Do MAP/MCAP/etc help predict future SAT/ACT scores? How did your 1400/30+ kid score on earlier tests?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I know this is kind of ridiculous to ask, but I'm curious. Is there any way to get a sense early (like middle-school age) of how your kid might do on the SAT/ACT? Do SAT/ACT scores tend to connect pretty closely to their percentile on other standardized tests, like MAP? What about other tests, like MCAP or other standardized tests taken in other districts/states (we're MCPS)? Or more cognitive/IQ-based tests like CogAT? Or is this line of thought just silly and there's no real way to guess at all if your kid isn't a 99th percentile kid (and maybe not even they are)?

For folks with kids who ended up scoring around 1400 on the SAT or 30 on the ACT or above, what kinds of scores did they previously get on other tests? Did their SAT/ACT scores end up coming in around where you would have expected based on those, or not really? Any other indicators that suggested to you earlier on that they might be likely to score above or below the percentile they tended to get on earlier standardized tests?

Sorry, and thanks for indulging me!

[Anonymous]

Stop looking at your kid’s MAP scores and stressing about their SAT.

[Anonymous]

I found that kids can easily be prepped for the MAP and state tests because they are sponges at young ages. If we had a teacher who was very strict about prepping the kids, then the kids scored really high. When it mattered for placement, my kids would score high (99 percentile.) It all seems pretty meaningless. Really bright kids can score low if they didn't learn the content.

SAT/ACT can also be prepped too.

[Anonymous]

never in gifted, 95 percentile or so usually, 10th grade psat 1250, 11th 1450, sat 1550, all 5s

[Anonymous]

It probably tracks for those who are outliers on the low end... i.e. if a kid is historically a poor performer on standardized testing it's unlikely they're going to whip out a 1550 SAT.

But kids who perform middle or high could go either way with regards to the SAT. Lots of kids don't come into their own until later in high school and also the SAT is definitely a test that can be studied for. It's not an IQ test.

[Anonymous]

I don't have access to a large and good set of data.

For me as a datum, my percentile scores in elementary on various standardized tests were consistent with my later PSAT and SAT scores. I did not take ACT.

That said, I happened to not be a "late bloomer". Late bloomers do exist in any large population and they might well have different experiences.

Also, I knew at least one kid in school who got derailed by drug addiction and did not score as well (percentile) on the PSAT and SAT as he had in elementary.

[Anonymous]

My kid scored 99th percentile on all MAP tests 3rd through 8th grade in both math and reading. SAT score was 1560 (800 math/760 verbal). Scored 1500 on PSAT, which qualified him for NMSF in our state.

[Anonymous]

I have one kid that ended up scoring around 1400 and their map tests were all over the place but I’d say in middle school were around 88-90th percentile most representative.

There is an old study if you dig around the archives that predicted ACT scores based on map test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have one kid that ended up scoring around 1400 and their map tests were all over the place but I’d say in middle school were around 88-90th percentile most representative.

There is an old study if you dig around the archives that predicted ACT scores based on map test scores.

Should add based on comment above that we did no outside tutoring for math before high school but did do SAT prep.

[Anonymous]

MCAP? lol. Those are weird Maryland state tests, where the results come many months later, the distribution of scores doesn’t seem to follow any logic or pattern.

Even MCPS doesn’t consider MCAP in choosing kids for ES/MS/HS magnets

[Anonymous]

I think you can know from MAP and CoGAT if your kid is a good test taker. My kids were both 99% on COGAT and had 99% SAT scores. One was always 99% on MAP and other one was all over the place 85-99%

[Anonymous]

MAP is not timed

Lots of kids took multiple days at my kids elementary

Obviously this won't be a good prediction for timed tests

[Anonymous]

My kid was always 99% on MAP and cogat. Got a 35 on ACT. But didn’t do well enough on PSAT for NMSF.

The early tests tell you generally if your kid is a good test taker or not. If your kid scores very high on those, they can be probably be coached to a reasonably high SAT or ACT score.

[Anonymous]

Consistently 99th percentile MAP, 35 ACT, NM commended.

[Anonymous]

I don't know. My junior did extremely well on MAP in elementary and middle schools, getting at least one 600 every year on Virginia SOL and her calc teacher says she's one of the strongest students she ever had. An avid reader and a strong writer. She scored 1470 on SAT, I know this is a decent score and she will try again, but I thought she would do better. She says her brain works too slowly for this kind of test.