Questions About Being Tested for the Gifted Program

It isn't something you can really study for or prepare for. I wouldn't worry too much about the test either way...if he's not labeled as "gifted," it doesn't mean that he's not extremely smart. He may be a brillian kid who isn't gifted creatively. And, if he is labeled as "gifted" (a term that I personally dislike), he may be creative as all get out and not particularly analytical. A skilled teacher will know how to challenge bright students, regardless of whether a "gifted" label is attached.

If you want him to practice, try googling IQ tests or try the 'workout' at MENSA.

http://www.mensa.org/

I worked within the G&T program for over 15 years. Here is the thing---there is no set standard nor is there a set test! Every school district has their own perimeters and has chosen which test (of which there are MANY) they will administer. Some parents believe that if their child is labeled G&T that the label is permanent and can be transferred to other school districts, states, etc...! That is not true, some schools even retest kids that were labeled early in life to validate their being in the program---some still "pass" and others do not. What I am saying---is please don't get caught up in a label. If he passes and is offered more challenging work that is wonderful---if not, it really is not a big deal. We put too much pressure on these kids at far too young of an age and quite often it backfires.

Our school district tested all kindergartners whose parents signed the form. It was no big deal. Some were found to be gt, some were not. No biggie.

If your son needs additional challenges, you can always download lots of educational materials and pursue that at home.

Unless your school system uses something really outside the norm of these tests, there is no "pass" and no "fail." These are not tests of what the child already knows; these are tests of the child's capacity to learn. That's why, as others noted, he cannot study for these--because this is not about facts already learned. I'm troubled by the idea of a child "failing the creativity portion of the test." How can you pass or fail on creativity? Some kids may be less creative but equally or even more capable of learning than kids who are highly creative.

I wonder if you are getting the right information from these other parents. They themselves may not fully understand how the tests work or what the tests really gauge. I would ask your son's teacher, or whoever is the coordinator or teacher in your school for gifted programs, to sit down with you for a few minutes to explain how these tests really work. Ask if the idea of "passing or failing" is accurate. I suspect that these parents are saying "pass or fail" when actually the tests have a scoring that has a "cutoff point" -- a score at or above which the child is approved for gifted classes and below which the child is not considered to be in the pool for gifted classes. I guess you could look on that as "passing or failing," but those are just not terms I've ever heard used for gifted testing.

In our system, if a child does not "test into the pool" as we put it here -- the parents still have the option of requesting that their child be placed in gifted classes! The parents in this case usually have to fill out a form, and have to have the child's classroom teacher (and possibly others) submit recommendations for the child to be in the gifted pool. In other words, not scoring high enough to be in the pool is NOT the end of the story if the parents truly feel the child would benefit from being in a gifted program. So if your son does not test into it, be certain you ask if there is such an option as this one.

My son took one every year from K-4 and in 4th finally passed it. I was never told what all was on the test. I don't know if they tell the parent cause they don't want it to be something that can be studyed for. Just tell him to do his best. My son come to find out didn't even really try cause he didn't understand what it was for or what it ment.

Good luck and God Bless!

When we moved to a new area and a new school, my son was tested (in the 3rd grade).
It was like a 45 min test and my son thought it was easy.
He scored pretty high.
The thing is the gifted program budget is fairly cut to ribbons and being gifted did not make any difference in elementary school (no special programs) and is just starting to be a little difference in middle school.
The main thing is to keep your child from getting bored while he has to slog along with the rest of the class.
This means not letting the school limit his learning.
What ever he's interested in, get him books about it and take him to museums.
Do fun/science projects at home, build catapults, etc.
The school might discover he's brighter than the average kid, but that doesn't mean they are actually going to DO anything about it.

Please don't worry about this. If he passes, he passes. If he doesn't, he doesn't. It is what it is.

Take this one step at a time. Your stress will affect him, and that's not good for either one of you. Different gifted programs are done differently. Some are pull-outs and some affect just a small portion of their day. You haven't told us anything here about your child - not even his grade or the name of the particular test. We can't give you particulars when we don't even know yours.

Don't make a big deal of this to your son. Really and truly.

Dawn

Truthfully, there is no pass or fail. Don't think about it in those terms and don't put that pressure on your child.

Many parts of these tests are quite abstract and a way of gauging a child's thought process as opposed to there being a right or wrong answer.
Intelligence isn't always determined by getting an answer correct.

