Aufilia - perhaps with the WIAT, SCAT and WISC, you don't feel the need for additional assessment. That is OK, too. It is a personal decision. For us, the EXPLORE was the first out-of-level test, and was 5-grades up (at that time). When your child takes the test through a Talent Search you will typically get 2 sets of percentiles by subject area (Math, Reading, English, and Science, as well as a Composite): 1) the recent 8th grade sample; 2) the Talent Search grade level sample (typically 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th grade, depending upon the grade of your child). Both sets of data are interesting, and depending on your Talent Search may also come with a sort of "road map" of courses to be taken over the next several years. Of course, you may not feel you need any of this.
My understanding is that this will be the last year for the EXPLORE for Talent Searches, before the switch to the Aspire test. I don't think that it is clear yet what the Talent Searches will be doing for younger students once the EXPLORE is gone.
