Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion EXPLORE TEST

DS took it today. Very small group of students, I think all but one were youngish. He said he finished all the sections early and had time to check his work, found an error or two (so that's something!). He said he was most confident of the reading, followed by English, then math and last, science. Said there was a science passage where he had to guess on two questions. Hmm. Not sure how to interpret that... he said that he thought the actual test was harder than the sample that they sent out. I asked if it was fun. He said "not really." I suspect that was in comparison to staying home playing or reading.

Turned out my circa 80s Casio scientific calculator is rather erratic in giving actual answers, so we purchased a new 5.98 model with the required functions at Target.

How long is it taking to get results?

DD12 and DD10 took the Explore test today as well. Said the same thing as ConnectingDots. They actually enjoyed the reading section. DD10 said she had never heard of some of the science topics which I found interesting since she reads so much non-fiction. They zipped through the sample tests but barely had time to finish the real test. This is the first time they have taken the test.
I read that results show up in 6 weeks.

I'd love to be able to read the science section. DS did really well on the sample science test and loves reading about science topics. That said, he has only had fourth grade science, other than enrichment camps.

He said they told them 6-7 weeks for the results. I'm expecting above grade level but maybe not that great. ;-)

DS9 took Explore in January. Said he left 5-7 unanswered per section. Good experience for him being in a timed environment.

Our kids took the Explore a few years ago in 4th grade. Our impression of the science section is that answering the questions required the ability to read the provided reading passage (with data in some cases) and carry out a logical interpretation -- i.e., very little a priori science *knowledge* required. My just turned 10yo achieved a perfect score on the science section.

My DS10 said that he learned new stuff from the science section; it wasn't familiar. He ended up with a 23 on that part. I'm not even sure what that tells me for school advice. He took it shortly after skipping a grade, and he'll be in honors science, but I really wish they had deeper gifted options here.

Have you received the results for this year? MY DD took the test on Feb 20th and have not received results so far.

I'm still waiting for Feb. 20th results as well. I keep forgetting to check the mailbox though. Is it a big envelope?
Also - do even the younger kids get the advice on what is a good career for them? I would be curious as to what they tell my 6th graders!!

In our January results (which came 6 weeks after test) there were just two copies of an 11x17 folded sheet with final scores compared to 8th grade norms. No scoring data. No career info (why do they fill it out??!). A couple weeks later, our Talent Search data came via email link, with comparative to below and above grades, which was neat to see, and info on what the different tests assessed. No scoring details, how many right or wrong or attempted. I was disappointed by that.

We got the results today. DS9 (4th grade officially, accelerated in two subjects) scored an 18 overall. I don't know what I was expecting but it seems low. Maybe we have warped experiences so far? He did well on the science portion (90nd percentile) but pretty low, 64th percentile in math -- which is his strongest subject. Guessing it was either material he's not covered or he goofed on some of it. Now what we do with this info, I don't know... doesn't seem high enough to use for advocating with new schools. Am I off there?