Walls test today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got an email from see today notifying that my child didn't meet the test requirements and is out. Ok.
The big puzzle is that he is almost all a student in a private Catholic school and took 3 he tests recently with the following results: ssat 97% average, isee 94-98, Catholic hs test 99%. He said sww test was very easy. Someone else on this forum said their test is a joke.wtf?? Can anyone explain this?

I don't have a dog in this fight (my child is in 6th grade) but this is fascinating to me. My kid was at a JKLM for elementary and has received 5's on every PARCC she/he has taken (97%+ scores for the JKLM, 99%+ for the city each year----3rd, 4th, 5th). Now goes to Deal and has had 2 quarters of basically 100% in all classes putting him/her at the very top of Deal students; currently in math 7 and one of 20 kids just invited to take math 8 this summer in order to take Algebra in 7th (they invited a very, very small cohort mid-year and based on funding will possible invite more after spring semester).
My kid took the ISEE in 5th and 6th grade and with a TON of studying each time scored around 90% in math--because he/she had never seen a good 50% of the material presented that way before. Many of his/her friends also took the ISEE (or SSAT) these years and many scored in the 20's, 30's, 40's and these are bright kids. It's a hard test especially regarding math because most of the material has never been presented to the kids before. It's not that they can't master it--it's just that they've never seen it before.

That all said, it's fascinating that a kid who rocked the ISEE wouldn't do well on the Walls test. Maybe the two tests are testing different things?

My DC who went through a JKLM is now an 8th grader at Deal. DC got an average 87% score on the SSAT, studying at home with a book and Khan Academy. No tutoring. DC flunked the HSPT although said it was very easy! DC has found the Walls test hardest of all. DC has been invited to the Walls interview, so we will see. I absolutely think the tests are different.

Why are parents who send their kids to Deal having them take the ISEE and/or SSAT, studying at home, maybe being tutored if they are already strong students (99% percentile on PARCC)? Were you considering independent schools and changed your mind or just wanted your kid assessed? I understand the 8th grader for high school but curious about current 6th graders. If so, what tipped in the favor of Deal over independent? I would expect my 6th-grade kid to be eligible for math 8 in the summer too based on the info above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got an email from see today notifying that my child didn't meet the test requirements and is out. Ok.
The big puzzle is that he is almost all a student in a private Catholic school and took 3 he tests recently with the following results: ssat 97% average, isee 94-98, Catholic hs test 99%. He said sww test was very easy. Someone else on this forum said their test is a joke.wtf?? Can anyone explain this?

I don't have a dog in this fight (my child is in 6th grade) but this is fascinating to me. My kid was at a JKLM for elementary and has received 5's on every PARCC she/he has taken (97%+ scores for the JKLM, 99%+ for the city each year----3rd, 4th, 5th). Now goes to Deal and has had 2 quarters of basically 100% in all classes putting him/her at the very top of Deal students; currently in math 7 and one of 20 kids just invited to take math 8 this summer in order to take Algebra in 7th (they invited a very, very small cohort mid-year and based on funding will possible invite more after spring semester).
My kid took the ISEE in 5th and 6th grade and with a TON of studying each time scored around 90% in math--because he/she had never seen a good 50% of the material presented that way before. Many of his/her friends also took the ISEE (or SSAT) these years and many scored in the 20's, 30's, 40's and these are bright kids. It's a hard test especially regarding math because most of the material has never been presented to the kids before. It's not that they can't master it--it's just that they've never seen it before.

That all said, it's fascinating that a kid who rocked the ISEE wouldn't do well on the Walls test. Maybe the two tests are testing different things?

My DC who went through a JKLM is now an 8th grader at Deal. DC got an average 87% score on the SSAT, studying at home with a book and Khan Academy. No tutoring. DC flunked the HSPT although said it was very easy! DC has found the Walls test hardest of all. DC has been invited to the Walls interview, so we will see. I absolutely think the tests are different.

Why are parents who send their kids to Deal having them take the ISEE and/or SSAT, studying at home, maybe being tutored if they are already strong students (99% percentile on PARCC)? Were you considering independent schools and changed your mind or just wanted your kid assessed? I understand the 8th grader for high school but curious about current 6th graders. If so, what tipped in the favor of Deal over independent? I would expect my 6th-grade kid to be eligible for math 8 in the summer too based on the info above.

