s/o - if your 1st-grader's NNAT score isn't in-pool, are you doing anything now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's largely because of this board.

Regardless of what is posted on these boards, the majority of kids score in the low 100's, and the numbers get smaller the further away from 100 that you get on either side.

That is true nationally, but I wonder if "the majority of kids" in Fairfax county score in the low 100's. People aren't concerned about how their DCs compare to students in Kansas -

Why does it matter?
Why are the kids being compared to each other at all?
The committee will not be comparing them to each other. They will be considering their factors individually and looking for a combination of factors that will ensure success in the AAP program.

If Johnny next door scored a 150 and my kid only scored a 130, does that mean my kid is inferior?
Not at all, my kid still scored higher than 98% of kids his age in the country, regardless of where they live. That includes those living in poverty and essentially raising themselves as well as NY socialite kids who have been prepped since birth, but mostly it's normal kids with a good home life who are getting a solid education.

Why do all the parents in this county feel so strongly that their kid has to be better/smarter/stronger/faster than the other kids in their class?
That is the number 1 guaranteed way to end up with a child who spends his or her entire life feeling not-good-enough.

I feel like the tone of this thread mimics the political tone of our country - which makes it so difficult to have meaningful dialogue. Not everyone (I would venture to say most parents) who care about AAP or tests or scores is a crazy, competitive parent who is surely causing irreparable damage to their child. It really is not that extreme and we don't need to take it there.

No one said anything about inferiority. The NNAT has some limitations - I think most agree on that. I would love to understand the score better, that's all. Not because I think it defines my child, my child's future or because I want bragging rights. I think seeing a bell curve for our particular population would likely tell me more than a national bell curve. COMPARING students is not a method I invented, comparing students is how the score is derived.

[Anonymous]

Here is some data to satisfy your curiosity. It is from 2004-2005, but the total demographics of the second graders in the county has not changed much since then.

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/Fairfax/Board.nsf/39c6389c088be51585256e56000c1bf2/2b1b2b585a5d305e852570fb004f3f9f/$FILE/Gifted%20and%20Talented%20Center%20Program.pdf

It looks to me like the 2nd graders in FCPS are really no different than the rest of the country. Scores are all over the board, even for "in-pool" kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's largely because of this board.

Regardless of what is posted on these boards, the majority of kids score in the low 100's, and the numbers get smaller the further away from 100 that you get on either side.

That is true nationally, but I wonder if "the majority of kids" in Fairfax county score in the low 100's. People aren't concerned about how their DCs compare to students in Kansas -

Why does it matter?
Why are the kids being compared to each other at all?
The committee will not be comparing them to each other. They will be considering their factors individually and looking for a combination of factors that will ensure success in the AAP program.

If Johnny next door scored a 150 and my kid only scored a 130, does that mean my kid is inferior?
Not at all, my kid still scored higher than 98% of kids his age in the country, regardless of where they live. That includes those living in poverty and essentially raising themselves as well as NY socialite kids who have been prepped since birth, but mostly it's normal kids with a good home life who are getting a solid education.

Why do all the parents in this county feel so strongly that their kid has to be better/smarter/stronger/faster than the other kids in their class?
That is the number 1 guaranteed way to end up with a child who spends his or her entire life feeling not-good-enough.

I feel like the tone of this thread mimics the political tone of our country - which makes it so difficult to have meaningful dialogue. Not everyone (I would venture to say most parents) who care about AAP or tests or scores is a crazy, competitive parent who is surely causing irreparable damage to their child. It really is not that extreme and we don't need to take it there.

No one said anything about inferiority. The NNAT has some limitations - I think most agree on that. I would love to understand the score better, that's all. Not because I think it defines my child, my child's future or because I want bragging rights. I think seeing a bell curve for our particular population would likely tell me more than a national bell curve. COMPARING students is not a method I invented, comparing students is how the score is derived.

The score is not determined by comparison, only the percentile rank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The score is not determined by comparison, only the percentile rank.

The raw scores are not determined by comparison, but the scaled scores definitely are.
The only scores that people care about are the scaled scores.

[Anonymous]

The score is not determined by comparison, only the percentile rank.

OBVIOUSLY, the number of answers your kid gets right (raw score) is not dependent on what other kids do. Geesh. But the Naglieri Ability Index is a scaled score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The score is not determined by comparison, only the percentile rank.

OBVIOUSLY, the number of answers your kid gets right (raw score) is not dependent on what other kids do. Geesh. But the Naglieri Ability Index is a scaled score.

The raw score is converted to the scaled score based on the level of the NNAT test given. The scaled score is then converted to the NAI based the child's age at the time the test was administered.