Explore test?

[KAR120C]

Did anyone else's kid do the Explore this year?

 

DS took it for the second time a couple weeks ago (first time was last year) through CTD/ Northwestern. I'm impatient for the score report because he thinks he did really well.... Okay I'd be impatient anyway, but last year his report of how he did matched up pretty well with the score report... I'm so completely spoiled by the instant gratification of homeschooling, I hate waiting even a month for results! LOL

 

Anyone else waiting with me?

[angela in ohio]

I'm waiting for two reports from the last test (well, maybe one, thanks to my little non-bubbler.) Last year they used every day of the time they said it would take. I am waiting for the results to make some decisions about younger dd (if we get any results for her,) and shopping season is coming up here!

[KAR120C]

I'm waiting for two reports from the last test (well, maybe one, thanks to my little non-bubbler.) Last year they used every day of the time they said it would take. I am waiting for the results to make some decisions about younger dd (if we get any results for her,) and shopping season is coming up here!

Same with us last year -- it came on the last day of the sixth week! But that was January test date, and this year we tested in Feb.... I don't know if it makes any difference! I'm just impatient, that's all -- I know what we're doing next year, I just want to have numbers and percentiles to play with! LOL

[cjzimmer1]

My son took it for the second time this year as well. We have NEVER gotten it in 6 weeks. Last year took 7 weeks, this year 6 weeks + 1 postal day. So he tested in January and we just got the result on Monday. I always make sure we keep the January date open because I could never stand waiting another whole month to get the results (even though the wait time is the same, I wouldn't get to find out till later in the year)

 

Stephanie

[Beth in Central TX]

My son took the EXPLORE test for the first time on January 26th, and we're still waiting for his results. I'm hopeful they will be here soon; it will be 7 weeks on the 15th.

[KAR120C]

My son took it for the second time this year as well. We have NEVER gotten it in 6 weeks. Last year took 7 weeks, this year 6 weeks + 1 postal day. So he tested in January and we just got the result on Monday. I always make sure we keep the January date open because I could never stand waiting another whole month to get the results (even though the wait time is the same, I wouldn't get to find out till later in the year)

 

Stephanie

I intended to do the same -- registered for January and everything! but then the local science fair was rescheduled for the same day, and there was no way we could miss that!! Next year though....

 

Actually if his scores are anywhere in the 20-ish range I might switch him to the ACT next year just so we can get online scores... oh and for more "headroom"... but mostly the online scores... ;)

[KAR120C]

My son took the EXPLORE test for the first time on January 26th, and we're still waiting for his results. I'm hopeful they will be here soon; it will be 7 weeks on the 15th.

You're the second person I've heard that from.... I wonder if there's a general delay... eek!

[Beth in Central TX]

Well, I guess I'll be patient a little bit longer then. I was planning on contacting Duke TIP, but maybe I'll wait until the 8-week mark.

[cjzimmer1]

Actually if his scores are anywhere in the 20-ish range I might switch him to the ACT next year just so we can get online scores... oh and for more "headroom"... but mostly the online scores... ;)

 

 

So is your son actually old enough to take the ACT next year. Mine would technically be in 5th. I've always just used the grade he would be in if he attended school, but he got a 24 in one subject (although the rest were in the upper teens) and I was wondering if I should "advance" his grade level to 6 next year just so he could take the ACT. I hadn't even thought about getting the scores online but that would be a definitely plus.

[Beth in Central TX]

Under my limited knowledge of the Duke TIP program, the Explore testing is offered to qualified 5th & 6th graders, and the ACT/SAT is offered for qualified 7th graders. High test scores could open up opportunities for more testing though. Maybe someone can clarify.

 

I do know that Duke TIP progam makes exceptions on the ACT/SAT qualifications for students who skip grades (ie. 8th graders who would have been 7th graders if they had not been advanced a grade). This is explicitly stated on their website.

[KAR120C]

So is your son actually old enough to take the ACT next year. Mine would technically be in 5th. I've always just used the grade he would be in if he attended school, but he got a 24 in one subject (although the rest were in the upper teens) and I was wondering if I should "advance" his grade level to 6 next year just so he could take the ACT. I hadn't even thought about getting the scores online but that would be a definitely plus.

The talent search places may have minimums (or grade levels) but the ACT people themselves do not. Although DS is working at a pretty solid 7th grade level now (except for spelling...), I still don't call him a 7th grader, and just for that reason we might opt to do the ACT independently. The only things I can see getting out of the talent search route are the program norms (which enough of them post on websites that I can have lots of numbers to play with that way... LOL) and camps or classes, which I'm assuming will have minimum ages anyway. Also we've been using CTD/Northwestern, which seems to be pretty easy with their requirements. I don't think they'd care if I bumped him up to 6th (when they start SAT/ACT), but I might still feel a little weird doing it. I guess we'll see! :)

 

24 is excellent!! Which subtest was it? (if I may be so nosy... LOL)

[cjzimmer1]

Under my limited knowledge of the Duke TIP program, the Explore testing is offered to qualified 5th & 6th graders, and the ACT/SAT is offered for qualified 7th graders. High test scores could open up opportunities for more testing though. Maybe someone can clarify.