I am the PP with the 87% SSAT score above. Why did DC take the SSAT? Because DC is looking into, not just in bound Wilson and Walls, but independent schools also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got an email from see today notifying that my child didn't meet the test requirements and is out. Ok.
The big puzzle is that he is almost all a student in a private Catholic school and took 3 he tests recently with the following results: ssat 97% average, isee 94-98, Catholic hs test 99%. He said sww test was very easy. Someone else on this forum said their test is a joke.wtf?? Can anyone explain this?

I don't have a dog in this fight (my child is in 6th grade) but this is fascinating to me. My kid was at a JKLM for elementary and has received 5's on every PARCC she/he has taken (97%+ scores for the JKLM, 99%+ for the city each year----3rd, 4th, 5th). Now goes to Deal and has had 2 quarters of basically 100% in all classes putting him/her at the very top of Deal students; currently in math 7 and one of 20 kids just invited to take math 8 this summer in order to take Algebra in 7th (they invited a very, very small cohort mid-year and based on funding will possible invite more after spring semester).
My kid took the ISEE in 5th and 6th grade and with a TON of studying each time scored around 90% in math--because he/she had never seen a good 50% of the material presented that way before. Many of his/her friends also took the ISEE (or SSAT) these years and many scored in the 20's, 30's, 40's and these are bright kids. It's a hard test especially regarding math because most of the material has never been presented to the kids before. It's not that they can't master it--it's just that they've never seen it before.

That all said, it's fascinating that a kid who rocked the ISEE wouldn't do well on the Walls test. Maybe the two tests are testing different things?

My DC who went through a JKLM is now an 8th grader at Deal. DC got an average 87% score on the SSAT, studying at home with a book and Khan Academy. No tutoring. DC flunked the HSPT although said it was very easy! DC has found the Walls test hardest of all. DC has been invited to the Walls interview, so we will see. I absolutely think the tests are different.

Why are parents who send their kids to Deal having them take the ISEE and/or SSAT, studying at home, maybe being tutored if they are already strong students (99% percentile on PARCC)? Were you considering independent schools and changed your mind or just wanted your kid assessed? I understand the 8th grader for high school but curious about current 6th graders. If so, what tipped in the favor of Deal over independent? I would expect my 6th-grade kid to be eligible for math 8 in the summer too based on the info above.

I'm the poster you quoted with the consistent 99% PARCC kid. My kid is at Deal because she/he didn't get into any independent school. From our JKLM I can think of 25 kids in this position and only about 3 who did get in to any of the competitive K-12 privates. It's not easy at all to get into the big DC privates (aside from Field and often Burke) from a DCPS for middle school even if your kid has tippy top PARCC scores, high ISEE/SAT and all A's from the JKLM. That said, we (and our child) are really happy with Deal. Our child is learning a ton and has excellent teachers.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, SWW test has a possible top score of 55. Any kid scoring above a 40 got an interview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got an email from see today notifying that my child didn't meet the test requirements and is out. Ok.
The big puzzle is that he is almost all a student in a private Catholic school and took 3 he tests recently with the following results: ssat 97% average, isee 94-98, Catholic hs test 99%. He said sww test was very easy. Someone else on this forum said their test is a joke.wtf?? Can anyone explain this?

I don't have a dog in this fight (my child is in 6th grade) but this is fascinating to me. My kid was at a JKLM for elementary and has received 5's on every PARCC she/he has taken (97%+ scores for the JKLM, 99%+ for the city each year----3rd, 4th, 5th). Now goes to Deal and has had 2 quarters of basically 100% in all classes putting him/her at the very top of Deal students; currently in math 7 and one of 20 kids just invited to take math 8 this summer in order to take Algebra in 7th (they invited a very, very small cohort mid-year and based on funding will possible invite more after spring semester).
My kid took the ISEE in 5th and 6th grade and with a TON of studying each time scored around 90% in math--because he/she had never seen a good 50% of the material presented that way before. Many of his/her friends also took the ISEE (or SSAT) these years and many scored in the 20's, 30's, 40's and these are bright kids. It's a hard test especially regarding math because most of the material has never been presented to the kids before. It's not that they can't master it--it's just that they've never seen it before.

That all said, it's fascinating that a kid who rocked the ISEE wouldn't do well on the Walls test. Maybe the two tests are testing different things?

My DC who went through a JKLM is now an 8th grader at Deal. DC got an average 87% score on the SSAT, studying at home with a book and Khan Academy. No tutoring. DC flunked the HSPT although said it was very easy! DC has found the Walls test hardest of all. DC has been invited to the Walls interview, so we will see. I absolutely think the tests are different.

