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Is Everyone's Child 90th percentile and above on the WPPSI III or just the DC's on this board?
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Anonymous
Well, but that quote was responding to a poster who referred to her DC as "a typical perfect child." That's a screwed-up attitude. The kid's not perfect -- nobody's perfect. There's always room to grow and imagine and explore and learn and do and create. But if the parents' attitude is "we've been screwed because we don't have connections" or "what more can they expect -- DC maxxed out the test?" or "they just can't handle a kid with so much brainpower" where does that leave the kid? I didn't read the comment as rubbing it in -- I read the comment as suggesting a different ideal. Aim for interesting or independent -- not perfect. Especially when perfect means "doesn't make mistakes." |
Anonymous
I concur. I also thought OP was a little naive in believing DC wasn't admitted b/c DC maxxed out test. Children are admitted for a variety of reasons. Not all kids who are admitted scored a 99+, but I'd wager that a lot of them did. The schools are not afraid of those kids, unless, perhaps, there are some behavioural issues. |
Anonymous
The "typical perfect child" comment was ironic. Sigh. |
Anonymous
| but revealing, nonetheless. |
Anonymous
Oh please. It seems the poster understands that her lovely child is "one of many." Lighten up. |
Anonymous
Great. Thanks so much. |
Anonymous
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When my first child was tested, she did fine (I honestly don't remember the scores), but some of her verbal "labelling" scores were lower than I expected, given her chatterbox nature. I asked the tester about the test, and was told that she was shown certain cards and asked to identify what they were. She knew what some of the items could do, but couldn't label certain things (like a vacuum). When I heard that, I think I laughed out loud - I'm a working mom with a housekeeper (and very little homemaking skills), so I'm sure she couldn't identify "vacuum" or many other basic household items (ironing board? sewing machine?). She could, however, identify the "scarlet macaw" from her favorite show at the time ("Go, Diego, Go"). Made the term "testing bias" really come home for me.
As an aside, the best tip I got from another parent is don't send your child to a play date or test when he/she isn't feeling well. (We all know that around this age, an out of sorts child will not test well regardless of how bright he/she is!) |
Anonymous
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I went with my daugther to the test today. I'm not from this country hence had no clue what to expect. I just told her what the Pre-K school director had advised us to tell her -- "do everything the lady asks you to do".
My daughter is 4 1/2 and tri-lingual: fluent in three languages. English is her weakest language though, she knows it only from pre-school. At home my wife speaks her language and I speak mine. Now I think my girl is rather smart, but she is also a perfectionist. If she is afraid to give a wrong answer she will say "I do not know". She did not do well. The tester started with the verbal score, my girl got discouraged and closed down. From then on she stayed reserved throughout the test, also did not open up for the non-verbal part. 63th percentile -- I guess a fine private school with this score is not an option? Happy for any advice. |
Anonymous
| Seems that your child's first language is not English, rather it's her 3rd. If I were involved in school admissions I would certainly take that into account, since the WPPSI was administered in English. However, I have nothing to do with school admissions, so I don't know if that's the case in practice. |
Anonymous
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The WPPSI is just one factor in admission. Strong pre-school recs, a good playdate, and the parent interview are also a part of the equation. You may want to consider having your child go for a longer evaluation/test, one which may be in a more relaxed setting, even though it would still be in English. One of my DS had to go for a longer evaluation and the evaluator was able to write are more textured report as well as allay concern about some of his subtest scores.
Ask ADs how they handle admissions for families who re/locate to WDC and English is the not the first language. You are not the first family in this predicament. |
Anonymous
| If your daughter has difficulty with English, she may have difficulty in an English-speaking school with an accelerated curriculum. It depends on how accommodating the particular school is to non-native English speakers. You should talk to the admissions directors of the schools that interest you to find out whether they make accommodations and to make sure they understand the background of your daughter's score. |
Anonymous
| I think people are stressing way too much. My girl did pretty poorly on those tests so she didn't get into any of the 'fancy' schools until the 7th grade. She had to go to Montessori before then because no one else would let her in. Well, she surpassed a lot of those 99% kids -- cause she is at a top Ivy now. The message is not all kids develop at the same pace...so don't give up on your kids if they're not 'smarty pants' at age 3. My kid was still in diapers at age 3. The idea that those schools 'interview' 3 year olds is just ridiculous. |
Anonymous
Oh my, it doesn't seem as if you've let go of something that happened 15 years ago. The dad posed a question and folks are proffering possibilities for him. Many folks understand that the WPPSI is not a prediction of intelligence, but captures a child's ability on THAT day. I wish they were not used for admissions, but they are; because they are used, the dad needs to figure out what his options are for PreK/K entry, including delaying applications to "fancy" schools until 3rd/6th/7th grade entry points. |
Anonymous
| no above -- au contraire -- now that so many years have passed -- I realize how crazy it is for anyone to try to 'interview' a 3-year old. What I was saying is that a lot of 3-year olds are lucky they can control their bowels -- much less try to get it together enough to be interviewed by a stranger. There must be a better way of evaluating children. My further point is if my kid was able to do well in later years -- then think of how many people have low expectations for their kids just because some educational 'expert' told them their kid couldn't make the grade. It's very sad to ruin a kid's future. |
Anonymous
Au whatever. If you reread the father's post of a few days ago, you see he does not have low expectations for his kid. He understands that her proficiency in English may have hindered her on the WPPSI and he is trying to figure out the options. I think you need to disentangle your legitimate criticisms of the WPPSI with the father's immediate concerns. The folks here over the last few days are responding to his questions/scenario, not the macro issue of the use of the WPPSI in early grade admissions in DC independents. Moreover, your child probably did as well at age 4 as she did at age 11. The WPPSI just captures a moment in time. Perhaps it was a bad day for your child. She probably wasn't languishing until fourth grade, then sped up and surpassed expectations for 7th grade. She was probably always a bright kid who had an off day. |