You do realize "Highly Gifted" is a misnomer. Not that these kids aren't bright but I surely don't think my child is highly gifted. He goes to MCPS and gets mostly "P"s, with an occasional "I" or "ES". He's in the higher level for math and the higher reading group but not one of those kids who is pulled out. In fact he came to MCPS from preK not reading at all. We didn't do any studying/practicing for this test nor did I prep him in any way. He scored at or above the median on all 3 sections and was accepted. I say this only to point out that if you are interested in having your child try for the program you should do so (or talk to his/her current teacher for advice).

Oh goodness, someone else jumped in and started responding to your question as if they were me. I'm the parent who posted about a non-MCPS child. Let me answer the questions you posed.
<<
Without exposure to MCPS, how did you know HCG would be right for your child? Prior to the BOE test, did you have any data that indicated HCG would be a good fit?>>

I've been on the lookout for programs for gifted kids since kindergarten choice time because my child tested in the gifted range. We did a WPPSI because we were considering private options at the time.

<<Did you have any issues getting teacher recs? I'm worried about this part since the school would like to keep the students they have.>>

No, I explained our need for keeping convenience of commute a factor to the teacher and principal, and although they were sad, they were cooperative. (It would be really mean-spirited to do otherwise!)


Had your child ever been exposed to a standardized test?
<<Nope, nothing at school. Only the WPPSI and WISC, which are standardized. And those tests had nothing like the bubble sheets and intense time pressure. This was my child's first encounter with bubble sheets.>>

<<Thanks for your thoughts and for sharing your experience.>>

You're welcome! And all the best to your child. I don't doubt that you have thought carefully about your child's needs and perhaps an HGC is the right avenue to explore for you. I don't know why that other person questioned your child's abilities. You never know until you try.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:To the parent asking about non-MCPS students: my child is currently not in MCPS, and was one of those tested at the Board of Education, and was also accepted to Pine Crest.

Would you mind answering a few questions? My child is currently in private. She is middle of the pack in her school. They don't have standardized testing. Enrichment/acceleration only happens if you are 2 grades ahead of your proper grade. There are only a handful of children that qualify each year. Everyone else is "middle".

Without exposure to MCPS, how did you know HCG would be right for your child? Prior to the BOE test, did you have any data that indicated HCG would be a good fit? Did you have any issues getting teacher recs? I'm worried about this part since the school would like to keep the students they have. Had your child ever been exposed to a standardized test?

Thanks for your thoughts and for sharing your experience.

Sorry, but if your child is "middle of the pack" in school, why would you think your child is a candidate for the "HIGHLY GIFTED" center? Are you assuming that middle of the pack in private is top of the pack in MCPS? I'm pretty sure that all of the kids that got into HGC were at the top of the pack in their home schools, reading 2 grades above level, etc..

PP here-- our school differentiator for English is the ability to write 2 grades ahead. Reading 2 grades ahead is fairly common. But if you can write cohesive comprehensive stories, insightful essays that incorporate original thought instead of book reports, then you are accelerated. My child does not write at that level so he is in the middle. If that's the peer group for HGC, then perhaps it's not worth having him take the test.

I am not assuming anything. I do not have a point of reference and was asking for assistance. I apologize if I have offended you.

No need to apologize. I was not offended. Was just curious why you would think your DC was a good candidate for HGC based on your description. What you described as accelerated in your private school is pretty much what kids in HGC are doing. As you said, reading 2 grades ahead is pretty common in regular MCPS schools, as well. To get into HGC requires more than just reading 2 grades ahead. The kids that are getting in are able make inferences and write beyond their grade level.

Thank you for sharing that. It's exactly the type of info I was looking for. DS is happily doing 3rd grade math-- the school has offered that and is reading 2 grades ahead. He enjoys problem solving but is not a fan of homework. He still writes book reports though and offers no insightful commentary.

It sounds like he is not a good candidate for HGC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the parent asking about non-MCPS students: my child is currently not in MCPS, and was one of those tested at the Board of Education, and was also accepted to Pine Crest.

