Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Is it worth taking the Explore test?

In the last year, DD has taken the CoGAT, ITBS, WISC-IV, WIAT-III, and the SCAT.

I see that the deadline to sign up for the EXPLORE through NUMATS is 10/8, so only a few days away. I'm on the fence about whether to sign DD up for this. She wouldn't mind taking it (unless the time constraints are crazy small? she needed only half the time alloted for the SCAT; the other tests were untimed due to her IEP requirements).

What useful information can come from the Explore? Would any of it be more useful than what we already have?

I do wish she could take some online courses, but I'm not SO in love with the idea right now that I'm ready to plop down $500/class (my hope for her school hasn't yet been dashed).

Your experience sounds very similar to the experience we had last year with testing (just as much testing, and many of the same tests, actually). Yes, we also had DD take the EXPLORE, with the greatest difference being that she did this before she took the WISC.

For us, the EXPLORE results were a wake-up call. They shook us out of any last remaining "gifted-denial" we were in and gave me the courage to talk to DD's school (the actual results of those talks are still uncertain). We also went ahead and then had DD take the WISC...which was a further wake-up call. All in all, lots of testing last year, but those last two tests told me that I can no longer be complacent about DD's education (to the extent that I was complacent ).

Out-of-level testing results were unlike any of the other test results we had to that time: seeing how DD, 8 at the time, performed against 8th graders, was eye-opening. In terms of using them for advocacy, they are useful only if your school personnel are capable of understanding the results and if they care to actually do so - so YMMV.

That's a lot of tests for one year. What are you expecting out of EXPLORE that you haven't already found from the previous results?

For families in the United States, the EXPLORE, while it is still available , may be useful for a possible application to the Davidson Young Scholars program. Qualifications here: http://www.davidsongifted.org/young...holars___Qualification_Criteria_384.aspx

sorry to hijack, but what is the difference between the SCAT and the Explore test? DS will have opportunity to take the SCAT this year, and not sure if we should be looking for somewhere that still offers the Explore.

slammie, I _think_ performance on the SCAT in the talent search is always compared with students 2 grades up. Whereas I think the Explore is always compared against the same national sample of 8th graders?

DD already qualified for DYS with her WISC and WIAT.

Benjamin, that's really the question I'm trying to answer. IS there a reason to take another test in general? Or a compelling reason to take the Explore in particular? Would it be useful for the future to actually be able to compare her results on the same test 2 years apart and track growth? She's not likely to take any of the other tests again, so if it's useful to take the same test several times, then I suppose the Explore would be the way to go...

Thanks Aufilia! Sorry I can't add anything helpful.

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.

If you're in a school situation where you're going to need a big negotiation in the near future-- like a subject acceleration to more than one grade ahead-- out-of-level testing results can be useful. If you're not in need of that leverage right now, I'd see little reason to do it.

You already have so much testing. I'm against "just in case" testing as a general thing. We test when we need information.

For kids at higher LOG, there may be no value in a retake because they may max out the test the first time. DS12 maxed out Explore when he was in 4th grade-- there was no reason to do it after that because it would not have yielded any information. He then took the ACT in 6th, because we needed it for advocacy. It's important to gauge the level of the out-of-level test, and what level you think your child is working at, and what information you bet the test will yield.

The most useful thing about Explore IME is that it includes science. It's possible to get math and reading levels so many other ways, including the testing she's already had.

Personally, I wouldn't do it unless you envision a concrete use for the result.