Bad News for Test Prep Parents

[Anonymous]

the TJ prep courses are full. DC went for short period but complained about not being able to understand the instructors' accents.

I'm sorry English is a second language for DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have never hired a tutor for my child. There are tutors in FCPS, but I think it is a minority of people that do that.

Is this true for SAT and ACT prep services for your children in preparation for College. You forgot to answer my question -- you artful dodger cuty pie.

And I am not equating prep for the SAT, which is largely vocabulary for college-bound HS students to a general test given to 7 year olds that is to measure intelligence. SAT is supposed to measure the likelyhood of success in college. CogAT measures the inate ability of a 7 yo. Different things, different strategies.

But then, I must be privaliged, as I am multigenerational american. And worse, I am Jewish. So I do not have to work, nor does my kid. Things are handed to me.

Source please. The CogAt is to measure intelligence? I thought one couldn't prep for an intelligence test; if so, what's the big problem with letting people waste their time prepping?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

the TJ prep courses are full. DC went for short period but complained about not being able to understand the instructors' accents.

I'm sorry English is a second language for DC.

ha ha. No DC's English is fine. But the instructors had very heavy accents.

[Anonymous]

My child has not used SAT prep yet. One of her friends is starting to prep. DD and her friends are in the 6th grade, though. Note that the friend is in an enthic group associated with test prep.

And of course you and your child would not use SAT prep services ...... yet. I guess it depends on what yet is?

[Anonymous]

Why are you asking about SAT and ACT prep in a thread about prep for AAP identification tests? They are not the same kind of test, nor do they have the same purposes. If you would like to talk about SAT and ACT prep, start a new topic on the College Discussion Board. AAP is a program for elementary and middle school kids, not high school kids who are starting to look at colleges.

[Anonymous]

CogAT is used as a proxy for for intelligence by FCPS. From:
http://cap.gmu.edu/page2/page10/page10.html

Q: What is the CogAT?
A : The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is a GROUP-administered test of reasoning and problem-solving ability. We administer CogAT, with norms based on a nationally-representative sample of over 180,000 students tested in 2000. The CogAT consists of nine subtests (second graders take only six subtests) that yield separate scores for verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning abilities, as well as an overall composite score.

---

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My child has not used SAT prep yet. One of her friends is starting to prep. DD and her friends are in the 6th grade, though. Note that the friend is in an enthic group associated with test prep.

And of course you and your child would not use SAT prep services ...... yet. I guess it depends on what yet is?

Different test. SAT prep is reasonable. It is an ability test.

[Anonymous]

well this may come as a shock to you, as it did to me when I found out about it, but apparently it is not uncommon.

You bet I'm shocked. I am floored. I know Americans do not use such SAT prep services for an edge in the admissions process. We are naturally smart and gifted people. We get where we are going without prep. Don't believe for a second Phelps and Peyton ever prepped or had to work hard--- just pure God given unadulterated natural talent.

[Anonymous]

Different test. SAT prep is reasonable. It is an ability test.

+1

May kids never prep for an aptitude test but we use tutors for the ability tests. These are 2 different birds. Doesn't anybody understand this. Prepping is like stealing the test and cheating. My kids do no homework and have straight As without any prep. There get plenty of fresh air for breaks with the tutor.

[Anonymous]

This thread is a discussion of the AAP identification test taken by second graders. The College Discussion Board is the appropriate place to discuss the SAT.

Here's the link:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/forums/show/47.page

Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Delicious.

What's the "real" or "true" difference between an aptitude (AAP) and ability test?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Different test. SAT prep is reasonable. It is an ability test.

+1

May kids never prep for an aptitude test but we use tutors for the ability tests. These are 2 different birds. Doesn't anybody understand this. Prepping is like stealing the test and cheating. My kids do no homework and have straight As without any prep. There get plenty of fresh air for breaks with the tutor.

so you don't agree that one cannot prep for an IQ test?

[Anonymous]

Aptitude is fixed and ability is not. You can't change a fixed state. It is not scientifically or physiologically possible. That's what I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Delicious.

What's the "real" or "true" difference between an aptitude (AAP) and ability test?

We don't really care in this context because that is not what this discussion is about. Here, again, is a description of the thread topic:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Actually, at least one has a misunderstanding about this, or simply pretends to misunderstand. No one suggests that anything is wrong with hard work and preparation.
People are suggesting that it is inappropriate for people to "prep" kids by using materials that attempt to recreate the AAP identification tests. Prepping kids in this way makes the scores unreliable to the point that some schools are simply not using them anymore. These particular tests are not meant to be prepped for and prepping results in scores that are not useful to the schools.

These threads are only about prepping for the AAP identification tests. They are not about prepping for any other type of testing, nor are they about effective ways to teach math.

More nuaunced malarky. Now we have to have the identification committees throughout the land adjudicate the legality or ethics of preparation on the basis of an identification test. Will this be at the federal level or shall will let each state do their own thing?

What rubbish.

No rubbish, and no malarky. If you read the the OP for most of these threads, they involve the AAP identification testing. Not even terribly nuanced, just fact.

Right, and here's what FCPS says about this:

Here's a link to a FCPS document that includes an explanation of why the test was changed last year:

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/pdfs/FAQre2012CustomizedCogAT.pdf

See fourth paragraph, first sentence:

"FCPS staff members chose to administer the custom form of the CogAT this year after it came to our attention that some students, in previous years, had prepared for the CogAT using the exact form of the CogAT being administered in FCPS."

[Anonymous]

We don't really care in this context because that is not what this discussion is about. Here, again, is a description of the thread topic:

You are categorically dead wrong. Title of this thread reads: AAP: "Bad news for test prep parents". Therefore, the distinction between an ability and an aptitude test may be pertinent to the issue of test prep.

We get it. You are obviously enamored with yourself hence the repeated self-reference.

Thread Topic: AAP: "Bad News for Test Prep Parents"