Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment February EXPLORE results

Received DD's Explore results and now we are sort of confused. Overall we are extremely proud of her considering this was the first time she has taken any type of test like this (she hadn't even done any standardized testing at school yet) and she is only in 3rd grade. She was the only 3rd grader at our test site and she was a bit nervous about not knowing anyone else and being in an unfamiliar place.

Here are her scores
English - 14
Math - 13
Reading - 12
Science - 15

What has us confused is - reading was her lowest score and we really anticipated that to be her highest. She reads at least 3+ years above grade level with great comprehension. Reading was even lower than her math score. She is above grade level in math, but not near where she is with reading - and math hasn't really been her thing (not that her math test score was high by any great means, but just higher than reading).

Anyone have any thoughts why a child who has always seemed to be obviously advanced in reading would not do well on the reading portion of the Explore? She didn't have much to say after the test other than she answered all the questions and had time to spare to go back and recheck. She felt she did okay. I had previously mentioned in a post that I was concerned she would spend more time looking around the testing room at whatever was on the wall, etc. than she would working on the test, so that may be part of what happened.

1Frugal mom, I don't know about the reading part but I would say those are very good scores especially considering her age and I'm guessing lack of experience with these kinds of tests. (My own DS didn't take a grade-level achievement test until the end of third grade.)


Edited to add: Sorry. I clearly didn't read your whole post well. I see now that you said this was her first test and that you're proud.

1frugalmom, I don't know much about the explore, but when my daughter took her grade level achievement test in 3rd grade, she didn't do super great on reading, and did better in math, and she is a very verbal kid who reads a ton with great comprehension. I'm not sure what happened, but I wonder if a kid reads high level books for enjoyment and gets the nuance, etc, maybe reading dry passages and then "identifying the main idea" or whatever doesn't really hold their interest. I'm not sure that a reading comp test can ever really accurately measure the way a sophisticated reader who loves reading integrates a text. Maybe?

Tested through NUMATS in NC. Live in VA.

@1frugalmom, Don't worry about the reading score. I bet your kid just love to read for fun, not read to answer the comprehensive questions. For math, some factors would affect the score significantly:
(1) how familar is the problem?
(2) Any knowledge gap?
(3) how quick to come up with a strategy to solve the problem?
(4) how fast is the calculation especially multiply/divide?
(5) proper calculator usage.

erich - I agree with you on the math. DD hadn't probably even seen a lot of what was on the math portion of the test yet. We didn't do any prep besides the practice test they sent because we wanted the best true representation of how she could do and we don't agree with "teaching to the test". We showed her how to use the calculator since she had never done more than just play with one before and she told us she didn't even use it on the test.

She isn't truly out-there mathy and will tell you she doesn't like math she is just good at it (her words). I think she is better than what she thinks, but she is a very apathetic gifted kid. As long as she has a book she is enjoying, legos to build with, can play outside, and is allowed to be creative in any way she currently sees fit....she is happy.

We were hoping the Explore would give us a better indication of where she is at for some acceleration and changes to her IEP for next year. We were thrown off when her reading score wasn't really out there as we expected. We had also secretly hoped for scores at least close to DYS so we could get help figuring her out and how to best help her, but she is quite a ways from that mark. We will trudge along and maybe have her take the test again next year - since now she knows what the test is like maybe she will surprise us.

Received the Explore test in the mail today:

4th grader:

Reading-16
Science-21
English-24
Math-25

Composite 22


I understand those are good scores, except for the reading part maybe, which is surprising because he is a very good reader.
Now, what do I do with these scores? Would I be able to negotiate with his school to let him skip a grade? He is extremely bored in school, very morning it is the same story, can I stay home today, and study on my own, or can you homeschool me?

I should mention that he is a new kid in class, and isn't used to the American system of education. He spent the last four years of his life in Russia, where he went to the British school. As the headmaster realized how academically ahead of DS was, he suggested to skip a year, and we agreed. But, once we moved to US, the school refused to place him in a grade above his biological age. I really don't know what to do, as I we cant afford private school right now, but seeing him so miserable in school breaks my heart.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

I think you may have something here. She is not a kid that likes to really show what she can do and if she isn't interested in something, moving Heaven and Earth will not change that. She will do the bare minimum that she has to do then she is done and once she has done something and knows she understands it she doesn't see a need in doing it again just because the teacher tells her she needs to. This is part of our frustration in trying to figure out how to best advocate for her.

As a side note - the month after she took the Explore she took the school's reading state assessment. We will be curious to see how she did after taking the above level test.

Those are excellent scores! I think you have a great case for acceleration and if you do some research you will find lots of information to back you up.

We had a good experience recently advocating for subject acceleration (DS doesn't want to skip a whole grade) when we brought our DS's scores into the middle school where DS will attend next year. The principal, being familiar with Explore tests, looked at the scores and agreed subject acceleration was needed.

I believe those scores make the cut for DYS with room to spare. Consider applying. They may be able to help you advocate.