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My son always scores above the 90th percentile on standardized tests when he takes paper-and-pencil tests, yet when he takes the SCAT test he scores significantly lower. Has anybody had similar experiences when their children take the 4-5 grade level SCAT test? Does anybody know of a site or resource for both math and verbal that helped get their children ready for the SCAT test and resulted in their attaining the appropriate cut-off scores? Are there any tests that mimic the way SCAT works? I am very frustrated.

Neda S.

Isn't it also true that the SCAT is only given to kids who are already identified as gifted? So the pool of test takers is much more selective, and not just a random array of X graders. Yes, no?

Hi Neda,
Good idea to find out if the test score is compared to all gifted kids or the whole group of same aged kids.

I don't reccomend "prepping" but it does seem to be worth explaining the difference between solving every math exquation and reasoning it out. Most kids will naturally reason it out, which is what the test hopes and expects, but a few with the perfectionism thing going will try to solve every problem and then not have enough time for all the problems. It's worth making sure your child understands the difference.

Smiles,
Grinity