Received email blast for Raven test prep workbook. I wasn't planning on prepping, am I crazy?

[Anonymous]

Jeff- thanks for the explanation. This seemed a bit crazy to me because I don't know why anyone would prep for this test. Makes more sense now thy I understand it was a sock puppet.

[Anonymous]

While I do not like the idea of test prep for younger children, no one can deny the impact of missing a few questions can have on being accepted or rejected from a selective school. I know that students take the InView in Grade 3, but if in Grade 2 they take the Raven test AND teachers see the scores, then it is very likely that it can impact the teacher recommendations (which IS a part of the admissions criteria). It is hard to ignore standardized test scores once it is part of a student's academic record. Teachers are only human and if a student has been an average academic performer, but scores very highly on the Raven test, it should make a teacher consider the possibility that the student may be bored and not performing to his/her innate capability. If prepping for the Raven a couple of days a week can be stress-free, like making sure your child reads 30-60 minutes a day, I think it could be a good idea. BTW - I looked up Aristotle Circle, and it seems like the competition for gifted schools in Manhattan is insane and they are in the middle of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff- thanks for the explanation. This seemed a bit crazy to me because I don't know why anyone would prep for this test. Makes more sense now thy I understand it was a sock puppet.

+1

[Anonymous]

I am the PP who took her DC and friend to a test prep center (not Aristotle - but A plus in Rockville)... for HGC prep...


I really don't know if there was any content mastery in the HGC prep...again...only 30% got in...which is certainly higher than the general pool ...however...this was a self selected group of people, wanted to get into HGC, had the money for this expensive prep class...

I am sure they learnt how to take the test, how to time themselves, familiarity with Scantron, sitting still etc...what they taught was much-much harder than what the real test was like.

We did not prep the kids for Raven or InView etc...mainly because we did not even know that these tests were being administered...the school does not inform you and say we will be taking these tests...

DS was off the chart at 7 1/2 for Raven and InView...99 percentile for everything ...after I got the results and teacher feedback etc (new to the school) - I was panicking that I am supposed to do something with this kid - and that I am being lax with his abilities. So I asked around ...when I took him to the center for an evaluation test, he and his friend only did marginally well, as compared to other kids there.

So - no prep for Raven etc...prep for HGC...but not sure if this was a placebo effect...