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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]Sure, there may be some over-the-top parents here and there getting "coaching" for their kids but I think that a.) that is the exception, rather than the rule and b.) I don't think "coaching" would be terribly effective and any gains w would at best be marginal, given the nature of many of the questions. They are typically not knowledge-based questions, nor are they typically formulaic problem solving questions like normal testing that one can more effectively coach someone on.  
 
 
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Agree, to a point.  When kids are given "practice tests" that are exactly like the test they are given for real, you can expect the scores to be significantly higher[/quote]

Regardless of how they do in the test, most are regular smart kids, who work hard.  The whole "highly gifted" label I will buy if they are Doogie Howser or Jimmy Neutron![/quote]

You DO realize that Doogie Howser and Jimmy Neutron aren't real people?

It doesn't work like it does in TV fantasy land.[/quote]

:lol: Exactly.  In real life the "highly gifted" label that is bestowed on 3% of students at MCPS is not appropriate.  There are other kids who do not get in because there are not enough seats to accommodate these kids. But they are equally smart.  The HGC curriculum can be handled by many other kids outside of HGC - and so to declare an arbitrary number of kids as "Highly Gifted" is a misnomer.

A number of these HGC kids do not make it to the magnet MS program, and quite a few kids from normal schools get in.  That just proves that the human brain is continuously evolving. And if it is evolving then this "giftedness" is not fixed.

Just so you know, my HGC kid does extremely well IQ tests and any standardized test you can throw at him. He was an early admission kid and took Raven at 7 and his score was way higher than 95th percentile for 9 and 1/2 yrs old.  (http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/enriched/about/Understanding%20Screening.pdf ).  Same goes for every single test he takes - HGC, JHU-CTY. Raven, InView, MSA etc.  He just does well effortlessly at tests - and is usually at 99 percentile on everything.  At school, he has to put in as much effort as the  next kid for every thing.  Not just in HGC but his previous school as well. So in my estimation he is smart and he has to work hard.  He is lucky that the one thing that he can do effortlessly (ie - be a ridiculously high test scorer), gets recognized as some sort of "giftedness" by MCPS..

But, if I start believing that he is special, based on his test results, I feel I will do him a disservice, because this "gift" of being an extremely good test taker does not translate into academic success and a solid education. For that, he has to work hard. And then, he will have the same chances of success as any MCPS kid who works hard.

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