Many gifted children don't have the chance to really stretch their wings in primary school. Taking an above level test can help identify strengths that might not be seen in the regular classroom ore with year level achievement testing. By raising the ceiling, students, parents and teachers can all gain valuable insight into a child's capabilities.
On my travels last year I visited the Centre for Talent Development at Northwestern University just north of Chicago in Illinois and later in the year began talking to them about the possibility of offering the EXPLORE test as a Talent Search to gifted students in Perth. There was currently no other similar opportunity available and I knew from the experience of my daughter when we sat a similar test nearly 10 years ago that it can not only be an affirming experience but also provide valuable information about what the child can actually do with the right opportunities in front of them.
The EXPLORE test is used across the USA at high school entry (at 13 – 14 yrs of age). The same test is also used as a Talent Search opportunity and thousands of gifted students in Yr 3 – 6 sit the test in the USA each year. The EXPLORE test consists of 4 parts – English, Maths, Reading and Science and students take these 4 tests one after the other during a 3 hour test session.
After many emails back and forth testing was set for early June 2009 and 51 students from Year 4, 5 and 6 in WA took part. Another 12 had wanted to but couldn’t be accommodated in the pilot program this year.
To qualify to take the EXPLORE test as a Talent Search, the WA students needed to fall within the top 5% of students their age either in terms of potential (as measured by some form of IQ test) or performance (in dicated by school achievement) and currently be in Year 4, 5 or 6.
Despite giftedness being evenly distributed between the genders, the ratio amongst the WA students registering for the test was slightly more than 4 boys to every girl. They came from across all three education sectors and across the year levels, with 20 Year 6’s, 23 students from Yr 5 and 8 students from Yr 4. The vast majority of the students lived in the metro area, 6 travelled from regional centres and 5 from rural areas to take the test.
So how did our students go? Very well as it happens!
The students receive 2 sets of results; the first compares their performance to the 13-14 year olds who take the test at the usual age. These results will show just how far beyond their year level they may be capable of working. The youngest WA boy who sat the test was just over 8 ½ - about 5 years younger than those the test was designed for! The oldest, at few months short of 12, still took the test more than a year earlier than usual.
Our top students scored at a level equal to the strongest 8th Grade students in Science, within the top 1% of 8th Graders in Reading and English and within the top 5% of the 8th Graders in Maths. These are outstanding scores! While younger students scored a little lower compared to the 8th Grade students (although not much in some cases) not one of these students ‘failed’ this test as it tested content they had not been ‘taught’ in school (but clearly knew already!) – even the weakest scores were achieved on content above year level.
The second set of results the students receive compares their performance to all the other gifted students in the same school year level who also took the test as a Talent Search. Our students also compared very favourably with their USA counterparts, scoring at similar levels to the other gifted youngsters in the same year level who also took the test
The top students in Yr 6 scored within the top 1 - 2 % of the group in English and Reading, within the top 4% in maths and at the 100th percentile (highest possible score) in Science. The Yr 4 group proved particularly strong, scoring more highly compared to their USA counterparts than the Yr 5 group did in all areas with the exception science.
As part of the preparation for testing, the students had provided some background information about their interests, aspirations and current educational setting.
Around half of the participants in each Year level had been accelerated. Around three quarters of each Year level were participating in some sort of gifted program at school. Only 5 of the students had not been accelerated and did not have access to programs for gifted students either because they were not available or they had not been selected for them.
Would these opportunities make a difference? Research suggests that a match between the level of the curriculum and the student’s needs is one of the important factors for optimal performance for gifted kids.
Six of the 8 of the highest scoring students in the Yr 6 group and 5 of the top 8 Yr 5’s had been accelerated and were part of extension or enrichment programs for gifted students. A similar picture emerged with the Yr 4 students with 2 of the top 4 having been accelerated and all participating in extension programs of various sorts at school.
So a closer match between curriculum and readiness may indeed have been beneficial. But as the results for these highly capable young people show, they are capable of much, much more than is being asked of them even with these opportunities.
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