Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment PSAT/NUMATS Talent Search

We are thinking of having my DYSDS7 to take the PSAT next year, when he is in 3rd grade. So I went to the parent seminar at Northwestern CTD when they talked about their talent search program (NUMATS). The presenter said that the NUMATS is to identify kids who are above grade level, provide information on the strengths and weaknesses on academic areas, open the gate to get into CTD Honor programs and help parents/students to advocate in school.

Their focus is on academic achievement, not IQ. They want to see what they have achieved, not what they MAY BE ABLE to achieve. My question is, do kids need to have exposure to the higher grade materials in order to score well on these tests? For example, my DS7 can grasp a concept very quickly and learn fast. However, he has not worked on much of 4th grade math yet. When he takes the test next fall, he may be only at 3rd grade or lower 4th grade level if he's not exposed to higher grade material outside of school. How would the scores help us to understand his giftedness if we did not have him taken the WISC IQ test? What are the benefits of taking the PSAT besides he'll have more experience when taking the real deal tests (ACT or SAT) when he is in high school?

To be honest, I was a little surprised that the CTD presenter indicated that they are only looking for high achievers, not high IQ kids. High IQ doesn't tell them anything besides he/she may have the potential to be a high achiever. I understand working hard is very important even for highly gifted, but IMHO, I just think the current NUMATS program may leave out gifted kids who can't afford (financially or time wise) higher level materials.

A student's achievement is often the major factor in determining placement. Simply put, if a child knows "A", s/he is ready to learn "B"... when the child knows "B", s/he is ready to learn "C"... and so forth. Therefore above-level tests are useful. An above-level test would typically have a higher ceiling than a MAP test, for example. The IAS recommends an above-level test as one piece of data to consider for whole-grade acceleration.

The primary use of the PSAT which I am familiar with is for naming National Merit scholars in high school, when students are gathering credentials for college applications.

A typical response when concerned for children not having access to higher level materials is to suggest the local public library. With parental guidance, the internet can be another cost-effective educational resource for a child's particular area(s) of interest. What are your child's interests at this point in time?

What are you hoping to learn from your child taking a test?
What are you hoping your child will gain from the testing experience?

Thank you indigo.

DS7 is currently more into drawing but he likes math as well. He's not a very mathy kid but he does learn it fast. He doesn't like to read but loves word games/puzzles, spelling and remembering long words. His WISC subtest scores suggest that he's fairly well rounded but especially strong in visual spatial.

He's most recent MAP test puts him at 99% but we are not sure where he is actually at. I think the PSAT will help us to determine his true grade level.

We are also hoping, if he scores well above his current grade, we may be able to advocate for subject acceleration. He will most likely be in the gifted program our school district offers, but if he's well above that level (1 or 1.5 grade accelerated), we may be able to push it even higher. The district told me that it's rarely done and usually is at a higher grade (probably middle school).

The last reason we want him to take the test is for him to get familiar with the test because it is pretty much the same as SAT so this will help him being more confident with the tests when he takes these in high school.

If you are looking for economical resources which might help him stretch in his areas of interest, there are many to be found online. One which comes to mind right away based on his interest in word games/puzzles, spelling and remembering long words is Spelling City, which offers both "free" games and activities and those which are accessible with a paid membership.

WordCount is a visual depiction of the frequency of word usage. The word "gifted" is listed as the 11,320th most commonly used word... found sandwiched between "renew" and "abrupt".

The Davidson Database has an extensive list of resources including a webpage dedicated to Games and Puzzles for gifted students.

Homeschool sites, such as Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (GHF) also post lists of resources.

Hoagies does too.

There's also the Mensa for Kids website.

Thank you for suggesting all the resources. Spelling City looks interesting . We'll check out the other resources.

I wrote a whole bunch of stuff about how the PSAT was not a good test for a 3rd grader before I Googled NUMATS EXPLORE. NUMATS used to use ACT's EXPLORE test, an 8th grade level test, as an above-level test for 3rd-6th grade students.

EXPLORE is no longer offered by ACT. NUMATS now uses PSAT 8/9, which is different from the PSAT that HS juniors take. It looks like it would be an appropriate replacement for the EXPLORE.

Thank you NoSoGifted. It's good to know that PSAT is an appropriate replacement for EXPLORE. I know they discounted the EXPLORE and PSAT 8/9 is new this year but not so sure if they are different or similar.