Would you mind answering a few questions? My child is currently in private. She is middle of the pack in her school. They don't have standardized testing. Enrichment/acceleration only happens if you are 2 grades ahead of your proper grade. There are only a handful of children that qualify each year. Everyone else is "middle".

Without exposure to MCPS, how did you know HCG would be right for your child? Prior to the BOE test, did you have any data that indicated HCG would be a good fit? Did you have any issues getting teacher recs? I'm worried about this part since the school would like to keep the students they have. Had your child ever been exposed to a standardized test?

Thanks for your thoughts and for sharing your experience.

Sorry, but if your child is "middle of the pack" in school, why would you think your child is a candidate for the "HIGHLY GIFTED" center? Are you assuming that middle of the pack in private is top of the pack in MCPS? I'm pretty sure that all of the kids that got into HGC were at the top of the pack in their home schools, reading 2 grades above level, etc..

PP here-- our school differentiator for English is the ability to write 2 grades ahead. Reading 2 grades ahead is fairly common. But if you can write cohesive comprehensive stories, insightful essays that incorporate original thought instead of book reports, then you are accelerated. My child does not write at that level so he is in the middle. If that's the peer group for HGC, then perhaps it's not worth having him take the test.

I am not assuming anything. I do not have a point of reference and was asking for assistance. I apologize if I have offended you.

No need to apologize. I was not offended. Was just curious why you would think your DC was a good candidate for HGC based on your description. What you described as accelerated in your private school is pretty much what kids in HGC are doing. As you said, reading 2 grades ahead is pretty common in regular MCPS schools, as well. To get into HGC requires more than just reading 2 grades ahead. The kids that are getting in are able make inferences and write beyond their grade level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the parent asking about non-MCPS students: my child is currently not in MCPS, and was one of those tested at the Board of Education, and was also accepted to Pine Crest.

Would you mind answering a few questions? My child is currently in private. She is middle of the pack in her school. They don't have standardized testing. Enrichment/acceleration only happens if you are 2 grades ahead of your proper grade. There are only a handful of children that qualify each year. Everyone else is "middle".

Without exposure to MCPS, how did you know HCG would be right for your child? Prior to the BOE test, did you have any data that indicated HCG would be a good fit? Did you have any issues getting teacher recs? I'm worried about this part since the school would like to keep the students they have. Had your child ever been exposed to a standardized test?

Thanks for your thoughts and for sharing your experience.

Sorry, but if your child is "middle of the pack" in school, why would you think your child is a candidate for the "HIGHLY GIFTED" center? Are you assuming that middle of the pack in private is top of the pack in MCPS? I'm pretty sure that all of the kids that got into HGC were at the top of the pack in their home schools, reading 2 grades above level, etc..

PP here-- our school differentiator for English is the ability to write 2 grades ahead. Reading 2 grades ahead is fairly common. But if you can write cohesive comprehensive stories, insightful essays that incorporate original thought instead of book reports, then you are accelerated. My child does not write at that level so he is in the middle. If that's the peer group for HGC, then perhaps it's not worth having him take the test.

I am not assuming anything. I do not have a point of reference and was asking for assistance. I apologize if I have offended you.

Anonymous wrote:My child did very well on quantitative (well above median), at the median on verbal, and about 8 points below on nonverbal and was accepted.

I don't know if they weight nonverbal less than the other sections or if the nonverbal score was balanced out by the other scores.

Since the median scores are reflective of all the accepted students at the center, at least half of the kids will be below the median for every section. There are kids that don't fall below the median on any section, but there are at least half that fall below on at least one section.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the parent asking about non-MCPS students: my child is currently not in MCPS, and was one of those tested at the Board of Education, and was also accepted to Pine Crest.

Would you mind answering a few questions? My child is currently in private. She is middle of the pack in her school. They don't have standardized testing. Enrichment/acceleration only happens if you are 2 grades ahead of your proper grade. There are only a handful of children that qualify each year. Everyone else is "middle".

