Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Scat vs. Explore test?

The nice part about signing up for the Explore through a talent search is having all younger kids at the test. There were some pretty big 6th graders, but some small 3rd graders, and the vast majority seemed to be 4th & 5th graders when GS10 took it last Feb.
FWIW, GS10 came out with that 'exhausted, but exhiliarated' feeling. He was 9 yrs, 7 months.

SCAT is very fast- maybe an hour? It is done at a testing center (we used Prometric) and is far less of an ordeal than the SAT or ACT.

Should I be concerned about such a long test for my DS9, in 3rd with the Explore?

Last week, school gave him an IQ test and he came home upset. I thought they would call before they started testing, because that what happened last time. He was not prepared. The tester did not explain the test to him. He was upset he did not know some information and said they asked strange questions. When he took the WJIII Achievement(May,2009) I explained to him ahead of time and he was fine.

Usually he does not have test anxiety. He says he likes tests. The teacher gives the option to be timed or not for Math facts and he chooses timed test.

I did not get any IQ results yet. They will call a meeting with us and give us the results then. I really wonder what they hope to get out of it.

AS for the Explore, I will wait a bit to talk to him becuase of his IQ test experience. He did say he was willing to do more testing to have more opportunities to be challenged with a talent search class or school. I told him I could not make any promises other than to keep trying for him. I think he is very hungry for more challenging work. He would love his own Apropriate Level Math Class at school instead of all the review. I'm glad he has the ambition in him. He has a wonderful attention span so I guess Explore will be ok for him. I just asked becuase I was wondering if there was more to consider.

Thanks for your help.

I am testing my older son in third grade with the Explore. I figure even if he does not test well this year, the format of the Explore is similar to many long tests he will be subjected to as he grows and we try to get him into gifted summer programs. My idea is that if he takes the test yearly, even if he doesn't do well this year, it will become just another thing he has to do.:)