My 7th grader brought home an "invitation" to register for and take either the ACT or SAT test this year, after being "identified" by his high standardized test scores and recommendation of a school counselor (according to the paperwork). My son says that it was because of his CRCT test scores (from last spring when he was finishing 6th grade). To my knowledge, he hasn't met with a counselor since his initial enrollment July 2 summers ago.
Is this some sort of automatically generated "invitation" to get parents to fork out the $70 to take the SAT (or ACT) early? Or is there any real benefit to this "honor"? I am a bit skeptical of this, as I have a gifted child in 4th grade, who was tested for gifted using the CogAt (Cognitive Aptitude Abilities Test), which is I believe the same method that was used when I was tested years ago. My 7th grader has never been tested for gifted/talented. His grades are all over the map, and I suspect that is why. BUT, he was a transfer from private school education going into the 6th grade, and the 6th grade counselor did a Woodcock Johnson assessment (with no writing portion) to confirm his placement into 6th grade. His results were great. Not off the charts, but he did have a high math aptitude. On the bell curve, he was way out in the last grouping, if I recall correctly. All of the other areas were average or above average, but he had superior scores for math. But there was no mention of his potentially being identified as "gifted". His CRCT scores from last spring (the state standardized ones) he was again, above average in most areas, but only above the cut-off (850) for Language and Reading to be placed into an AP class for Language Arts (which he is in AP Language this year and loves).
So what exactly are they basing this "invitation" on? His Language Arts? Or his Math from the earlier testing? All of the information I have read from Duke regarding their TIPS Talent Search, makes references to "your child's giftedness". My child has never been determined to be "gifted" (in the sense of the word reserved for academia) or formally tested for giftedness. So what to make of this opportunity. .... ?
I have my suspicions about my son being gifted, but he would be one of the gifted kids that is overcoming disinterest in academics to perform. My daughter, on the other hand, is completely self-motivated and pushes herself to do her best work and loves doing so. My son, couldn't care less most of the time. And it shows in his work and grades. He's smart, but not rocket science smart. But he is unmotivated. And yet he still pulls off a B average most of the time. If he is not truly "gifted" then could it be a disservice to allow or encourage him to take the ACT or SAT early like this? If he doesn't do well, it could really damage his self-esteem. He often complains of feeling dumb as it is. He would be taking the test alongside High School kids testing for college entrance, taking the exact same tests.
Anyone else out there ever hear anything about this before? What was your experience with it? Is it just a way for "them" to make more $$ by having a larger testing pool?
Added: I talked with our son about what the invitation is... to take the tests that high school 11th and 12th graders do, that colleges typically look at when evaluating for college entrance. Of course, this is all way beyond what he is concerned with at this point in his life, lol. But, I explained what it is, and just asked him to think about whether or not he is interested in giving it a shot to see how he does. No need to decide TODAY, no pressure from us one way or the other. So he is thinking about it.
I really think that he might surprise himself and do really well, and that doing well might be just the spark he needs to recognize his own abilities. He currently doesn't really see himself as anything special. And I think he might also subconsciously get some of that because of his sister (who is younger, and always has academics come easily to her), where for him, getting B's means spending some time on schoolwork, because he is lax about homework assignments and daydreams in class so brings home (or rather forgets to bring home) a lot of assignments. His sister, almost never brings home any work, and if she does, gets it done on average in 10 minutes. Her average in Math and Social Studies at this moment is '100'. All her classes are like that. And she misses one day of class a week for pull out for attendance at an alternative school for gifted/talented. Missing a day every week doesn't affect her grades at all. It's not like that at ALL for our son. He could earn those grades, but it is a much bigger effort for him due to his lack of organization and daydreaming tendencies. But a test like this, won't be affected by lack of organization or not bringing home assignments or really, daydreaming, either (no droning teacher to tune out)! So it could really show him what he CAN do! However, if he doesn't do well (or what HE might interpret as doing well), then it might have the opposite effect of "confirming" his feelings of average to inadequate. So I was hoping some of you might have 'been there done that', and how did your kids deal with the results?
What would be the purpose and/or benefit to him of him taking this test at this age? If you can't identify specific benefits for him, then what would be the purpose of spending the money and putting the pressure on him? If there are identifiable benefits, and you feel he likes the challenge of tests, then have him take it.
Whether or not anyone or any institution labels a child "gifted" means very little. The education community and researchers in this area have not even agreed what these lables mean. All of our children deserve to be educated to the level of their abilities, label or not. So make this decision on if, and how, this would benefit your son.
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M.M.
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Washington DC
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My daughter participated.
It is based on test scores. THey need to be in the top 95% of all 6th graders.
Our experience was positive and has opened a lot of doors for her.
She took the test at 11 as a 7th grader.
THe Duke TIP kids are placed in a separate room as the juniors and seniors. THey take the same test.
My daughter and alll the other 7th and 8th graders that took it were very funny. HTey came out of the test saying "that wasn't so bad" "That was easy" etc. The juniors and seniors came out looking like they had been hit by trucks.
After the test there are recognition ceremonies of they get a certain score. My daughter was recognized regionally, in NC. THere are also national recognitions if the child were to make higher than a 650 on either of the lang or math tests. Her scores were 440 and 580.
She then participated in some weekend classes geared towards gifted children at Duke.
She liked it. She si also one of those that will run the world in a few years. She is now a junior.
