Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment SCAT Test

My 2nd grader took the SCAT, and we just got her results. I was hoping to get her into a CTY Camp for next summer. She scored in the 99% on her standardized testing.

She got a 420 in verbal and a 430 in math. I believe she needed a 430 in verbal to qualifty and a 435 to qualify in the math.

Are these scores close enough that I should have her try again next year? Or, would you just drop it. I really don't know what these scores mean in terms of ability or the difficulty of this test. I'm dissapointed that she won't be able to participate in their summer programs.

She had a rotten year. She "played" dumb this year in school because she was teased a lot for being a "know it all." I'm frustrated. I feel like she is too bright for her classroom, but not bright enough to be involved in "gifted adventures."

Definitely test again next year. She's very close to cut off. Remember that she's young & will mature a lot over the year (I think there's a huge gain from grade 2 to 3, from literature about cortex thickening or something like that, reading proficiency and the steep learning that happens when that happens, etc.), now has experience about what to expect, and she'll be fine.

You may have done this with her for the first test, but re-do it again before the next one--review strategy. That is, answer ALL questions, even if you don't know, take your time (I hated to see my son finish so early when he could have checked over stuff). Try to narrow done to 2 possible answers. If she's bored in grade 3 before testing, afterschool with some advanced concepts in math and vocabulary.

Dottie and cym,
Thanks for your responses! You've helped a lot. I think I will have her try the test again, and I will have her review the "sample" questions. I didn't even have her look at the sample questions they sent prior to the test, now I'm kicking myself for that one.

3rd grade...another year, another chance.