 

I do know that Duke TIP progam makes exceptions on the ACT/SAT qualifications for students who skip grades (ie. 8th graders who would have been 7th graders if they had not been advanced a grade). This is explicitly stated on their website.

 

I guess Duke is a bit more limited than ours. CTD allows the Explore starting in the 3rd grade - 6th grade and the ACT is for 6th-8th. CTD doesn't say anything about exceptions but I think I will probably end up calling them to see.

[cjzimmer1]

The talent search places may have minimums (or grade levels) but the ACT people themselves do not. Although DS is working at a pretty solid 7th grade level now (except for spelling...), I still don't call him a 7th grader, and just for that reason we might opt to do the ACT independently. The only things I can see getting out of the talent search route are the program norms (which enough of them post on websites that I can have lots of numbers to play with that way... LOL) and camps or classes, which I'm assuming will have minimum ages anyway. Also we've been using CTD/Northwestern, which seems to be pretty easy with their requirements. I don't think they'd care if I bumped him up to 6th (when they start SAT/ACT), but I might still feel a little weird doing it. I guess we'll see! :)

 

24 is excellent!! Which subtest was it? (if I may be so nosy... LOL)

 

Does that mean I could just sign DS up for the ACT directly next year even though he'd be only 11? While the comparisons to others kids is nice, it doesn't really tell me anything useful for planning. We wouldn't take classes anyways as they are too far and too expensive for us (I think DS is way too young to be overnight away from home). I'm guessing it would also be cheaper and lots more testing dates to chose from if we went with the "open" one.

 

So yours is "technically" a 4th grader too? My son is pretty much 7th grader as well (except reading comprehension - that's his weakness). I'm always torn on how to "grade" place him because we just don't worry about that at home. I pick whatever level he is at for each subject.

 

His 24 is in math. He reads math books for fun in his spare time. I think he's strange :001_smile:. While I like math, I would never read a textbook for fun. But he's been doing it so long we see it as normal now.

[Mary in Florida]

My 11yo son took the test on February 23rd. We've never done anything like this before. I was doing fine not thinking about the results of the Explore until I saw this post and now it will seem like forever because he only took the test three weeks ago. All I know is he said it was easy and that since it poured rain the entire time he was taking the test he was glad he didn't have to waste a perfectly good sunny Saturday.

 

What exactly are we supposed to do with the results of the Duke SAT (my 13yo dd took this test in January) and the Explore? I already have my school schedule for next year pretty much in place so I'm not sure if these tests would really change anything. Is there anything I should know? This is all new to us.

[ddandgirls]

This is all very interesting to me. I have not had my dd take either the explore or the act/sat at duke because I really couldn't tell where I should place her) plus we were doing a big cross country move that messed our timing up. She is now 6th grade at home (whatever that really means) but should be 5th grade in regular school, so I didn't sign her up for the explore.

 

I can't figure out if she should take the sat/act in our 7th (which would be ps 6th) or our 8th (ps 7th). I don't want her to be too young, but don't want her to miss out. She'll only turn 11 this June.

 

But like the last post, what is the benefit of testing early (pre high school)? IMO she's too young to do any overnight programs. What ages are your children taking these tets? How will you be using these test scores? school planning? future planning? enrichment programming?

 

D-

[KAR120C]

But like the last post, what is the benefit of testing early (pre high school)? IMO she's too young to do any overnight programs. What ages are your children taking these tets? How will you be using these test scores? school planning? future planning? enrichment programming?

We do it because a) we have to test annually anyway and b) I like statistics! LOL

 

Basically I chose the Explore for the last two years because it was pretty close to the level he was working at, so I knew he wouldn't be overwhelmed. What I got out of it last year was that while he knew most of the topics (that part I already knew) his speed wasn't up to the time limits. What I'm curious about this year is how much he has sped up... Last year I think he only completely finished one section of the four but this year he finished three of them completely and the fourth he had two questions left. So there's a chance that it's a big difference! :)

 

Since we're out of state for CTD we're unlikely to use their camps... and they're really pricy anyway... Basically all we get out of this is a more interesting test than the ones we might use otherwise -- interesting because you can get distributions for so many different norming samples (8th graders, talent search participants from 3rd-6th, split different ways, etc.)... so you can say "well if she were really an 8th grader that would be a fairly average score, but since she's a 5th grader it's in the top 10% of scores of 5th graders who took it through Duke TIP..." and like I said, I like statistics! ;)

 

Generally speaking I'd say I'm not usually surprised by standardized test scores, so I can't say I've ever changed my plans because of them... and we're unlikely to use any camps or classes that require them anytime soon (although it's good to know the option is open), but they do take care of our annual testing requirement with more benefit to us than most tests.