Why are parents who send their kids to Deal having them take the ISEE and/or SSAT, studying at home, maybe being tutored if they are already strong students (99% percentile on PARCC)? Were you considering independent schools and changed your mind or just wanted your kid assessed? I understand the 8th grader for high school but curious about current 6th graders. If so, what tipped in the favor of Deal over independent? I would expect my 6th-grade kid to be eligible for math 8 in the summer too based on the info above.

I'm the poster you quoted with the consistent 99% PARCC kid. My kid is at Deal because she/he didn't get into any independent school. From our JKLM I can think of 25 kids in this position and only about 3 who did get in to any of the competitive K-12 privates. It's not easy at all to get into the big DC privates (aside from Field and often Burke) from a DCPS for middle school even if your kid has tippy top PARCC scores, high ISEE/SAT and all A's from the JKLM. That said, we (and our child) are really happy with Deal. Our child is learning a ton and has excellent teachers.

Thank you for posting (without getting defensive which happens often on this site) and satisfying my curiosity. We feel the same way.

[Anonymous]

I was the one who posted about my kid not passing the test while having v good scores on other tests. Turned out he did pass it. We asked what the score was and the answer was unbelievably low. We refused to accept and kept pushing to see the test. Then got a call (mistake) and voila going to the interview. Lesson learned: always believe in your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the one who posted about my kid not passing the test while having v good scores on other tests. Turned out he did pass it. We asked what the score was and the answer was unbelievably low. We refused to accept and kept pushing to see the test. Then got a call (mistake) and voila going to the interview. Lesson learned: always believe in your kid.

Good job parenting and thanks for sharing. This is the kind of info that is super helpful for everyone trying to navigate this craziness, much appreciated and good luck to your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the one who posted about my kid not passing the test while having v good scores on other tests. Turned out he did pass it. We asked what the score was and the answer was unbelievably low. We refused to accept and kept pushing to see the test. Then got a call (mistake) and voila going to the interview. Lesson learned: always believe in your kid.

Yikes that is scary (if you can't trust them to grade a test correctly. . . .). What was the mistake?

[Anonymous]

Note to DCPS newbies: always double check the data. Grades are often entered wrong too, so teach your child now that the work on homework, tests or assignments isn't "done" until they verify that the correct grade for that work has been entered into Aspen and printed out at home. Keep your own hard copy record of all grades.

[Anonymous]

I was the one who posted about my kid not passing the test while having v good scores on other tests. Turned out he did pass it. We asked what the score was and the answer was unbelievably low. We refused to accept and kept pushing to see the test. Then got a call (mistake) and voila going to the interview. Lesson learned: always believe in your kid

Congratulations for your kid! I heard of another case just like yours this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I was the one who posted about my kid not passing the test while having v good scores on other tests. Turned out he did pass it. We asked what the score was and the answer was unbelievably low. We refused to accept and kept pushing to see the test. Then got a call (mistake) and voila going to the interview. Lesson learned: always believe in your kid

Congratulations for your kid! I heard of another case just like yours this year.

i just sent them an email asking about my daughter's scores, in light of this.

[Anonymous]

So much for all the folks who say the Walls process is straightforward and transparent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For what it's worth, SWW test has a possible top score of 55. Any kid scoring above a 40 got an interview.

Exactly.

And it is so by design -- the school and DCPS want plenty of leeway to select both well-qualified students with more questionable ones (while leaving some better qualified out)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For what it's worth, SWW test has a possible top score of 55. Any kid scoring above a 40 got an interview.

Exactly.

And it is so by design -- the school and DCPS want plenty of leeway to select both well-qualified students with more questionable ones (while leaving some better qualified out)

How does a hard cutoff leave some "better qualified out?" The tests are also graded blind from what I was told by SWW staff in prior years. (No names, ward, sex, race info. to the graders).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For what it's worth, SWW test has a possible top score of 55. Any kid scoring above a 40 got an interview.

Exactly.

And it is so by design -- the school and DCPS want plenty of leeway to select both well-qualified students with more questionable ones (while leaving some better qualified out)

How does a hard cutoff leave some "better qualified out?" The tests are also graded blind from what I was told by SWW staff in prior years. (No names, ward, sex, race info. to the graders).

I don't think that's what PP meant. SWW could set the cutoff score higher (40 out of 55 = 72%, a low bar). But making the interview cutoff an 80 or 85% could result in a less diverse interview pool (ward, gender, race, feeder/charter school) which SWW seems to want to avoid.