Without exposure to MCPS, how did you know HCG would be right for your child? Prior to the BOE test, did you have any data that indicated HCG would be a good fit? Did you have any issues getting teacher recs? I'm worried about this part since the school would like to keep the students they have. Had your child ever been exposed to a standardized test?

Thanks for your thoughts and for sharing your experience.

Sorry, but if your child is "middle of the pack" in school, why would you think your child is a candidate for the "HIGHLY GIFTED" center? Are you assuming that middle of the pack in private is top of the pack in MCPS? I'm pretty sure that all of the kids that got into HGC were at the top of the pack in their home schools, reading 2 grades above level, etc..

Anonymous wrote:To the parent asking about non-MCPS students: my child is currently not in MCPS, and was one of those tested at the Board of Education, and was also accepted to Pine Crest.

Would you mind answering a few questions? My child is currently in private. She is middle of the pack in her school. They don't have standardized testing. Enrichment/acceleration only happens if you are 2 grades ahead of your proper grade. There are only a handful of children that qualify each year. Everyone else is "middle".

Without exposure to MCPS, how did you know HCG would be right for your child? Prior to the BOE test, did you have any data that indicated HCG would be a good fit? Did you have any issues getting teacher recs? I'm worried about this part since the school would like to keep the students they have. Had your child ever been exposed to a standardized test?

Thanks for your thoughts and for sharing your experience.

My child did very well on quantitative (well above median), at the median on verbal, and about 8 points below on nonverbal and was accepted.

I don't know if they weight nonverbal less than the other sections or if the nonverbal score was balanced out by the other scores.

To the parent asking about non-MCPS students: my child is currently not in MCPS, and was one of those tested at the Board of Education, and was also accepted to Pine Crest.

You get a grip. I'm the PP and I'm so sick of people on here being nasty. I have another child with a learning disability, and I've had some concerns about this child, which are heightened based on these test scores. I was hoping not to pay another $2500 to get her privately tested, and to get some insight from the test that she took, so asked the very simple question of whether there was a way to get more information about a child's performance on the test.
(She certainly was not anxious about how I would react since I repeatedly told her that I did not want her going to a non neighborhood school and that I didn't care how she did on the test. She really wanted to have the option, though, so I'm pretty sure she didn't blow it off.)
I do appreciate the folks that have provided some information about the test, and the suggestion to try to find an online CoGat. If anyone has information about how to find out more about her performance on the MCPS test itself, I'd appreciate it. If one appeals, do you get more specific information? I don't actually want her to go to that school, so an appeal seems like a waste, but I might do it if it'll get me the information. Or can one get it through FERPA? Or just not at all?

All it means is that the nonverbal part has not much to do with academics in the first several years. So the poster's daughter could be a very good student but not so strong in that area. Doesn't mean that she has a disability. It is more like strength and weakness.

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Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if theres a way of getting more data about what your kid got right/wrong? I don't actually care about her going to the school, but I am concerned that the scores don't reflect what her teachers have always said about her performance. I'm worried there's something going on other than just disappointing scores, and would like more data.

I could have written this post. Comparing my dd's scores with some other people , I'm surprised how much lower they are than other people and how far from the median. I never expected her to get in but I also didn't expect her to be this far from the median either based on her classroom work.

Granted, she said she didn't finish the test so I would like to know how many questions she did answer and the percentage of those she got correct. Was she just bad at time management (we did no prep) or are there other issues?

But you do know that the median they are talking about is the median score of kids accepted to the center, right? Not the median of all kids who took the test. Your kid can be way above average and still below the median of the kids accepted to the center.

Yes, I knew that. Based on her classroom work I was expecting her to be a little bit closer to the median. One of the tests, she was 5 points below the median. Another of the tests, she was about 37 points below the median. Based on her work in the classroom in that subject, I was shocked she was *that* far off of the median of the hgc kids.

