Looks like I'm not the only person here who thought this would be a good way to spend time while one or more of our DC test.
I'm sitting here pondering the possible outcomes/follow up and am reminding myself over and over again that the experience itself is worth it. Even if DD finishes every section this year, it will still be a more "typical" testing experience (akin to the test taking experiences gained by typically developing students) than our state tests, which leave her twiddling her thumbs with 20-30 minutes left per testing block. For those of you with PG kiddos, that may not be the case, but for my kiddo it will force her to work under pressure and make decisions to solve or skip as she goes. I remember that last year she found it kind of fun, even though she didn't finish everything because it was *finally* a satisfying challenge.
I'm focusing on that part because...then I won't tear my hair out when all those January testers start posting their scores (thanks for the reminder Dottie
Lol) or when the school gives us the so-what routine (doesn't every 9 year old have a score of 24 on an 8th grade reading test?
).
Anyway....here's my data related gripe for the day: thanks to the independent decisions of her teacher (vs. any GT service involvement), DD is finally recieving some appropriate math instruction this year. Much of it would have been appropriate for her 2 years ago, but 2 years ago (and three years ago, and one year ago....) TPTB didn't see it as "needed". Instead she did a LOT of independent work packets that were rarely finished... Even without actual instruction for 3 years running, she scored at a respectable 16 on the math section last year. I'll be pretty surprised if that doesn't increase this year given that she has had exposure to/experience with a variety of new concepts. In my head, an
imaginary conversation in which I share data goes like this:
Me: If you look at her EXPLORE scores, you'll see that she is more than a little bit above the norms of her grade level peers.
School: Well look at the growth she has made since last year! She must be getting exactly what she needs at school, so there's no need for any intervention by us.
I'm quite confident that it would never occur to the school to look at growth as evidence in support of an individualized plan. It won't occur to them that she is significantly behind where she would have been had she been recieving actual instruction all along. They'll just take credit for her growth.
Of course, if the opposite were true--scores that weren't atypical for her age--that wouldn't be evidence of an inappropriate instructional plan either. It would be seen as confirmation that she isn't outside the typical range. It feels so lose-lose: if the school doesn't believe in the student to begin with, the interpretation will always be to dismiss evidence of giftedness.
Great outcome: must be great instruction.
Poor/Average outcome: must be the student's ability level.
Which is why, of course, I need to keep reminding myself that this experience is really about helping my DD believe in HERSELF and about helping my DD prepare for future high stakes tests by working through the challenges of a test in which she doesn't already know all of the answers....
If nothing else, it's about the piece of paper I can hold in my hand this spring and look at while I repeat over and over to myself: "See, I'm not crazy. See, I'm not crazy. See, I'm not crazy...". Without that yearly piece of evidence it gets way to easy to let the school make me think every little piece of past data is a fluke. Hmmm....on second thought....has anyone ever had a big DECREASE in year to year EXPLORE scores? Yikes!
Sorry so long....too much time to sit here an think I guess
She was very disappointed that the same wouldn't be the case today for Explore, and she couldn't take a book <<gasp>>.