There is a bit of chicanery in the reporting of those numbers. They are meaningless without reporting what percentage of total kindergarteners took the tests.
P.S. Found a reference that says 13600 of the incoming 66000 kids took the test. So about 20%. 20% of 20% is 4% and 40% of 20% is 8%.
The real concern should then be the number of seats available that completely defy their set standards. And please, 3% = genius?
Okay, that's a really good point. I thought they all had to take it as part of entering kindergarten or something. My mistake!
If he hadn't slipped in "of actual test takers", it might've flown right by me. Then again, I was recently thinking of the test takers vs. population question in regards to how Explore tests are evaluated; and the numbers he presents look so outrageous. But the inset numbers only say "of kindergarteners."
It's a shame, because issues of test prep, the projections using combined test scores, etc are all pretty interesting and important. And I have to imagine a large number are self-selected out of the aspirant pool because they are homeschooling or private schooling.
I wish journalists would consistently choose integrity over sensationalism.
