Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment EXPLORE Scores

JAH823 and Aqx3 - great scores!

Yes, so as I sit here with scores that have completely surprised me (they are as high as I have sometimes "feared" they could be, much like the previous abbreviated Wechsler scores were), as a parent, I feel obligated to do something to somehow help said child, but I really feel clueless. How do we get the schools to see that our already G&T-ID'd or grade skipped, etc. DC (referring to other poster's DC, too) might actually still need MORE?

This ISN'T a matter of wanting to BRAG to the schools ("no, DC isn't just smart, she's REALLY smart" - ugh, no, not what I am trying to say), and I'm afraid that is how it might be taken if presented the wrong way - but how do we get our DC's needs met/at least considered?

I feel like there has to be a document or something out there for parents to share with schools. I have read quite a bit, but no one document seems to concisely capsulize what I need to get across to the school. Maybe wishful thinking...ha ha!

The counselor at our school basically said to go more for the extracurricular stuff. The school prides itself on providing individualized attention...but that only goes for 80-90% of the kids. Not an easy problem....you can imagine your DD 4th grade teacher trying to work with someone who just scored in the 95th percentile for 8th graders? They just can't comprehend it....and it is not like you can have them skip a couple of grades, they are not ready socially. Our DS is 9, and one of the youngest in his class. My DW does a lot of extra schooling at home, and the only other educational component is iMacs, which he does very well in.

forgot to add, on our recent visit with the lower school counselor...he took one look, said that's amazing, and just pushed the report back to me....didn't even want to make a copy. He also said don't even think about sharing it with the teachers. That was real encouraging!

the interesting thing with these kids is I'm sure we have all been pleased when they have scored consistently high scores on grade level exams...but in our school, there are a lot of bright kids who all score at equally high levels...and all the parents think their kids need gifted studies ...this test is different, and yes I know it is only one test....this test levels that playing field by only including the top 5%....you just want to get the schools attention and say 'I know everyone thinks their kid is bright or gifted...here it is on paper!' Kids scoring at this level in 4th grade are being challenged by 8th grade level concepts they haven't been exposed to yet. I think our 2E DS did better on the Explore test than he does on grade level exams because his mind could not wander....he had to stay focused, and that is an example of why he needs more of a challenge.

DS's EXPLORE scores were initially not attended to. Nobody (but us) knew what they meant. EXPLORE was just not a viable way to communicate with an elementary school. We found that an elementary school is also typically just not set up for acceleration-- they're not set up to let a kid do advanced science, for instance, because science instruction is melted into a generalized "theme time," the scheduling of which is particular to that grade.

However, fast forward a few years and we were in a position to ask for a grade acceleration in science-- we were able to refer back to the EXPLORE scores in a way that was understandable (because of the 8th grade norming), and the scores helped with negotiations with the middle school.

Further, DS found the EXPLORE an excellent warm-up for the ACT-- having sat a mini-ACT in 4th meant he was well-prepared for taking the longer version as a middle schooler. It was laid out the same, testing the same kinds of things, all familiar.

The ACT-- now that is apparently something that school district officials DO understand. So: it's been a process of getting it to come into focus.

Duke TIP has posted the 2013-14 Explore Test Results summary. 4 of the 5 percentiles went up slightly for the same scores...very happy in this house tonight!

a quick note....kind of strange, could not access using Chrome, had to go into the site with Firefox....

DeeDee - thank you! It is nice to see that the scores became useful over time, even if they were not initially understood by the school.

JAH823 - congratulations! Wonderful news!