Another early tester here -- ds10 took the EXPLORE as a 7-year-old third-grader. As I remember, he came out saying he didn't finish some of it, but despite perfectionist tendencies he always seems unfazed by standardized testing, so it didn't traumatize him. (I had explained to him beforehand at some length that taking a difficult, out-of-level test was necessary because of his abilities, so he was able to view the experience as a good thing, I think).
The value of above-level testing for us is seeing improvement from year to year (it helps me know we picked the right learning environment for him). Third grade was his first at a new school, so it was good to establish a 'baseline' that year, so to speak.
And there has been improvement, by leaps and bounds in some areas. I don't know how else we'd get an objective measure of his learning, since grades aren't objective and the only other standardized testing the school uses is grade-level ITBS.
Hope this helps!