If your son is not that into it, then no, it is a lot of pressure. If he is like my daughter than yes I would go for it.
It has opened a lot of doors to other collge programs fo rmy duahgter.
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A.M.
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Lakeland
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It is based on test scores. My cousin was "selected" for it and he was not labeled Gifted. I am also a Gifted teacher and I can tell you that once a year I am given the Duke Talent Search packet and asked to nominate students. Not all Gifted students are nominated. I remember taking the SAT through the DTS as a seventh grader. My other classmates that were selected all had high test scores and not all of them were Gifted. I felt a little overwhelmed being there with all the upper classmen. And to tell you the truth, I don't even remember what I made on it. It just wasn't that big of deal to me. I say save your money and wait until he is more mature and ready.
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E.P.
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Dallas
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Yes, ALL of my 4 kids were "invited" by Dukes to take an early SAT. We never participated. My opinion 10 years ago was this: Why make a child face Algebra or Geometry questions when they haven't even taken that class yet? What would NOT HAVING A CLUE about "cos" and "sin" of angles do to that child's self-esteem? There is a new documentary that came out 3 days ago in NYC and LA about what we are doing to our kids in public education. NOTE: ALL 4 of my kids were also "invited" to participate in a Texas leadership summer camp based on teacher "recommendations." This does appeal to parental pride and some who can afford it will slap down $2000 for a week-long camp.
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T.F.
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Dallas
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I understand skeptism and I am one who suspects everything as non-legit until proven differently.
HOWEVER, we are very familiar with Duke as my hubby is an Alum, MBA, and it is one of the most respected colleges. We spent many hours there for work and fun. Fluke or no fluke, my daughter would participate simply because it is Duke.
We have a college visit planned for Duke in the Spring. We love that school.
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J.C.
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Mom, I think this is a way for the University to make $. As a parent of a tested gifted young teen I would not waste my $. I do know over the summer some colleges offer classes for gifted children, here in CA it is called the Academic Talent Seach program. Your child has to test into the class. If you want to see if he is truly gifted talk to the school guidance dept and see what they can tell you about the district testing children for the gifted pgm. Most school districts offer testing and it is generally based on how the student performs on the annual state testing at school. Often though the wait list on the gifted testing done by the district takes months do since there is often to a back-log of children waiting for testing and only a few number of psychologists/gifted experts to test them. You can also have him tested privately too by a licensed psychologist who has been trained to administer these standardized IQ tests. If you go this route it will cost you normally about 200-$300 and the psychologist will forward the results to the school district.If he passes the test they will likely place your son in the gifted classes in elementary and middle school and the AP classes in high school. I will let you know, the classwork is quite rigorous in high school but he may enjoy it and it will challenge him more if he is gifted. If he is open to having the IQ test done I would do it, it not I would hold off. Be sure he is open to possibly being in a "gifted program" if he tests into it. You don't want him to be resentful of the idea. Hope this helps, good luck to him either way
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L.K.
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Well I think it depends on where you are and what you are looking for.
I personally don't think it has much to do with being "gifted" as much as someone who does test well and has the potential to use this opportunity to their advantage.
I'll try to tell you the both sides of our story as briefly as I can. Especially since it looks like our kids are/were very similar. Except my son is now 20!
Due to a variety of reasons, we put our kids in a private, college-prepatory school 10 years ago when our son was in 6th grade and our daughter in 1st. For us the decision wasn't so much for the "college-prepatory" part as much as the smaller class sizes, more structure and more communication and accountability from the teachers and school. Again, there were many reasons and there is much more to that part of the story alone, but that's another conversation.
This school tends to teach 1-2 grade levels above the public systems in our area. Like I said our son started in 6th grade and he was having a little problems in a couple of classes, but his English teacher said he was doing great just coming in, because it was like jumping from 5th grade to 8th. The kids were reading and she was teaching things in this 6th grade class she used to teach in the 8th grade.
So he took the standardized tests and tested very well in Math and one other I can't remember and was "invited" to participate in the process. We (son involved in the discussions) talked about it and decided he would go for it. But we clearly did not understand how seriously this is taken, or at least in our environment. Even though the 7th and 8th graders took the test in a separate room from the older kids, it still was a freaky experience for him and he chose not to pursue anything further. Looking back now I should have asked more questions and understood the possibilities of the program and helped him with his insecurities.
Fast forward a few years and now our daughter is in middle school. We now have been at the school several years and have a better understanding of how all these programs/community service/the arts and/or sports AND academics help with college applications. Plus our daughter has always been and continues to be more focused and driven. Probably because she had a bad day or morning she tested just 1 % (94%) in like the 2 of 3 categories or however they look at it and was not invited into the Duke Program. The school offers a free test prep course for those who 'qualify' and we could have paid extra for the test prep class 'since she was so close' but chose not to because as I said, she is very focused and driven.
As a sophomore she is taking Honors pre-calculus, Honors World History, Honors Spanish 3, as well as French 1, English 10, Chemistry and photography. She is on a competitive club softball team AND working on her congressional gold medal.
I don't think missing out on the Duke TIP program will hurt her in any way. BUT I wish I would have understood more at the time and encouraged our son more. I do think it would have helped his self-esteem since he sees himself as average.
Wether or not the 'invite' process is picked by teachers in your school (it's not in ours, it's purely test scores), your son qualified because he tested well. Why not view this opportunity and use it as a way to show him what he is capable of?
