It's different than learning if some of the prep is around test-taking strategies oriented towards the type of questions on a test.
So for this problem you could be good at multiplication or test taking to get it right:
5231 * 8243 =
A) 45,768,329
B) 43,119,133
C) 4,311,931
D) 43,911,332
You can also be trained in specific heuristics for certain types of tests without having the ability discover those heuristics yourself.
If I teach my son that the last digit of x*y can be inferred from the last digits of x and y, because some book or web site informed that such questions appear on an admissions test, does that make me a "thief" of some more-deserving child's place?
There are truly unethical tactics. It's probably possible to buy the NNAT, WISC, SB, or other tests on some sleazy part of the Internet. I would not do that. There is a book by NYC parent Karen Quinn sold openly on Amazon, "Testing for Kindergarten: Simple Strategies to Help Your Child Ace the Tests for: Public School Placement, Private School Admissions, Gifted Program Qualification". I assume that the makers of the NNAT/WISC/SB have no legal objection to this book, or it would not have been published. If I lived in NYC I probably would buy this $10 book and expose my children to the topics in it that they had not already seen. If other parents are not on the ball, tough.
