abbeyej Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Ds (and five other kids leaving in our little group agreed!) said that one of the reading sections was "the most boring thing I've ever read in my entire life". lol... His friend admitted he couldn't even stand to read it, so he just marked some answers and kept going. They said the rest of the reading was good though, and sounded positive about the rest of the test... Now I'm just curious how long the wait typically is for scores... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Ds (and five other kids leaving in our little group agreed!) said that one of the reading sections was "the most boring thing I've ever read in my entire life". lol... His friend admitted he couldn't even stand to read it, so he just marked some answers and kept going. They said the rest of the reading was good though, and sounded positive about the rest of the test... Now I'm just curious how long the wait typically is for scores... the typical wait is FOREVER!!! (lol!) Actually I think it was mid-March before the January round had scores last year... they say 6-8 weeks or something like that, but it was more like 8-10. We did the February date last year and it wasn't quite so long... but given that it only takes them, what, ten seconds to run it through the scanner and score? I know it's sitting in a pile of papers and getting shuffled around for at least 9 of those 10 weeks! So I'm trying my best not to be too twitchy this year, but so far it's not working... LOL DS says the Reading "wasn't too bad" but he did say it was the hardest section, and the one he took the longest for. But at least this year he finished all the sections! (Which of course means that I can be super-optomistic about the possibilities right up until reality lands in my mailbox! LOL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 When my daughter took it a few years ago, I think we received the scores from the February date in mid-April, just within the 6-8 week window. For both of my kids, the Explore was their first experience with outside-the-house standardized testing. I remember my daughter was really nervous, but came out complaining it was just boring. My son didn't seem quite as concerned before the fact, but came out yesterday thoroughly wiped out. He, too, said it was mostly just tedious. I'm trying to be calm, but I'm really looking forward to seeing his scores. He always does well on the standardized tests we do here at home, but I'm curious to know how well he did in that environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in Central TX Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 My middle son took the EXPLORE test yesterday; he thought he did really well on the English and reading portions, science was okay, but he didn't finish the math portion. He's my slow worker in math, so I expected that. The positive side to working slow is that he usually gets the right answers, so if this holds true, he may just miss the couple he didn't get to (crossing fingers here). My oldest son took the Explore last year, and it took 8 weeks to get the results. We received the results on 03/22/08; therefore, I'm expecting this year's results on 03/23/08. Hopefully, they'll come earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 What's that test about anyway? I've never heard of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 What's that test about anyway? I've never heard of it. A lot of private schools use it for placement, but more often I hear of it used as a "talent search" test (Duke TIP, CTD MATS/ Northwestern, CTY/ Johns Hopkins, etc.) to be used out of level by younger kids. The structure is the same as the ACT, but it's shorter and the content tops out a bit lower. It tests English (grammar and usage), Math, Reading Comprehension and Science Reasoning, and each section is 30 minutes long (vs. the ACT at 35-60 minutes per section). And there's no writing test in the Explore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in WI Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Hi there! My son will be taking this on Feb 21st. He's 8 (almost 9) and has never taken a standardized test before. Did you feel the need to prepare your children for it? I am looking for a sample answer sheet online to show him how to fill in the little bubbles, but am coming up short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I am looking for a sample answer sheet online to show him how to fill in the little bubbles, but am coming up short. Something like $5 and the questions were pathetic (so it's not like it really preps them at all content-wise) but the bubble practice was good. Before the Explore we had done a Woodcock Johnson and a CAT/5, but the WJ doesn't have bubbles and the CAT/5 had been a few years earlier (and probably had the bubbles in the book... not a separate sheet...) If you only want a sample sheet of bubbles to fill in, I've used http://www.catpin.com/bubbletest/. The other thing is before the Explore, DS didn't routinely use a calculator for anything, so we got him one just for the test and I let him use it for about a month so it wouldn't be too unfamiliar. Other than that we didn't really prep at all the first time. This year was his third round and we did discuss strategy -- I know he's got the content down cold, so it was more a matter of how well he could do when he really worked at it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in WI Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thanks for the link Erica! Ooh -- great idea about practicing with a calculator! I will try to go out and get him one to practice for the next two weeks today. ~Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 For both of my kids, the Explore was their first experience with outside-the-house standardized testing. The other thing is before the Explore, DS didn't routinely use a calculator for anything, so we got him one just for the test and I let him use it for about a month so it wouldn't be too unfamiliar. Other than that we didn't really prep at all the first time. This year was his third round and we did discuss strategy -- I know he's got the content down cold, so it was more a matter of how well he could do when he really worked at it... This is us. and ds will be taking the explore test in april. Any advice? What did the test tell you about your dc? anythng helpful? I'm suddenly kind of hyperventilating here.... I mean I've looked into everything for NEXT year when he's in 9th grade and so forth, but it just hit me like a brick last night that "OMGoodness! The first test is in April and that's next month!":willy_nilly: How the heck did I go from being a teen in love with her teenage boyfriend, to getting white hair, married to a balding guy and educating a teenager in high school?!!?:ohmy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I'm pretty sure I'm still 20-something and that streak of silver (not quite dramatic enough to be "interesting" but I'm hoping it will go that way!) is really just highlights.... ;) This is us. and ds will be taking the explore test in april.Any advice? My advice for the math section is that he have a calculator he's familiar with (so he's not trying to figure out how to work it). It's 30 questions in 30 minutes, so there isn't a lot of time for getting sidetracked. Grammar (English) was pretty straightforward, and DS did well with just knowing that "if it sounds right it probably is right", and with Reading just because I know him and I know his strengths and weaknesses, I suggested that he skip fiction and go to nonfiction first, and then go back to the fiction sections. That won't be the right thing for everyone though! The same could be true of the Science section too, since it's in sets of problems about a single scenario, if there's one that just isn't "clicking" he can skip to another set that might be better and go back. What did the test tell you about your dc? anythng helpful? Like any standardized test, it's really good for a comparison to a population - in this case eighth graders. Since DS is on the very-young side, it was good to see how he compared to other kids closer to the level he's working at (rather than his age), and basically what it told me, since he did do extremely well, is that he's ready to move on to the ACT. Speaking of :willy_nilly: LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.