I've seen several posts about the Explore test at different times but my search turned up some pretty irrelevant threads, so I thought I'd create a new one and clog up the forum with already asked and answered questions.

Is it worth it? I absolutely know that it will not make one bit of difference to the school and would not provide any basis for differentiation, so that wouldn't be a benefit for us.

However, we'll have a little more time for some afterschooling activities over the next several months (really through next summer even). Would the Explore test give me an idea of where my child really is? The only testing he's had so far has been fairly usless for that (post high school for the math subtests and 7th to 9th grde equivalents for the reading and verbal subtests). There is no way my child is post high school, though he is learning algebra at home.

Has the Explore test helped you place your child a little better even if not at school? What other ways would the results be useful? Are there any benefits to registering with the Duke program even if he doesn't take the Explore, such as opportunities and resources we wouldn't otherwise have access to?

Thanks so much in advance for any help/direction you guys can provide!

It helped me realize that I had been underestimating my dd's LOG, prompted us to get her tested with WISC, and encouraged me to ask school to do further testing and use Iowa Acceleration Scale which led to a highly successful skip from 5th to 7th grade. Dd is thriving and happy and I think while academically she could use another skip, it has somewhat helped stem perfectionism. I think it is very much worthwhile. FWIW, the school had zero reaction--(and considering her very high scores I expected some kind of response). But it did serve as evidence that it was appropriate to consider acceleration. Good luck!

We found the Explore a valuable addition to our daughter's testing tool kit. She took it about half-way between her first and second whole grade accelerations. It helped confirm that the first skip was a success and the second was going to be justified. It also allowed us to compare her to scores to those of other high achieving kids.

The Explore test won't provide you with a complete picture of your child's abilities, but this one certainly can help fill in the picture.

--S.F.

The Explore test for me was similar to deacongirl. It made me realize that my DD10 was more advanced than I thought. As a result, I found the Davidson Institute and had her take the WISC test. I also learned that as advanced as I thought of her in Math, that was by far her lowest score since it is harder to quantify something like Science reasoning without such a test.

I second Chana. My DD was 8 and she scored 88 percentile (composite), 95 percentile in Ebglish, on EXPLORE (8th grade test) and prompted me to get WISC and get admitted to DYS. Besides, its cheap

We haven't used Duke TIP resources as yet.

My DS was 8 and in the 3rd grade when he took EXPLORE.
It was absolutely worth it.

Ditto Deacongirl's reply.

If it weren't for the Explore test we also would have continued underestimating ds11's abilities and his perfectionism and underachievement may have worsened.

I brought the results to our school and on the recommendation of gifted ed teacher, ds was given the WISC IV. Results from that validated what we saw on the Explore which led us to consider subject-advancement. The Iowa Assessment Scale was done and we decided based on that to do a whole grade skip from 5th to 7th.

The thing is, if your dc is scoring near the ceiling of a grade-level test (and our wasn't scoring in the 99th percentile, ironically,) it's difficult to know where their ceiling really is. It's one of the most cost-effective tests offered and I've read that it can surpass IQ tests in accuracy when testing older kids.

You can PM me if you have any questions.

Thanks everyone! It sounds as though it is informative even if I don't think it will make the school change in any way.

If nothing else, I think that it would be helpful for a bright child to be exposed to testing that can actually be a challenge and to have some idea of their growth from year to year. DS and DD both took it in 3rd grade and in 4th grade. For DS, the test was a challenge in 3rd grade but by 4th grade the test was no longer difficult so the results reassured me that he was developing academically.

Keep in mind that grade equivalents can be less than worthless even when you are using a test able to assess higher levels. A student at 50 percentile in reality is very low as the gap between 50 percentile and 95 percentile is huge. For example, on the MAP reading test, a score of 223 is 50% for grade 10 but you need a score of 224 (1 more point) to hit the 95% for grade 4. The gap between 95% and 99% is wide as well. You would need 236 to hit the 99% for grade 4.

So I finally registered my son for the Explore test and received his results today, with one very anomalous subtest score.

For those whose children have taken the Explore- do the parents ever see the test/answers? Or just the report? I'm curious only because I'm trying to determine if there is a real issue I need to be concerned about, or whether there was something else which lowered his score in this one subtest.

I could completely see him getting bored with the test and phoning it in on the last section or something similar, but would just like to rule out a true deficiency given his other scores were as expected. Especially since the outlier score was in reading of all things.

Thanks in advance for any information!

MonetFan,

My DD's Reading score was her lowest by a wide margin too.

I am wondering if she over thought things or whether it is a bit of a cramp shoot, i.e. very subjective answers.

I could see that as well, since I know my son does that on the OLSAT when his school administers it each year. Definitely over thinks much of that test.

I saw your post about your daughter's scores, and they are very similar (though your daughter's are higher in math, which ironically is my son's supposed strong suit). It's just a red flag for me when one score (especially reading) is 7 points lower than any other and all others are within a point of each other.

I don't see any issues with his comprehension normally, but he does tend towards my impatience and my skip reading, so that hopefully explains it. Thanks!