SAT higher than I'd expected-what now?

[Dmmetler]

I just got DD's score report from the SAT-10 she took in school. In every grade level, she either topped out the test or scored at least a full grade over where I'd expected her to be, based on the placement tests I'd done at home (or both). Should I alter what I'd planned for next year, or figure that the placement tests are probably a better fit, especially since she's still very young?

[In The Great White North]

I would ignore the SAT-10 and start with the placement tests at home. I'd also be prepared to adjust materials and expectations once she actually started on them next fall.

 

Were the placement tests for a specific curriculum? I would like to think that they had designed their placement tests to correlate directly with their own curriculum, whereas the SAT-10 does not.

[LisaKinVA]

placement tests...definitely placement tests. All of my young children maxed out standardized testing young -- those tests really aren't a good measure of what a child knows or is ready to learn beyond the skills they actually test.

 

Subject/course placement tests specific to the curriculum you've chosen is a much better tool.

[MBM]

What placement tests do you use at home to determine strengths and weaknesses? Are they individual tests based on subject -- math, science, history, etc.?

 

TIA!

[Dmmetler]

Mostly placement tests by curriculum publishers, like Singapore Math.