Runningmom80 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 DS is age grade 4, we call him grade 5. Would I want to do the grade 4-5 or the grade 6? Is SCAT a test we would want to do out of level? I'm not sure how useful it is in general, we are just doing it for CTY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 I don't think anyone does SCAT out of level because there is no incentive to. It is the quickest qualifying test to sit for. I only get two numbers back per child so not useful to me at all. Also no one understand SCAT scores outside of CTY while people in state understand my kids state testing scores. How about the PSAT 8/9? The results might give you more information. "PSAT 8/9 Open to Talent Search students in grades 5-6, the PSAT 8/9 is a timed, paper-and-pencil-based, reading, writing, and math assessment that establishes a baseline measure of college and career readiness" http://cty.jhu.edu/talent/testing/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 (edited) The SCAT is out-of-level already - iirc, for 4th grade they go up 3 grade levels, so, it'd be a 7th grade test. I agree with Arcadia - it's not overly informative, but it's what CTY uses to qualify for its programs (they take some other tests too, but they're mostly for higher grades), and it's fast. I would not ask to do the SCAT out-of-level. ETA: sorry, I misread that. So, for a 5th grade student, the SCAT would be an 8th grade test, iirc. Edited February 18, 2017 by luuknam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 Thank you! I ended up choosing the 4-5 because I realized what Arcadia was saying, it's not going to be useful other than getting him into the program, might as well give him the best chance to cross the threshold. I only had a SCAT code. Maybe next year we will do PSAT, although I was thinking I'd wait until around 12 to rest again and do the ACT. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 (edited) Duke TIP offers the PSAT, hmm now I'm going to have to decide if I should have him do that instead. We aren't big on testing, he's never done a standardized test, the last time he did achievement testing was 3 years ago. Edited February 18, 2017 by Runningmom80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Duke TIP offers the PSAT, hmm now I'm going to have to decide if I should have him do that instead. We aren't big on testing, he's never done a standardized test, the last time he did achievement testing was 3 years ago. From what Google tells me, the PSAT 8/9 is 2 hours 25 min. Whereas the SCAT is 44 min (if your kid takes that long - mine took less than 30 min for the 3rd grade one (which was at a 5th grade level)). Also, we didn't do test prep, other than a handful of sample questions from the CTY website so he'd know what to expect, whereas I thought the PSAT/SAT/ACT are things people typically prep for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 (edited) Btw, am I seeing correctly that the PSAT 8/9 is only available in a group testing situation? What I liked about the SCAT is that he took the test, and when he was done with the first section, he could take the allowed 10 min break, or continue on. Which is why he was done in under 30 min. Whereas with group tests, you have to sit around twiddling your thumbs doing nothing while you wait for everybody else to be done. Of course, that's only an issue if you're done much faster than everybody else, but it's something to think about. ETA: btw, I don't mean to sound anti-PSAT 8/9 (I just realized that since my oldest will be in 5th grade, maybe he'll take it next year). It will probably give you more information. But, if you don't like testing, it would take more time. Edited February 18, 2017 by luuknam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 It's not that I don't like it per se, it's just we don't see the need to test every year is all. I'm going to stick with the SCAT. It will be better for DS to do a shorter test for his first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Btw, am I seeing correctly that the PSAT 8/9 is only available in a group testing situation? What I liked about the SCAT is that he took the test, and when he was done with the first section, he could take the allowed 10 min break, or continue on. Which is why he was done in under 30 min. Whereas with group tests, you have to sit around twiddling your thumbs doing nothing while you wait for everybody else to be done. Of course, that's only an issue if you're done much faster than everybody else, but it's something to think about. ETA: btw, I don't mean to sound anti-PSAT 8/9 (I just realized that since my oldest will be in 5th grade, maybe he'll take it next year). It will probably give you more information. But, if you don't like testing, it would take more time. I agree with this. We could take the SCAT at a dedicated testing center, where all they do is administer tests. It was a lovely experience. We showed up early, so I was dreading a long wait before the exam was scheduled to begin, but in fact, the test monitor had space for my dd, so she could begin immediately! They offered a long break, which she didn't need, so she also finished the exam in record time. Why can't AP exams be this convenient? I briefly looked into the PSAT8/9 but as I recall, it's the type of test where you need to call individual schools and beg and plead to let your homeschooled student take it with their students. BTDT with the APs, and I don't want to repeat that miserable experience with an exam of little value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 One advantage to the PSAT 8/9 is that I think it can be used for DYS qualification, whereas the SCAT cannot. Double check with DYS, though, on that. Agree with the others that the SCAT experience was easy peasy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) One advantage to the PSAT 8/9 is that I think it can be used for DYS qualification, whereas the SCAT cannot. Double check with DYS, though, on that. Agree with the others that the SCAT experience was easy peasy.DYS doesn't accept PSAT, at least not according to their website. I think SCAT was the way to go, thank you for the reassurance! Edited February 19, 2017 by Runningmom80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Also, I think the last Talent search test date is in Feb for the PSAT 8/9 because you need it by then for summer programs and summer awards. The same was true with the EXPLORE. It kind of was annoying because there were very few tesf dates, and they were ALL in cold/flu season (and at least here, habitually hit MathCounts regionals, which seemed poor planning since the same 6th graders doing Talent search are often those who do math competitions!) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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