I was looking at the NUMTAS 2012 report that came out (
http://toolbox.ctd.northwestern.edu/download/?f=2012-statistical-summary.pdf) and I have to admit, I was pretty surprised. The high scores just seem SO high. It makes me wonder if it has become all about test prep. I mean, a 6th grader needs a 33 on the ACT reading- yikes, that's nearly perfect. And the weird thing is, it seems like the ACT/SAT scores needed are higher compared to the "normal" test takers (NUMATS versus HS seniors) than the EXPLORE (NUMATS versus 8th graders) even though there is more of an age gap - could that be because the NUMATS participants taking the ACT/SAT are both old enough to prep more and there are a plethora of materials for prepping?
The one exception seemed to be the SAT CR (I was actually a little disappointed to see that my son's 610 would have qualified, because only a 590 is needed this year; he didn't take it through NUMATS). Maybe that's harder to prep?
I don't know if this post is even making sense - but as I was looking, I was just thinking, "good think ds10 qualified with EXPLORE (and he
just squeaked through with an 85, which was the minimum) because there's no way he'd put in the prep needed to get a high enough score next year." He had the exposure to higher math, so was able to get the 25 and qualify. Ds12, even though he is really gifted in math, "only" got a 590 in math on the SAT, well below the 680 needed, because he hasn't been exposed.
I guess my question is, does the Talent Search still serve the purpose of identifying gifted students *if* those students haven't already been identified by parents and/or teachers and exposed to/prepped with much higher-level materials?
Just curious what others think...
Edited to add: Okay, just realized (thanks, Bostonian) that my post didn't really make sense - I was referencing the "awards criteria", not the scores needed to participate. I realize that this is a completely different thing, but honestly, I still can't get over how high they are - it does seem like you'd need a lot of prep to qualify for an award. Maybe that's a totally different ball of wax and I shouldn't even be thinking about the awards?
http://toolbox.ctd.northwestern.edu/download/?f=AC-2012-Score-CRITERIA-Form.pdf