I am a firm believer that ALL children are gifted in some way. And, in some ways more than others.
Don't put any pressure on the situation. Let it happen organically.
That's just my opinion.

Creativity? Please watch the following video about an amazing autisic artist and google more info on him. He's amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8YXZTlwTAU

Best wishes.

Here in Fl., it is a basic IQ test that they take. My son has taken it 3 times and although he was "above average" he was not in the exceptional range needed to go into the gifted program(it is not "pass" or "fail"). The counselor said sometimes it is just a matter of maturity and to keep trying. He is a smart, straight A student and does well on the verbal tests. His test is not that long, done in less than 2 hours, one day, so yours sounds more involved. My son was recommended in K to take the test and is now in 3rd grade and taking it again next week.

It TOTALLY depends on the test given (there are 4-5 common ones, and about 2 dozen available ones). Some are hours long, some are totally subjective, some are totally objective, some are psych evals, some are knowledge based... You get the drift.

What test is chosen depends on a lot of factors, but MOSTLY what type of program it is. Some are pre existing knowledge & performance based (as in normal kids who are bright or just ahead of the curriculum), others are gifted based (as in the disorder).

I don't agree with all this testing for the gifted program. You may have a child that is smarter than the average bear....but like when my son skipped 1st grade because he was smart...the principal said that his smartness most likely will taper off as he gets older. Actually he is very intelligent as an adult...but to have him labeled as gifted wasn't a big deal. Heck, I didn't even know they were skipping him up until I was called in for a conference. One of the mothers at the bus stop asked me if I knew he was the the only one in school that was being skipped up. News to me!

The child, needs to take the test without "prep."
Without it being rehearsed.
There are many different kinds of being smart and/or gifted.
Many different kinds.
And many different tests.
Don't worry.

There are all kinds of creativity. And has nothing to do with how smart one is or not.

Were I am at (Wa. State) they bring in a special test giver and test all the kids in K and then when they are in 1st grade they will be tested again, same for 2nd-4th grade. So by the end of 4th grade if they have passed every yearly test then and only then will they be labeled as Gifted....(back in my day it was called GATE) but now it's just G&T.

I was told by my sons teacher that the test primarily consists of puzzles and mind games that require problem solving...they make it fun and it's not a written type test.

There is nothing you can do to prepare for this kind of test. It isn't knowledge per se, as much as HOW he thinks. Do not stress him out trying get him to do his best or anything or making the test out to be a big deal.
Just tell him they want to see HOW he learns and they will administer this to him to help figure it out.
There isn't doing well or not doing well, it is just HOW he figures things out. So do his best, but don't worry about it affecting his grades or anything like that.

He might find it fun if you let him.

And by the way, there isn't "passing" and "failing" with a test like this. It is a cognitive abilities type thing. They really will see how he thinks to some degree. What kind of spacial reasoning skills he has. How abstract he is able to think. Can he mentally spin pictures around on the page to compare them. These are things you can't really LEARN. You either do it or you don't.

Just don't make it out to be some big thing for your son. Let him go in and just do it and be done with it. That's all he needs to know.

I went through it. So has my daughter. We both were in TAG programs. I didn't study for it. I didn't even know I was going to be tested. They just pulled me out of class one day. My parents probably knew, but I didn't. That was 6th grade back in the day (25 years ago or so). I told my daughter, but we didn't do anything to prepare. I just told her they were going to do it. Then asked her what she thought about it afterwards. She got a kick out of some of the questions. :)

I didn't think they were testing this late.
My son tested back in Feb. He is in first grade.
It is scored on a scale of 100 being the highest , just like a normal school grade. They have to score above a certain percentage to get into the program.
K-2nd it's 99% or higher , 3-12th it's 96% or higher to get in. Now if the composite mental ability and Achievement scores are high enough they can over ride the creativity score.
They can not study for this test and in my county if they don't make it in , they can't test again for 2 years.

We are here in Evans right above Augusta.

My son was tested in 3rd grade. After the testing was over, we found out they had additional homework and had really high AR point goals that had to be met every 9 weeks. I think the kids have enough homework already. He plays tennis as a big hitter and is a Boy Scout. He makes all A's and is on honor roll. So I was glad he didn't "make it" in the GT program. I know my kiddo is super smart without a test.