Anonymous
Post 01/19/2010 11:29     Subject: Re:cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
Thanks again. Can you please guide what kind of work should I produce when doing parent referral, which will carry more weightage? About opinions from teacher and other FCPS personnel, should I get something from them in written and include that in the packet?
Anonymous wrote:
Strong WISC-IV scores should help, as would strong student work samples. Good luck!


I agree that strong WISC-IV scores will help. But work samples are not going to be a major factor. As I mentioned in a previous post, work samples submitted by parents are not given a lot of weight. The screening committee cannot tell how much of it is the child's original work and how much was done by or with the assistance of the parents.

The other thing you need in addition to good WISC scores is a strong recommendation from the school. I would focus my energies on that more than on the work samples. Yes, get the best work samples you can find, but realize they are not going to hold much sway. The opinions of the teacher, AAP/GT specialist, and other FCPS personnel who work with your child are far more important.
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2010 11:03     Subject: Re:cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
Strong WISC-IV scores should help, as would strong student work samples. Good luck!


I agree that strong WISC-IV scores will help. But work samples are not going to be a major factor. As I mentioned in a previous post, work samples submitted by parents are not given a lot of weight. The screening committee cannot tell how much of it is the child's original work and how much was done by or with the assistance of the parents.

The other thing you need in addition to good WISC scores is a strong recommendation from the school. I would focus my energies on that more than on the work samples. Yes, get the best work samples you can find, but realize they are not going to hold much sway. The opinions of the teacher, AAP/GT specialist, and other FCPS personnel who work with your child are far more important.
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2010 10:51     Subject: Re:cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
Thanks so much, when is the good time to take this WISC-IV test? Deadline for parent referral submission is 5th Feb.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Hi,

My son scored in Cogat 129 and NNAT 111. I am putting a parent referral. Do you have any idea or any case in which parent referral has worked? His class teacher recommended me to put parent referral. Do I need to talk and find our with teacher and principal if they would give a strong referral? What kind of work submitted carries more weightage? Please guide


Strong WISC-IV scores should help, as would strong student work samples. Good luck!
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2010 09:48     Subject: Re:cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
If we choose to get private testing to have for an appeal, when do we do that? It sounds like there's not enough time to get it done after a denial.


You should have the testing done before you even get a denial. The testing is expensive and if you get in during the initial selection, you won't need those scores, but unfortunately you're right that there is not much time between the denials going out and the appeal deadline. Personally, I'd want to have the scores in hand so you're ready to start working on your appeal immediately.
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2010 09:44     Subject: Re:cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
Also there is group test. Is it too late if I take my kid to Jan 23 group test for Feb 5 deadline?


If your child was tested in FCSP this fall (Sept./Oct.) you CANNOT retake the CogAT and/or NNAT in January. The tests can only be taken every six months. If you take them sooner, the scores are not valid. You CAN do individual testing now (eg, WISC-IV), but it is too soon to take the group ability tests again.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2010 20:16     Subject: cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
I would imagine the scores creep up because people prep for the test.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2010 19:27     Subject: Re:cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
Keep in mind that this is a peak time for GMU. I called last week and they returned my call later that day. We had our assessment this morning. The place was quite full, and I think every appt today was probably taken, given it was a day off from school. They have hours until about 9 each night, and do their best to accomodate. Our grad student (they do the tests) said we could expect a call from her next week to set up our session to review the scores. I have no idea how my son did, but at least I'll feel that he's had a thorough assessment and will go from there.

BTW, my son had a very high NNAT in Kindergarten, but did not make the cut off with his 2nd grade scores. Our tester said the NNAT was updated recently and that scores would tend to be lower after an update. She said they update every 10 years or so because scores start to creep up. Just thought that was interesting.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2010 18:30     Subject: cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
Anonymous wrote:If we choose to get private testing to have for an appeal, when do we do that? It sounds like there's not enough time to get it done after a denial.

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for private testers?


If you have private testing done, FCPS also requires a copy of the psychologist's license to be submitted with the testing report. (Except for GMU.)
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2010 18:20     Subject: Re:cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
Anonymous wrote:Hi,

My son scored in Cogat 129 and NNAT 111. I am putting a parent referral. Do you have any idea or any case in which parent referral has worked? His class teacher recommended me to put parent referral. Do I need to talk and find our with teacher and principal if they would give a strong referral? What kind of work submitted carries more weightage? Please guide


Strong WISC-IV scores should help, as would strong student work samples. Good luck!
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2010 15:56     Subject: cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
I tried calling GMU and its a waste, they never return your call. I left coupld of messages no one returned my call

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone ever get GMU staff to answer the phone? I have been calling for 5 days and left messages. No one return my message or answer the phone.

Also there is group test. Is it too late if I take my kid to Jan 23 group test for Feb 5 deadline?
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2010 15:53     Subject: Re:cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
Hi,

My son scored in Cogat 129 and NNAT 111. I am putting a parent referral. Do you have any idea or any case in which parent referral has worked? His class teacher recommended me to put parent referral. Do I need to talk and find our with teacher and principal if they would give a strong referral? What kind of work submitted carries more weightage? Please guide
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would be surprised because a 150 or 146 is significantly above the cutoff score. About 60-70% of the kids in the pool get in, so your chances are good just by being in the pool at all. Few kids will have a perfect score on anything. So your child is probably in the top 10% of the pool in terms of test scores, and again, 60-70% of the pool is getting in.

Also, I don't believe that lower scores in other subsections detract from the high scores. Keep in mind the purpose of the screening tests - to identify gifted children whose needs will not be met in the base school classroom. A child who scores a perfect score on the nonverbal or quantitative sections NEEDS to be in the Center - the base school does not meet that child's needs in that area, even if the child would be fine in the base school with regard to another area, such as verbal.

It's also important to remember that the scores are not weighted more heavily than anything else in the application process, so there are children with lower scores getting in if there is other evidence in the file that the child needs to be in the Center. Your child's somewhat lower scores on the other test or other subsections shouldn't be an obstacle, IMO, and even less so if there is other support in the file (i.e., the classroom teacher believes the child should be in the Center, etc.), which I assume there will be.

I'm basing this on my personal experience only. I have one child in the Center, one applying now, and I have talked to a lot of parents and several people in FCPS who are involved with the process. The bottom line is that I would be surprised if a child with a perfect score on one of the screening tests was found ineligible for placement in the Center.


I'm not the PP, but I hope you're right. My child has a perfect NNAT and CogAT scores are in the 99th percentile. Nevertheless, I have heard from other parents of multiple instances where a child obtained a perfect score on either the NNAT or a CogAT subsection and still was denied entry to the GT center. The GBRS scores seem to carry a lot of weight. Also, some base school principals are reluctant to send their "best" students away to a GT center, so you may have to look out for that. The selection process is imperfect, of course.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2010 09:37     Subject: cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
Did anyone ever get GMU staff to answer the phone? I have been calling for 5 days and left messages. No one return my message or answer the phone.

Also there is group test. Is it too late if I take my kid to Jan 23 group test for Feb 5 deadline?
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2010 08:51     Subject: cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
PP, Thanks!
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2010 19:49     Subject: Re:cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
You can have testing done at GMU. They do both the group (NNAT and CoGAT) and individual assessments. And they work quickly for you to get the results in time for an appeal. Go to cap.gmu.edu for all the information. They are also extremely helpful over the phone. Individual assessments are $380 and take about 3 hours. You then have a follow-up appt where they go over the results with you.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2010 18:49     Subject: cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?
If we choose to get private testing to have for an appeal, when do we do that? It sounds like there's not enough time to get it done after a denial.

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for private testers?