Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Got Conn St. Mastery Test Back!

Been trying to figure how to get the school to understand that my dd9 needs more. There is no gifted program and they "will not and do not skip"...so, I was hoping her CMT scores would back me up...I'm wondering how much pull they have with adminitration...

She got advanced in all areas.

Math (100-400) she got a 378
raw core of 105 out of 106


Reading (100-400) she got a 311
raw score of 35 out of 40

Degrees of reading power Unit Score = 79 (hoping someone from CT can tell me what this is about)

Writing (100-400) She got 400!

Direct Assessment of Writing Holistic Score (2-12) She got 12.

R these good? Obviously they are good...I guess what I'm asking...is are they good enough to use as evidence for further testing?

I looked at the district % and it looks like although 30% of our district (120 kids)scored "advanced" only 8% got a 12 on the Direct Assessment of Writing...which looks like about 10 kids...compared to the state % which was 3% of kids in the state scored a 12...

It's hard to know HOW advanced they scored. But 30% advanced seems to be a LOT of kids which makes me think this is not a good test to bring up to the admins...

If she is "as gifted" as I think she is, should she have gotten perfect scores on everything?

Thank you Connecticut people!

Exactly - tests of this nature 'show' that she's in good company - 'Golly - 3% scored just like her - she's got that good handful of peers'

Well - not if the test stops so low that it can't discriminate between 'top 3% and top 0.3%

Next year you can pull out the SAT prep book and gauge if she ready to sit down with the High School Seniors and give it a whirl. (Lots of PGlets really aren't ready until age 12 - but some are ready earlier)

That should make their eyes pop.

Meanwhile the Math score might be worth finding out how many kids in her class scored that high...and try and make a case for subject acceleration.

JHU's CTY Is worth an afternoon...you go to a local computer testing center - say on Vetran's Day and spend an hour waiting while your DD takes their test.

It won't help with the school folks either, but does open the door to some cool weekend activities and online classes for enrichment.

A really key thing to find out is - are their real peers for my daughter in her current grade. If so, offering an afterschool activity such as 'Junior Great Books' yourself might be the way to go. If not - that's a whole different challenge.

Here's another idea - if possible, ask the school to give her CMTs for kids 2 grades ahead of her, and ask them to see how her scores compare to those kids. If she scores in the 'top 30%' advanced for kids 2 grades ahead, it might give them the security to skip her a single grade.

Keep posting, I'll try and keep coming up with ideas...
Grinity

Thanx!

I registered her with CTY and have a number and everything...just trying to save the %55! I know, I know...but ya know?

She is in Ballet - 4 classes a week with kids who are older than her...and many of them are smart...

Dancing is her "thing"....I know that they have a Math olympiads thing at the school...just waiting to hear more about it.

My friend's 12 year old son is taking algebra II this year...another district..

He is bussed to the highschool for math in the morning and then back to middle school for the rest of the day. The highschool starts earlier, so he is in school longer than the rest of the kids. I guess he has another child who does it with him and it works out well. ANYWAY, he helped me to figure out the CMT scores on the phone last night. He was so happy for my dd9. He pulled out his 3rd grade scores and found that she did a little better than him in everything...Rather than feeling competative, he seemed so happy to have someone to share with. He wants to get skype going and offered to to tutor her on Skype everyday after school...in Math...HOW cute! To see his enthusiasm is amazing. I just want that for my daughter - before she shuts down. So, that might be just the thing.

We also have a friend in another St whose dd 5 isn't adjusting so well to kindergarten. Maybe my DD9 can give her little Skype (am I spelling that right?) lessons!

We might have a thing here!

Thanx for you thoughts Grinity...any idea what the DRP of 79 indicates. I think it's really high, but I can't figure out how high..

Thanks Kcab! Yes..that is where I looked...We only have one school in our district..so, I have a good idea of the %...with 120 kids it's pretty small too!

The state % for advanced comes out at 30%
for our school. It's 31 %...So, our school doesn't seem to be "way up there" - except for in writing.

I didn't notice the lare range for advanced. Thanks for pointing that out. Since she only missed ONE of the math problems (prolly the one she 'went back to fix' I'd say she would be among the top scorers in the advanced cat...but who knows. Maybe most of the 'advanced' kids got perfect scores. I wonder if the school would know, or give me that info.

These DRP scores have me confused. The chart says that a 79 is like 12th grade or whatever...I seriously doubt that in 45 minutes they tested all the kids as far up to 12th grade!

I assume the tests get harder every year, so what does the 79 mean? From what I understand, they test until they comprehend less that 70% of what they are reading. So, with a 70% comprehension she is reading at a 79...WHAT THE *** is a 79!

That's amazing that your DD did so well on the SATs...how old was she when she took it? Maybe I am underestimating my DD, but taking SATs seems crazy to me. Don't you need a huge vocabulary to do well? With all those bird:fly::ant:......things...I can't imaging her knowing enough vocab to do well on that!

I saw a comparison of the DRP somewhere...it said that 59% of our district scored 50 (something) which was as high as they went. I can't find ANYTHING that interprets a score from a third grader of 79...It's making me crazy. AND IF it is as high as it seems, should the teacher be calling to tell me that she is aware of DD9's reading level and will be looking for ways to challenge her in the classroom...?

I wonder if the reading teacher is willing to take back her comment to DD at the open house...The one where she told DD that she must not really be reading if she is reading a book a day. She must just be skimming.

So the school doesn't care about the perfect writing score? Do they even look at those do you think?

I also think that it's weird that she got sort of a 'low' score in reading...311 (100-400) with a DRP that seems so high...

