Reply to Should kids that heavily prepped for the CoGat be allowed in AAP?

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Reply to "Should kids that heavily prepped for the CoGat be allowed in AAP?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you heavily prepped your kid so that they would get a strong CoGat score, does that mean they REALLY belong in AAP?  Doesn't that defeat the original purpose of AAP?[/quote]

Behind this question is somehow the notion that there's some way to measure "true" aptitude, and that public programs such as AAP should reward this "true" aptitude rather than rely on actual performance that results when aptitude and practice is combined.

I have a strong emotional reaction to that.  I think it's pseudo science. But foremost, there's the unfairness inherent in this view.  There are plenty of resources to prepare for CogAT and similar tests. I do not know how effective they are, but it seems to me that if you're asked to take a test, you prepare for it. (Do you prepare for a final exam? SAT/ACT? GRE? I know I practiced weeks until I made sure I would get a perfect GRE/Analytical score every time.)
To say that you shouldn't prepare when preparation is available strikes me as deeply unfair and hypocritical since obviously some will prepare.

(I'm saying this as someone who gave permission to our GT to perform "unspecified" testing and assessment for gifted identification. Later we saw DD's 149 combined score and looked up what CogAT stood for. Success for us, but I would have kicked myself had things gone differently. How dare they administer tests without sharing how to prep for them. Left a really bad taste. Not in FCPS, obviously, since there everyone seems to be obsessed with CogAT, which btw multiplies the fairness and hypocrisy aspect.)

BTW, what do the AART teachers tell parents? Your kid will take this test, but don't prepare them?  Or some kind of lie that prepping wouldn't affect performance?

[/quote]

I'm not sure how old you are.  In years past, no one prepped or practiced or studied for the SATs and they were considered an IQ test proxy.  There were scandals and eventually practicing for the SAT was no longer wrong.  And the SATs are no longer an IQ proxy.

There's no reason to prep for the Cogat besides getting into a gifted program.  I appreciate AAP for my gifted kid and appreciate gen ed for my other kid.  [/quote]

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