at this level.
Are you sure your looking at the 2011 Stats?
4th grade 23 = 100%
5th grade 23 = 99.2%
6th grade 23 = 98.2%
I do think it kind of stinks that they list 2%, but it doesn't appear they have used the 2% number in recents years. You can log into the NUMATS toolbox and get your percentiles for all of his numbers.
Your DS did great!

Because the statistical summary isn't the current years data, but rather the previous 2 years data, you can't really judge the cutoff percentages using it. I think the high cutoffs this year vs. last just means there were more high scores this year.

Assuming that the number of Explore takers is about the same this year as the average from 2009/2010, it looks like very close to 2% were invited.

Hmmmm. So the N listed on the summary was a sum of participants for 2 years? So really only half of that figure take it on average each year? If so, then my earlier post is dead-wrong and Mark's 2% is correct.

To Mark:

My daughter got 98.5% for her composite (20) and 79 in total. Based on your understanding, the 98.5% is calculated from the last two year statistics.

Am I right?

Is DD bribable?
If so, I'd start thinking about a yummy bribe to get her to try a WCATY program.
Alternative approach is to call the organizer and see if you can do a family playdate with another family who attends WCATY programs.

Good luck,
Grinity

Unfortunately, no. It would make life much easier if she was. We may try a Saturday program this fall, so even if she's miserable, it will only be for a couple hours at a time.

Excellent!
I would also call the program and see if there is going to be a 'meet and greet' of any kind, or if they have any suggestions for the 'find a buddy' problem.

Yes.

From the 2011 summary:
This is phrased in a slightly ambiguous way, but based on the counts I read it as including only 2009 and 2010.

Also you need to bear in mind that the summary data is "% scoring same or worse", so even if the data source were the 2011 data, it would be telling you that 98.5% scored 81 or lower total (the top total which gets a 20 composite), and it wouldn't mean that a 79 total is in the top 2%.

Just so there is no misunderstanding, that is a fantastic score and I am in no way meaning to disparage it. I'm just talking about how to interpret the statistics vs the cutoffs.

Good idea!

To Mike:

Thanks a lot for your response. Now the result does make sense for me. Maybe NUMATs should also give out the statistic only for 2011, which will avoid some confusion.

For example, if some kids get 99% in composite, but cannot be invited to the award ceremony, it will be very disappointed for the kids because of the confusing statistics.

I agree, I'd like to see just the 2011 results.

I'm asking at the risk of sounding very silly. I'm not sure if I calculated DS8's scores correctly. I have both the 2010 and 2011 NUMATS stats (thanks so much to those who shared the links). His composite score was 21 and according to the 2010 stats summary, that's a 100%?. And according to the 2011 stats it's a 99.8%?.

Is anyone able to determine if that's correct?
Am I reading it right?
And how would you use this information...is this a more accurate representation of how my child did compared to 8th graders than the percentile given in his score report?
Is it helpful to advocate at the school level?
Or if you homeschool, will it be helpful if you need accommodations a year from now through an online high school program that may ask for middle school test scores?
Is this data even helpful if DS took the Explore via Belin Blank instead of Numats?

So many questions. Statistics isn't my strongest area. Hope the questions don't sound silly. Thanks.

which grade is she in? That is an important parameter.
If she is in 3rd grade, I think that you are right.

Assuming that he's in third grade, that's how he compares to other third grade talent search students. I think the percentiles that came with his scores that compare him to typical eigth grade students may be more useful for advocacy, but then I haven't had much luck using DD's.

Thanks MidwestDad, MidwestMom! OK, that makes a lot of sense. I was a little perplexed for a minute. Yes, he's in third. Homeschooled and we're looking at the possibility of starting full time high school for fourth. I'm sorry it wasn't helpful MidwestMom. I'm not sure if it'll be helpful for us either. Several higher ed sources I spoke to don't even seem to know about the Explore (feel close to screaming sometimes).