She may have just had an off day, gotten to that section last and was tired or just unfamiliar with the format so made a few more mistakes. With those scores she is still above average even in this area

Did they give the test in the order that it's reported -- verbal; quantitative; nonverbal? My kids scores fell off significantly with each, which is weird because she is super good at puzzles, patterns and things like that, so I really thought the nonverbal would be her area of strength. We never did any prep, so maybe it was lack of familiarity (I had no idea people did prep!). But if the issue is that she doesn't have the stamina to get through the test, I'd really like to know that.

Nonverbal seems to be mostly visual-spatial, and it is the most irrelevant to elementary school academics. Depending on what you mean by patterns, it may or may not mean the same thing. If you are really worried, why don't you find a sample CoGaT test and let her do some of the nonverbal section and then you can evaluate whether she has a visual-spatial deficit. I know I do. I could not do mechanical drawing to save my life.

Seriously, people? Visual-spatial defect? Stamina issue? That test is LONG. It is one day of testing with a variety of factors that may have influenced your child's score. Was your child tired? Hungry? Anxious that mommy and daddy would be disappointed if they didn't get into the HGC? The score is not some indicator of how successful your child will be in life. There is no reason to suspect any kind of disability because your child didn't score off the charts. Get a grip.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if theres a way of getting more data about what your kid got right/wrong? I don't actually care about her going to the school, but I am concerned that the scores don't reflect what her teachers have always said about her performance. I'm worried there's something going on other than just disappointing scores, and would like more data.

I could have written this post. Comparing my dd's scores with some other people , I'm surprised how much lower they are than other people and how far from the median. I never expected her to get in but I also didn't expect her to be this far from the median either based on her classroom work.

Granted, she said she didn't finish the test so I would like to know how many questions she did answer and the percentage of those she got correct. Was she just bad at time management (we did no prep) or are there other issues?

But you do know that the median they are talking about is the median score of kids accepted to the center, right? Not the median of all kids who took the test. Your kid can be way above average and still below the median of the kids accepted to the center.

Yes, I knew that. Based on her classroom work I was expecting her to be a little bit closer to the median. One of the tests, she was 5 points below the median. Another of the tests, she was about 37 points below the median. Based on her work in the classroom in that subject, I was shocked she was *that* far off of the median of the hgc kids.

She may have just had an off day, gotten to that section last and was tired or just unfamiliar with the format so made a few more mistakes. With those scores she is still above average even in this area

Did they give the test in the order that it's reported -- verbal; quantitative; nonverbal? My kids scores fell off significantly with each, which is weird because she is super good at puzzles, patterns and things like that, so I really thought the nonverbal would be her area of strength. We never did any prep, so maybe it was lack of familiarity (I had no idea people did prep!). But if the issue is that she doesn't have the stamina to get through the test, I'd really like to know that.

Nonverbal seems to be mostly visual-spatial, and it is the most irrelevant to elementary school academics. Depending on what you mean by patterns, it may or may not mean the same thing. If you are really worried, why don't you find a sample CoGaT test and let her do some of the nonverbal section and then you can evaluate whether she has a visual-spatial deficit. I know I do. I could not do mechanical drawing to save my life.

Anonymous wrote:Good to know there are kids with disabilities attending the HGCs and that they need to provide accommodations. I wasn't sure if they would try to stick them in the GTLD program (which from my observation seems to have a much more Special Ed focus than on Gifted Ed).

I was saying that it just seemed from this and other threads on DCUM about HGCs that the student population seems to be exclusively from within MCPS (at least these are the posters). Since there are NO other gifted programs or schools in MoCo (besides one small private school called Feynman), I can see why there are plenty applying from private schools and homeschools. There are boatloads of highly gifted+ kids and 2E kids being homeschooled or sent to Montessori and other alternative schools due their needs not being met in the regular ed public schools--and FINALLY in 4th grade MCPS offer a program (because you know they were not gifted and in need of special services before 4th grade )!.

While, less than 10% kids go to private school in MoCo and fewer than that homeschool, so I am not surprised that it was the public school kids that are mostly represented in the MCPS forum.