SCAT Test

[omd21]

DD11 (5th Grade) took the SCAT through CTY in September, and I just had her retake it, as she was super-close to the cutoff for their Summer programs, and there was one she was very interested in.

 

I'm puzzled that her scores were essentially the same, since I feel there's a huge difference in math skills from Sept to now. Things like decimals, fractions, percentages, etc. are all mastered now and she didn't have at all before. I was expecting verbal to not have much of a change, but math to go up for sure.

 

I have to admit I find the format of the questions / answer choices a bit strange.

 

Have any of you ladies had a similar experience with the SCAT? I'm really curious as to the lack of change in the math portion.

 

What test do you like for above grade level assessment? My reason for testing her is to motivate her, help her feel rewarded for hard work, and also to better help me plan for next year.

 

Before this she had only taken grade level tests (ITBS, GA CRCT) whis is no longer helpful at grade level. I'm wondering if it would be helpful to order the ITBS two or three grade levels above? My current state requires me to test and I'd rather it be useful for planning as well.

[Dmmetler]

Does it adapt based on the age/grade of the student taking it? If so, it might have started her at a higher point. DD's only done it once, and she was a 1st grader at the time. She ended up way above grade level, but it wasn't all that useful. I found the EXPLORE more so simply because more programs take it, and since schools around here use it, I'm comfortable substituting it for grade level testing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[omd21]

Does it adapt based on the age/grade of the student taking it?

Do you mean the SCAT? They test a 5th grader with 8th grade material. The results don't provide much information or breakdown, except what percentile she falls on when compared to 8th graders nationally. At least that's how I understand it.

 

I found the EXPLORE more so simply because more programs take it, and since schools around here use it, I'm comfortable substituting it for grade level testing.

What information does EXPLORE report back to the parents?

[Dmmetler]

We tested through. Belin- blank, and got her scores compared to 3rd graders and 8th graders, as well as a pretty involved packet that gave recommendations based on her score breakdown (some of them were a little comical for a child who took the test at age 8). The score report did give sub scores for different strands, too, but not enough information to tell you what specifically she missed.

[Dana]

I didn't find the SCAT useful at all.

The Explore is an 8th grade version of the ACT. It gives math, science, English scores. Northwestern and Duke use it for their younger talent searches.

Explore is going away though as ACT makes changes. I don't know what the younger talent searches have planned to use instead.

[quark]

I too prefer the Explore. Son took it as a 3rd grader. It provided me with a snapshot of how he performed against 8th graders. And it was helpful to also see how he scored compared to the minimum entry cut off posed by Davidson Young Scholars for 3rd-6th graders.

 

This year (tomorrow in fact! :willy_nilly: ), he will take the SAT as a 6th grader. Not for college admissions or talent search but as an advocacy tool to enroll in programs/ audit college level classes.

[Crimson Wife]

DD took the SCAT in 2nd and found the math section odd. That math score has been an outlier compared to all her other math test scores (EXPLORE, above-level ITBS/CogAT, non-verbal portion of the WPPSI IQ test, her math scores on old SAT's taken for practice, etc.) I requested a waiver from CTY to have her enroll in science courses (she qualified for humanities courses only based on her SCAT) based on the EXPLORE math scores and they told me to have her retake the SCAT.

 

I decided to simply wait until she takes the SAT this year (like quark's DS, she's doing it tomorrow). It's not looking likely she's going to meet the 7th grade cutoff for CTY math, but if she's in the ballpark I'm going to put in another waiver request. I figure it's worth a shot because the worst they can say is "no".

[EndOfOrdinary]

Good to know, crossing the SCAT off the list. I am curious if talent searches are going to accept the ASPIRE now instead of the EXPLORE since the age range is so much wider and writing is now part of it. Definitely not excited about the writing portion. Timed writing causes my son to panic.

[Dmmetler]

I'm guessing they're going to have to unless the ACT folks let them keep the EXPLORE for that purpose only.  I'm hoping they have some people on the talent search side involved in the development of the ASPIRE. Belin-Blank and the ACT company are both in the same area (and Northwestern is only a few hours away or a really quick flight), so it doesn't seem like it would be hard for them to consult the talent search folks.

 

The only advantage of the SCAT, IMO, is that you just need a Prometric testing center to take it, and since Sylvan learning centers count, it's not hard to find one, while there are major parts of the country where the EXPLORE (and ACT) just plain aren't regularly given. I know when I was in high school, I took the ACT because I was applying to University of Iowa, and there was very literally only one test date and one site that I could take it at within about an hour drive radius. Maybe 15 kids actually took the test.

 

 

[Crimson Wife]

Yes, I'm definitely hoping we don't have to drive to Reno next year to have DS take the ASPIRE. We do usually do a long weekend at Lake Tahoe in the winter so we combined DD taking the EXPLORE with that trip. But there's not that much to do in the corner of suburban Reno where the EXPLORE test was held.