I wonder if the level of instruction she received last year in reading (way below her level) is hindering her from performing better on standerdized testing...hmmmm...just thinking outloud! Thanks for listening.

How do you even sign up you 10 (or whatever) year old to take SATs...and what if she bombs...Does the school then think I'm nuts and then not work with me on anything ever again?

Too bad about CTY scores not doing anything for the school...

They do some sort of 'gifted testing' this year in grade 4. Not sure what it is...trying to find out online but can't seem to find it. It's a group test and I believe it is administered to everyone. You only get notified if your child 'is gifted'. But they don't really offer anything to the kids on the list. They do keep them in mind, though, if anything should come up that would interest them. The give them jobs...like speeking at events and such. It doesn't seem to help with their education though. I was told NO on harder homework. I STILL can't get over that!

Oh, okay..I see. They have to comprehend 75% starting in fifth grade...and then 80% later....So, The score would go down, even if it was the same reading material, the higher up you get in grade level.

So a 79 would translate into something lower if a 5th grader took the test.

But I still don't understand what level they are giving them to read. I understand that the DRP is used in DD's school as a way for the school to assess reading levels...to choose books and teaching materials. It is not just for the State test (NCLB) so, I am working hard to figure it out...I suspect I will need to understand this while advocating for her.

Any age below 13 the way to sign up for the SATs -
Go to the guidance office at any high school and ask for a SAT booklet. You will see a scannable application in the middle - fill it out and mail it to College Board company.

My son couldn't bear to sit through it at 11, but loved the experience at age 12 and 13. The school won't see the scores unless you show them, and the scores magically dissapear each June. So you don't have to worry about doing harm. I wouldn't send a 9-11 year old unless they had already done a practice test at home and scored at least 500.

I think the Skype idea has promise.

I've forgotten - do you have WISC scores? Do you have an idea of 'my child is way different than peers' or 'there is a whole mini-group with similar needs who isn't getting their needs met?'

Best Wishes,
Grinity

Just have Woodcock Johnson scores...overall 99.6 with 99.9 in some areas..(writing/spelling)...She was reading words at 2, sentances at 3, books at 4 and chapter books at 5...at 18 months she was doing what seemed to me like kindergarten stuff. Writing letters and numbers and using the computer like a 1st or 2nd grader..loading Blues Clues...for preschool and doing level 3 easily before age 2. I saved a picture she drew when she was 3.5 of me giving birth to her sister...no she wasn't there...lol..but my hunch is that she IS a little above what is normally bright...but I also suspect that she is not so far above, that just being with normally bright students would be enough.

She is not making friends - real friends in our new town. There are many kids she rides around with from the neighborhood, but she seems so disconnected from them. She used to be a leader. I had to teach her to do this without being bossy. She just had so many great ideas for plays to put on and stories to write. I think she has learned that the kids around here aren't into that stuff, so she just rides around with them on her bike, listens to them, laughs at their jokes, and she shares close to nothing with them. She seems so lonely to me. And embarassed to do anything that might seem smart in front of them. She still likes to be smart for me though ...

I sometimes see her spark when she plays with older kids...a year or two older. The other day she was playing with a 5th grade boy from down the street. He taught her to play Pokemon..Then, he played another game with her (I forgot which one). She was so happy and bright-eyed. That only happens once every 6 months.

She is usually shy with boys, so I know that she must have been really interested to put the whole boy thing aside.

I talk too much. Anyway...sigh. I love this forum!

Just had Open House...lots of parents stayed to ask questions..so I lingered. The teacher wanted to talk and talk..so I asked her what a 79 DRP ment...She said that my daughter is a good tester.

I let her know that I have a hard time knowing which books dd should be reading because her reading level is so high but her comprehension is only a 5th grade (topped out at 5th) and she told me that if she can't support her inferences with facts from the story then she shouldn't be reading the higher books.

But is was funny for her to look through her book at dd's scores over and over again as if they couldn't be possible...and she checked other people's scores to see if she was reading them right...everytime she looked at a good score, including the perfect in writing, she just said that she obviously can read anything you give her, but she can't read it in her class if she can't write a clear essay on the main events.

I told her I thought it was a comunication problem, not knowing what is expected of her. She told me that it was a reading problem. Hmmm.

My DD came home from school today very sad. I guess she was harsh with her. DD stood up to hand in her cursive assignment..because she finished it early and she snapped at her to sit down. She then went to her desk and told her to write "Done in 12 minutes" on it. So she did and then she waited for the time to run out. Nobody else finished the assignment. Speaking with her, it was obvious that she had no idea what DD's scores were. I have a feeling she will either come around and treat DD as the brilliant reader that she is, or find ways to push her down throughout the school year, to prove that she is "just a good test taker."

I asked DD if she wants to be homeschooled. She said No. It's gunna be a rough year. On the plus side...the Math teacher was pretty cool and I got the book to bring home...they might go really slow through it, but she doesn't know everything in it. Everyday Math sure has a strange way of presenting things, but it might go over well with her.

I don't know if this link will help, maybe you have already seen it.
http://www.questarai.com/products/drpprogram/pages/drp_scoring.aspx

The
Sample DRP Individual Student Performance Chart (PDF)
has some sample scors.

We signed our oldest up through WATS/RMATS (our local talent search) when she was in middle school. She took the SAT twice, at ages 10 and 11 and she didn't do the practice tests at home before b/c it is hard to talk her into doing that type of stuff. She still wound up in that 500+ area in critical reading and writing. I do think that having taken the EXPLORE the year earlier through talent search prepped her for the idea of a hard test, though. I, too, probably wouldn't have sent a kid that age to test on the SAT if she had no prior above level testing experience, but I don't know that I'd hold fast to a certain point on a practice test in order to consider the real test.