"A little practice test" the day before or day of the test is one thing, focused practice for weeks or months ahead of time is another.
Showing a child a few sample questions and explaining the directions can help to ease any nervousness the child may feel. Extended practice, even if not of the EXACT questions will have the effect of "cooking the score" and that score will not reflect a good measurement of the child's abilities.

The WISC can only be taken once in a 12 month period, so it is clear that test makers expect that seeing the types of questions too close to the administration of the test will affect its outcome.

As a teacher of many, many years, I find that taking a sample test or doing sample questions is not 'cheating' or doing something unethical. I say this because many children that have come through my doorway have a reading disability, but are actually very intelligent. If a child does not know what the question is really asking, he or she may not know how to answer it. If they had done a question like that before, even though the new question is of a completely different topic, the child now understands what is expected of him. Many students do not have the support or encouragement from parents at home, and therefore are not exposed to the same learning environment as other children, however, this does not mean in any way that they may not be just as intelligent. I have seen some very shy, poor, homely, forgotten about children come through my doorway that when given some encouragement, care, support from me, end up being the hardest working and most intelligent in the room. I don't see any problem giving a young child a little practice test to ease their anxiety about taking a private test away from their classmates. It lets them see what types of questions will be asked, not EXACT questions that will be asked.

My kids prepare for whatever events are coming up in life. Just like they will have to for the rest of their life if they want to have a great life. Weather it's Hockey, baseball, swim team, math, reading, music or a test of some sort, preparation reduces stress and allows them to do their best.

There is nothing wrong, nothing at all, with preparing, studying, working hard and doing your best.

When I grew up, hard work was a virtue. I guess to some around here it's now unfair somehow. Too bad.....

Thanks. I don't know whether his teacher recommends him or not yet. I did not ask for the GBRS. His teacher thinks he is "smart" but has issues with working habit, especially in a group environment.

I think he has great potential. But do you say his teacher doesn't recommend him? What is his GBRS?

By the way, for a child like my boy, prep would not work at all. He is not interested in sitting still and doing what you want him to do... For HW, he often would purposely say a wrong answer to make you lecture, and then he starts to laugh. As his mom, I am often confused about whether he pretends not knowing or he really doesn't know.

No worry. My DS was a trouble in first grade and his teacher even suggested for special test for learning disability. When his NNAT score came at 99%, we all thought it was by chance alone (both teacher and parents). Guess what, he became a different learner since second grade! All of sudden he became interested in math and science. Now he is still not as devoted as most other kids but compare to himself, he is doing great. His FAT is above 95% so we know he has the potential. Now we are waiting for him to blossom
We may need to WISC him though if his teacher does not recommend him given his class behavior.

Anonymous wrote:21:25: You are the reason (personally) why kids with low GBRS and high CogAT's are not admitted. IT is possible to train the kids on how to take tests. This has nothing to do with any learning ability, but rather test taking strategies.

What the central committee is looking for is any child that is potentially advanced academically. Since the test scores can be manipulated (you infer that) by tiger moms, that becomes less of an indicator of ability than one would ideally like. That is why we have GBRS.

WISC IV is less biased, but if you trained a child, I bet you could cook the score. Cooking the score does not help intelligence.

Test prep for the SAT's can help you get admitted to college, but will not help you in differential equations. This is why colleges do not just rely on SAT's.

This is my concern....my DC scored a 149 on the NNAT (no prep, didn't even know what day the test was given). DC is only 1st grade so we don't have Cogat yet. Performs very average for 1st grade teacher since she doesn't meet her at her level (K teacher's assessment). If this teacher were to do the GBRS my kid might not get into AAP because of this teacher style mixed with my DCs personality.

Worried now it will look like we prepped when we didn't!

Please people not everyone has bad intentions with getting the information. My child has a disability and the specialists want her to be tested to see how they can best help. The test costs $1200 and I was just wanting to find out how best to help her while saving as many others including the original poster could have been doing. Please don't just judge

Anonymous wrote:From a child psycholodgist: It is unethical to prep for that test (no legitimate prep tests are available). That is also why it is unethical to have your child repeat the test within one year (familiarity with the format is considered an unfair advantage).

Get a life please...

To 05/19/2011 23:32
Thank you.

to [Post New]05/18/2011 17:29

You are the winner - the only sensible post. here.

The parents on this board are exactly the same that I find in my kids PTA..touchy and quick to have an opinion. And they are the same ones who go on to preach about creativity and blah...

To OP, I only wanted to bring to your attention that some WISC are administered to billingual children by pshychologists completely clueless about the difference in comprehension when testing such a child. It can set a child back and cause great grief for the family, that is usually completely unnecessary. This also stands for kids who are introvert and might take longer to answer questions or think in a different way.

Wait, these people of Indian, Korean, Chinese enthic groups are also Americans. Hard work does pay off, however, the Tiger Mom's relentless approach does not help creativity. They may be Dr's. Probably not the lead scientists....These people are very good problem solvers, but not so good at problem definition, at least in my experience. And this is not based on racial or ethinc issues...rather, the way the kids are taught to learn. Memorizing how to do a problem, how to take a test does not provide real world solutions.

I have seen so many brilliant problem solvers not be able to define the problem in graduate school and wash out.

Anonymous wrote:Also, when faced with real world problems, where the people have to think creatively, my experience, is a disproportionate number of these children fail. Basically, they are very good at doing the problems handed to them, but they are not so good at coming up with their own creative ideas. So the tiger mom's child might make a great technician, but will not be a true leader in the field. There is a reason why American scientists are the best. And the truly inovative ideas come from America...

Maybe your point of views are true up until now however, our future "American scientists" will be made up of Chinese, Indian, Korean, and etc... Americans. Look at the winners of science fair-you can't deny the fact that most of the winners were kids with Asian names. I am sure that part of the criteria was on creative ideas. Also, tiger mom's child will become doctors, lawyers, and business leaders. You need to stop living in your little narrow minded box and embrace the changes going on around you.