Forum Index
»
Private & Independent Schools
WPPSI - Caught Cheating?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
I think they do, actually. They ask if they have seen this or that. I think it's fine to expose your kid to a wide variety of mental games. Memory games, fill in the blank games, what comes next games, what belongs in this group games, etc. And there are lots of brainy software and books to increase your kid's IQ. All of that is fine. I just think you are seriously walking on an ethical tightrope when you try to determine what might be on THIS particular IQ test. Making sure you have a confident child who likes thinking games is all you need to strive for. |
Anonymous
| No. It's more reading the kid's familiarity with the materials and how they respond. When the tester delivered our kid back to us, her nervous parents, she said something outright to us about what a pleasure it was to test a kid who was so fresh and she said a few other things we really didn't get at the time. Only much later did I understand what the tester meant: it was clear our kid wasn't prepped in any way and the tester was responding to that. We were pretty naive about the whole process, and anxious as we had no idea how she would test. So, I sympathize with the parent anxiety. |
Anonymous
You are right - but with the plethora of options for preparation and wanting the best for your child - which could mean "leveling the playing field" if the perception is that many, many parents are prepping with the actual test - then that perception creates other ethical issues. If I hadnt read about psychologists and occupational therapists providing "consultation" to families - which consisted of practicing the test... If I hadn't seen the blocks available on Ebay, the older versions of the tests there too, the $500 workbooks with nearly identical questions, the availability of the exam to any psych grad student... then I wouldn't have any of these questions or issues.. But it seems like the test has been compromised and many parents have access to it one way or another and to varying degrees. And common sense tells me that no parent is going to post on this board that their DC scored 99.9 and that they HAD purchased the blocks on Ebay, etc.. So - am I shortchanging my child by NOT getting these blocks and workbook, looking into consults with psychologists who coach on the test? There's been no definitive response to whether the schools distinguish between kids who get a 97/98 versus the 99.5/99.9 's... I'm confident in my child and expect he'll get a score in the high 90s, but am I making a mistake by not doing all I can to ensure a 99.9???? |
Anonymous
| That kind of difference will not matter much for admission. |
Anonymous
Though the tester might ask the child whether or not he/she has seen blocks or coding before, any positive reply is meaningless - can't be proved either way that a child has seen the actual test. Given some of the very wealthy, influential, powerful folks who have their kids applying for spots in these schools - I cannot imagine any tester opening themselves up to getting sued by one of these families over an unprovable suspicion. And honestly, for most of these psychologists, administering these tests which were not designed to identify gifted children - is just something to pay the bills. The probably assume some number of kids will have seen the materials before but they still have to be able to perform on the test, that, according to the tests authors - the practice effect is minimal - and that the schools will weed-out any kids on the playdate. They do ask WPPSI-like questions on the playdate, so if a child got a 99.9 with very superior verbal IQ and can't answer a simple question like, "Name two things that explode" (this was an actual playdate question according to an article I read in the NYTimes archive) - then that provides the filter. I just dont see a tester - or the testing group - wanting to rock the boat at all with suspicions. Nor do they want to give the impression that cheating does happen - that would result in parent complaints about the test and pressure on the schools to not use the WPPSI as a screen. If they didn't do the WPPSI testing - thousands of kids at a few hundred dollars/exam - that would be a huge financial loss. I have never heard of anyone, ever, getting anything other than the standard computer-generated report... |
Anonymous
It seems like a huge deal on this board... there are millions of references to "99.9" or "99x3"!! How do you know that it doesn't matter to admissions? Not criticizing your reply, just wondering if it's speculation or based on conversations with admissions people.. etc.. thanks |
Anonymous
|
This is a question about how you want to live your life. Yes, the others may be cheating. Sure. The test is right there on Ebay to buy for $500. Yes, there will be those who score higher because they were prepped and no one will ever know.
So, what decision do you want to make? At what cost do you try to get your kid into a good school? |
Anonymous
That is a very good question. And I don't know the answer. My first instinct is to protect my child and to ensure he gets the best possible education by doing whatever I can to make sure he's getting the same chance as everyone else. I could live with the cost of doing something I find distasteful if it was to right a wrong.... Though I really have mixed feelings about this whole thing. |
Anonymous
|
You are honest to admit that. I too had the same moral dilemma and stayed on what I thought was the right side of the ethical boundary line, finding out everything I could ONLINE about what would be on the test (mostly generalizations), finding ways to play the kinds of games that would be played in the testing center without in any way exposing my child to the real material, and NOT buying anything that was clearly not supposed to be purchased by me.
In the end, I still have regrets. I made my child feel like getting into this great school was really important (it wasn't), and perhaps sent subtle messages to her that she wouldn't be able to get in without this extra help from me (she would have). If I had to do it again I would not send her in with anything other than a good night's sleep. |
Anonymous
Thank you for the understanding.. its so hard to know what to do. If this process were more clearly defined, if the materials werent so readily available, if people didn't harp on 99.9's all the time, if public was a real option for us.... there'd be nothing to think about. |
Anonymous
| You have a choice. You can prepare your child for the encounter. You can also give him/her a good breakfast and good night's sleep. Or not. No one really cares but you. So do what you normally would do in these circumstances. If you cannot make an independent decision then consult a lawyer, shrink or the director of admissions. |
Anonymous
OP, with the dilemma, just so you know, this was not ME responding (20:48). I wouldn't be that flip about it. But I do think that you need to keep this in perspective. It's a school. Surely, when you had your child, you didn't have it thinking that it was going to be anything but perfect to you. The school is not going to make or break your child's destiny. But the decisions we make certainly will influence how our children feel about themselves and what means they are willing to justify to get to the ends. |
Anonymous
|
....The second year we did have those workbooks for pre-k/kindergarten for fun in the house (not as prepping).
______________________ ....wink, wink, yeah sure. Therefore, we must all conclude that you are not cheating since the material somehow was just lying around the house. Yeah right. The God fairy must have dropped them off you plead with the judge. Hey, my kid does those exercises for fun, too...not for prepping! What disingenuity typical of a dcummie. |
Anonymous
|
You are honest to admit that. I too had the same moral dilemma and stayed on what I thought was the right side of the ethical boundary line, finding out everything I could ONLINE about what would be on the test (mostly generalizations), finding ways to play the kinds of games that would be played in the testing center without in any way exposing my child to the real material, and NOT buying anything that was clearly not supposed to be purchased by me.
_______________________________________________________________________________________ Another disingenuous dcummie. "I smoked marijuana...but I did not enhale". I must be on the right side of the ethical line. Good lord! |
Anonymous
|
....I think it's fine to expose your kid to a wide variety of mental games. Memory games, fill in the blank games, what comes next games, what belongs in this group games, etc. And there are lots of brainy software and books to increase your kid's IQ. All of that is fine....
________________________________________________________________________________________ In dcummieland this does not constitute exam prepping. Holy cow. What planet is she on. I guess those you have no access to all that brainy software and books must be in reverse prep mode? I wonder how far to the right side of the ethical line the latter group falls? |