Anonymous wrote:Look, there will always be people who prep/scam. Nothing anyone says is going to change their minds and make them consider the common good over the needs of their own DC. I agree with the PP who suggested making copies of past tests available to everyone. I think that is as close to fairness as we will be able to come.

Prepping/Scamming the Cogat.

FCPS staff members chose to administer the custom form of the CogAT this year after it came to our attention that some students, in previous years, had prepared for the CogAT using the exact form of the CogAT being administered in FCPS.

Aren't they in the in the same bed with the "for profit" testing businesses?

Isn't this a conflict of interest? FCPS will do and say what the testing company tells them to do and say and some posters here will parrot their sound bites and talking points ad nauseum.

"Prepping is kids having the test questions before the test" but all other preparation and prepping (like they do in their households) is legitimate.

What utter nonsensical illogic.

Instead of your familiar sound bites, let's get a little deeper; tell us why the developers of the SAT test (and their psychologists, educators on the board) argued for many years they did not want students to prepare for their SAT aptitude test and preparation for the SAT aptitude test would not improve test scores based on studies they conducted over many years?

Take the specific CogAT prep materials and explain how frequently they are used to the AART at school and ask if they are appropriate.

What if everybody who used CogAT prep materials took them to the AART at their child's school, explained how they had been used, and just asked if the school recommended the use of these materials before the CogAT?
If the AART thinks they're fine, then there is no issue with them.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. 25 pages and still going strong.

Here is a modest proposal for you anti-prepping fetishers. The NNAT is something like 40 pick the next object in a series questions and the FxAT is 40 or so each of rather simple verbal and login and math questions. Of course prepping is going to help kids get better scores and some parents are going to do it despite all of your protests, name calling and high pitched whining (25 pages, just in this one thread) so why don't you lobby for FCPS schools to give the most prep-proof test out there to all students - the WISC.

You can even create a non-profit to help FCPS defer the costs of administering the WISC to all students and then donate your own money to the fund. If any of you do this, I promise to donate 5 dollars of my own money to help.