GT Letters came home today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS got labeled as Gifted as he got awesome percentile in all five areas: 99,99,95,91,91. So, there are no disparity in the score and this test is not useless. I am happy he would not go through the basic instructions in Grade 3 that will save his lots of time in learning more advanced stuff.

This made me chuckle. We're all like this! If my kid does well on the test, it's a good test ("and not useless") If our kid does poorly, it's a bad test. I like your pride in your kid, PP, though I hope you'd love him just as much if he were in the 60th percentile. And that he's happy and healthy too. Your later post made it sound like you felt like it was your own doing that he did so well. I'd just say to remember not to push too hard. I think it's important that kids are challenged at any age, but even more important than high scores is basic happiness and well-being. (I'm not saying we can't celebrate smarts as we do sports! In fact, I'd say the same thing to parents who were doing everything to make a kid excel at a sport. Don't forget the whole person.) It seems to me that the people who do best in life overall are not often those who had the highest scores as young kids.

I totally agree with you. The funny thing we don't push our child. If it were 60% percentile, we still celebrate his success as he is better than many kids. My later post was only meant to explain some people in this forum that they should not blame the system for anything that goes against them instead try to understand why it happens. I am sure all the kids are smart but right direction makes the difference that only can come from parents. I am not boasting that i am the greatest parent in this world but i am trying to be. My son has watched almost all the kids movies and has playing all the video games. He is also a good swimmer. We let him do whatever he wants but there are only few sessions in the week that he needs to listen to us and apply what we are telling.

I'm the PP you're responding to. I'm glad you didn't take offense! And to the other pp who asked where I was getting my data about kids who get the best scores not necessarily being the most successful... I don't have survey data or anything. Just my 45 yeears of observation. And if you can show me otherwise, I'd be glad to see. I was one of those high-scoring kids when I was little. But now I'm a SAHM who hasn't worked in a decade (though I'm trying to get back in.) My son just tested into an HGC. I was partly talking to myself, as I'm always reminding myself that his "grades" at school are not the most important thing. I do agree with the other PP though, that the confidence that comes with being in the "smart track" is valuable. But if' you're not generally happy and emotionally stable, it's not worth too much. And even more valuable than scores and grades is the ability to persist at something, and the ability to fill your own time with creative work.
When I look back at my old elementary school class, I'm surprised to find that so many of the kids I thought were not very smart went on to become lawyers and scientists and all kinds of things. In my experience, how they did in elementary school was not a great predictor of general success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was not identified as GT in the screening. Does that mean she's an unlikely candidate for HGC? Her scores were mainly in the 70s with two scores in the 20s and 30s. I was surprised at how low her scores were compared with her school performance.

She would need to score significantly better on the HGC test to get in. I'd guess that most HGC kids score in the upper 90s on these kinds of tests. It's also completely possible she just had a really bad day testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was not identified as GT in the screening. Does that mean she's an unlikely candidate for HGC? Her scores were mainly in the 70s with two scores in the 20s and 30s. I was surprised at how low her scores were compared with her school performance.

OP, really the only way to know if she's likely to get into an HGC is to have her apply and see if she gets admitted. There are kids with high scores who don't get in. There are kids with lower scores who do. Unless she has test anxiety, there's no harm in applying, in my opinion,

[Anonymous]

^drat, messed up the quotes

[Anonymous]

Clearly, MOCO needs to do a much better job at communicating, as I am yet another very confused parent. I don't understand what the testing results mean from a practical standpoint, if anything considering 2.0 and the fact that the gifted centers don't begin until 4th.

DS was high 60s in reading, high 80s in math yet he reads above grade level, was recommended for the william and mary or jr great books, and received a "no decision" on math.

The disparity in test scores is confusing, as I have no idea if I should be worried or not.

Also, at one point in the form, it said they had received no parental input, which also confused me because they never asked for any input and I am not sure what my input has to do with his test scores?

I am not focused on the scores, per se, but I do think that if the school is sending home results of a test that seem to have important implications for something I'd really like to know what that something is and how they will help him going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clearly, MOCO needs to do a much better job at communicating, as I am yet another very confused parent. I don't understand what the testing results mean from a practical standpoint, if anything considering 2.0 and the fact that the gifted centers don't begin until 4th.

DS was high 60s in reading, high 80s in math yet he reads above grade level, was recommended for the william and mary or jr great books, and received a "no decision" on math.

The disparity in test scores is confusing, as I have no idea if I should be worried or not.

Also, at one point in the form, it said they had received no parental input, which also confused me because they never asked for any input and I am not sure what my input has to do with his test scores?

I am not focused on the scores, per se, but I do think that if the school is sending home results of a test that seem to have important implications for something I'd really like to know what that something is and how they will help him going forward.

The problem is that the letters mean both more and less than you think. The information in the letter is about how they made the GT determination. That determination involves more than the Inview test scores. Your input onh is strengths and weaknesses would have come from a form sent home months ago, before the test was taken. They also include teacher observation of academic performance on work. So, it isn't all about those 5 percentile scores.
OTOH, the GT determination in itself doesn't mean anything, and has nothing to do with the application for HGCs done in third grade. That is a separate test.

[Anonymous]

I am glad I found this thread. My daughter came home with a "gifted and talented" designation letter. I had no idea what it meant until I began reading about it here and on the MCPS website. My daughter reads on the fourth grade level and I did request more challenging texts for her, if possible. It is my impression that the words "gifted and talented" are used so loosely here. Heck, Mozart was gifted! Not my kid. My siblings and I were also pushed ahead in reading and math in the 60s and 70s, but it wasn't called " gifted". Just an "advanced reader". Am I on target with my thoughts here?

[Anonymous]

Well I agree with you that he label needs some work. I went to school here in the 70s/80s and I remember being labelled in 6th grade but not earlier. So I think this is nothing new.

I am finally glad to have some test results on my kid though, even if the label does not amount to much.