Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Using state assessments for advocacy?

FWIW my ds was in slow end in Math until around 10. He hated facts and was soooo slow doing his multiplication and division. From 6th grade through 8th grade he is on track to have completed 6 years of math in 3 years. Sometimes they just bloom late in area when they are so good in others areas

I didn't prep my ds. I'm sure I would have had he taken the Explore at 8 or 9. He He would have tanked math at that age. He just had no exposure and was super slow with no calculator experience. I see nothing wrong with showing them equations they have never seen and such. It might make for a whole lot less anxiety even it they don't get it correct.

Love her reasoning with the wheels:D

Thanks for the encouraging words about math and the wheels : 0

Today DD and another kid from 3rd grade were talking about a test question or story about a talking llama. Today had alot more writing which has a different and more difficult twist for DD.

I would definitely do preparation with DD before taking a major test like that. She didn't for SCAT (except for us going over the sample questions) that was a gage of what she already knows. But SAT even as a young kid, I definitely wouldn't have her take it without learning stuff at home or some prep, because I don't believe her school education matches what she is capable of doing and it wouldn't be a fair indication of what she could accomplish given an appropriate education.

Test prep is a standard thing and tests come up for lots of things...judging from how large the prep test book sections are at the book store and library!

Hi bzylzy - you've already gotten great advice re your original question - and I"m in a hurry (as usual lol!). I just wanted to add my extra two cents to the voices who suggested caution about using state tests. I'd suggest you *might* be able to use them as one piece of data but be sure you understand the level of the test, the ceiling and what it doesn't test, and the distribution of scores among students at your dd's grade level in her school district.

In our state, not only are the state tests limited to the current grade, the skills measured on the test are limited even relative to what's expected of most students in that grade at a typical school, there are very few questions, no time limits, and the kids spend a small bit of time prepping for the tests (note: it's a "small" bit of time at my kids' school... but... friends of mine who live in other states mention that test prep takes up a *huge* amount of classroom time for state testing). I think any one of these things could be used by the school staff to diminish the meaning of your dd's results.

You can most likely find out a lot about the statistics etc for your state tests online - I think schools are required to report them to the public. Our school district website has "report cards" for each school that show testing results by grade level, and also links to sample tests, as well as detailed curriculum mastery lists for each subject by grade level.

I get a little bit excitable over state testing for a reason - my 2e ds was, in mid-elementary school, clearly unable to compose any kind of written paragraph (or sentence) unless he had a ton of support. Yet he scored *ONE* point below the top quartile on his state writing test.... and it wasn't because he'd suddenly found his ability to write

When advocating, two things that I think might help your case are cultivating a relationship with a teacher who really gets your dd and wants to see her advance, as well as taking a close look at curriculum standards for your dd's current grade and the grade levels ahead. Even though it's not as official as a test, it never hurts to be able to walk into a meeting and state that dd has mastered skill a,b,c that are included in the curriculum goals for grade current+2 etc.

Good luck!

polarbear

Thanks polarbear. I've seen the site with the report cards but I think they don't get around to posting them until the fall. I'll look more closely, maybe I'm wrong. I'll take a look at the curriculum coming up also.

That's a really good idea about look ahead. When DD was entering K I had a list of what the district said they were to accomplish by the end of K and concentrated on "proving" she had met all those expectations (didn't work, I think I'm the worse advocator EVER!) anyway it never occured to me to go forward into 1st, 2nd etc. The principal was absolutely dead set against grade skips but the 1st grade teacher across the hall wanted to work with DD for a start but the others were inflexible.

I wouldn't think a full skip would be appropriate right now I'd be satisfied with more robust accommodations for her areas of strength. The school I have in mind for 6th+ does things like allow the student to test out of certain requirements and move up more quickly then when they're junior/seniors they stay in school but they do local internships (which DD would love!) and they can choose between AP and "college" courses (the college instructor comes to the school to teach the college-level course). I think a path like that would be good for DD.

I've been focusing on building up the relationship with the teacher this year and for the most part it's pretty mellow but I'm still frustrated with what's happening I try to tread super carefully. She did in the last few weeks give DD harder spelling words so DD does have to pay a bit more attention during the week to get 100% though she doesn't study, at least she pays more attention to the words when she does the weekly exercises. So that's a little victory!!

I think it really depends on why they're testing, and what you mean by preparation.

We did both SCAT and EXPLORE this year to have a baseline number. So we looked over the "what to expect" booklets, and talked about what the test process would be like, but that was it. My DD is not the kid who learns a math concept after one exposure, or who is capable of remembering things she's been told to learn by rote, so any last-minute cramming either would have artificially boosted her scores with no long-term benefit (defeating the purpose of establishing a baseline), or just would have confused her.

DD didn't make the SCAT cut in math; if she wanted to test again in June to be eligible for a CTY class, I'd prep the heck out of her. In light of her EXPLORE scores, I think she'd be fine in a CTY science class, even if it were heavy in math, and I see no point in keeping her from that just because the SCAT math section is not a good measure of her actual math and science skills.

When she gets old enough that the tests matter for anything, if she wants to prep specifically for them, that's fine by me. We're planning some assiduous after-schooling / summer-schooling because she has interest, and presumably that will boost her EXPLORE score for next year, but I see that as the equivalent of subject acceleration or tutoring in an area of interest or providing access to more-advanced books, none of which I see much objection to.

AlexsMom, that's very interesting what you said about the CTY science classes. My DD din't make the CTY cut in math and so she couldn't take the science classes, which were really what she would love and benefit from the most for enrichment. We ended up not taking any CTY classes anyway, the ones she qualified for didn't interest her enough to justify the cost.

If DD is interested in a science career, which she seems more likely a biology-type at this point (and judging interest that has not waned since she was about 3) I'm confident that she could manage the math required. When she went to the vet appt with me on Sat the lady vet was lobbying DD to pursue a vet career. The vet said she never liked school at all but set her mind to doing what it took to get to where she is.

Gotta go