[KAR120C]

Does that mean I could just sign DS up for the ACT directly next year even though he'd be only 11?

 

I've PM'd you with the long boring details... LOL

[angela in ohio]

What ages are your children taking these tets? How will you be using these test scores? school planning? future planning? enrichment programming?

 

 

I use them for planning purposes. I find them helpful, especially in areas where a regular old standardized test at grade level or a year or two ahead isn't really helpful. For example, my oldest took the test last year as a 5th grader. We have advanced her in language arts in our home school, as I see that as her area of strength. She is not a "math" person, though, so I have not advanced her as far in that area. The EXPLORE results came back putting her in the highest category for math as well, though. Which told me she was capable of much more. So I changed plans accordingly.

 

Overall, it was helpful to get an idea of just how advanced dd was, from an objective result. I had underestimated in general the extent of her needs. So, at least for the first year, it was a wake up call, LOL.

 

We may do some online classes, but we wouldn't do any of the other programming.

[ddandgirls]

Thanks for the responses. I have a few more questions for everyone. Are you planning to use either the explore/act every year instead of an IOWA or CAT? Can you take it too many times?

 

Did your child do any test prep?

 

Also, have they studied all of the subjects tested or are you just letting them try and see how they do? Especially in reference to the ACT where is covers algebra and geometry and biology, etc. Have your students taken these subjects when they are still young. Those are normally HS subjects that obviously many kids have not had in the early junior high years. We are on track to be ahead, but should I make sure she's had all of the subjects mentioned before she takes the test?

 

D-

[KAR120C]

Thanks for the responses. I have a few more questions for everyone. Are you planning to use either the explore/act every year instead of an IOWA or CAT? Can you take it too many times?

 

Did your child do any test prep?

 

Also, have they studied all of the subjects tested or are you just letting them try and see how they do? Especially in reference to the ACT where is covers algebra and geometry and biology, etc. Have your students taken these subjects when they are still young. Those are normally HS subjects that obviously many kids have not had in the early junior high years. We are on track to be ahead, but should I make sure she's had all of the subjects mentioned before she takes the test?

 

D-

 

We plan to do the Explore or ACT every year for our annual testing requirement. I don't think you can do it "too many times", just because they change their form -- so even in one testing year there's more than one form, and virtually no chance of memorizing a question that could be used on a later test. That's actually my main concern about people overusing the Woodcock Johnson test -- it's another post for another time but basically after a couple times with the WJ you find kids remembering questions from previous years.

 

The only test prep we did the first time was practice coloring in all those little dots. He'd never done that before, so a couple times a week he would do a page in the test prep book and I'd critique his coloring... LOL The questions in regular test prep books are pretty pathetic -- I don't know that they'd really help for studyiing anyway. Oh, and I had never let him use a calculator for math, so in the month preceding the test I would set aside some of his math to use a calculator for. The fifth grade year of Singapore math is a fairly good match for the math topics on the Explore, so he'd do a little of Challenging Word Problems 5 with the calculator, and I'd remind him that he didn't need to pick it up and hold in his hand to use it. And we watched a bit of Mr. Bean where Mr. Bean is taking a test (and cheating), just for the fun of it. :D

 

As far as testing in areas you've not studied, that's really the main benefit of going through a talent search rather than taking it directly. That way your scores are compared to other kids who haven't studied those subjects either. In our case though, the main reason we're using the higher level test (and possibly switching to the ACT early) is that he HAS studied a lot of those areas... so it might not really be considered an out-of-level test for him anymore. But the idea of the talent search is that it's taking kids who might max out their own grade level and giving them a test that has more "head room" to see just how far they can go.

 

Clear as mud? ;)

[ddandgirls]

Thanks for the information. My dd has taken a partial woodcock Johnson and taken the IOWA a couple of times, but has not taken this kind of test so she would definitely need to practice calculator skills, etc. She has maxxed out on those other tests so they didn't tell us much.

 

I think I know where she is, but it would be beneficial to have some more concrete numbers. I think I get scared to advance her too far, but if I had the numbers to justify it I would be more confident to better plan for her.

 

We've had some attitude issues this year with school work and I think as much as I try to plan for her I think she still has some underachievement. I think more from boredom with certain programs than a lack of a love of learning. We just switched curriculum (again) and I think we have found something she likes, but better score analysis might help me plan better.

 

I'm sure I will have many more questions and I have another post question to ask today, but thanks for the information.

 

D-

[KAR120C]

She has maxxed out on those other tests so they didn't tell us much.

<snip>

I think I know where she is, but it would be beneficial to have some more concrete numbers. I think I get scared to advance her too far, but if I had the numbers to justify it I would be more confident to better plan for her.

Sounds like it would be ideal for your situation! Since there are so many choices for norms you'll have a lot of information to tell you exactly how far she can go (and who she compares best to). And I think gaining confidence to advance a child, based on concrete numbers, is an excellent reason to pursue this kind of testing. I know it's helped me in that way, knowing just how he compares when it's not just my opinion to go on! ;)