When these articles first appeared on www.TheJourneyMom.com, my eight-year-old son had just taken the SCAT test. In the years since, I’ve come to appreciate the inherent value in learning not to fear standardized tests as well as the opportunities that this admission test opens up – not least of which is the Johns Hopkins family academic and educational travel programs.
Taking the SCAT Test
My son took his first standardized test today.
In less than one hour, he completed the SCAT test on a computer where he quickly clicked on the multiple choice questions. Perhaps too quickly. The test administrator mentioned that he didn’t seem to be reading all the possible answers, and he seemed to choose “A” way too many times. We’ll find out in three weeks whether he chose well, or not.
Afterwards, he told me that he didn’t understand some of the questions. It took some digging but I finally figured out that he was introduced to analogy questions, the bane of college entrance exams.
I suppose that in our society this could be considered a rite of passage. Today, he discovered the intricacies of an analogy question. Why, you ask? Will he ever need to understand analogies in the real world? Is this just a bizarre verbal question only found on college admissions tests? What is the point of subjecting an 8-year-old to a standardized test?
I can’t say that I have a good answer. The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth offers a list of testing benefits, and I have a few of my own. Mostly, I’m still figuring our what I’m doing homeschooling a child who may or may not be intellectually gifted. I guess I’m hoping that this test will give me some indication of whether or not he excels in verbal or mathematical reasoning.
If he does excel in either area, I may need to reconsider whether I’m offering enough challenging instruction. If he does poorly, I may want to review whether I’m giving him enough exposure to age-appropriate material.
Still, it’s just one assessment tool, and perhaps not the best one. I’m still debating meeting with a Gifted & Talented Counselor who can administer a barrage of tests and give me specific advice for my son, especially about some of the social and emotional challenges that we face. We’ll see. I have to ponder that for a bit.
In the meantime, I asked my son how he felt about the SCAT test. He said it was mostly OK, except for the math material that he had never seen before. And he really didn’t like the self-assessment at the end where he was asked to rate his performance. When asked why, he responded, “Well, I really don’t like to face the truth.”
Testing For Talent
One of the joys of homeschooling is the absence of tests. Yet, today I registered both of my kids in Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) Talent Search. As part of this program, they can both look forward to taking the SCAT test which compares their verbal and math reasoning skills to that of students two grades above.
Why did I sign them up for the Talent Search? CTY provides an excellent list of benefits:
- Reveal or reaffirm academic abilities
- Provide statistical data about Talent Search participants’ test scores by grade
- Recognize your child for academic talent
- Provide access to CTY’s rewarding Family Academic Programs
- Give your child a chance to qualify for CTY’s Summer and Distance Education Programs
These are all good reasons to have your child participate in the Talent Search; but I would add two more: academic check up and ammunition.
First, the Talent Search test is a kind of academic check up. I already know or suspect that both of my kids are gifted learners. This has been confirmed through tests and experience with my older child, while my younger child appears to have similar abilities. What I don’t know is what impact our school choices (project based private school for one, homeschool for the other) will have on their ability to perform well on the standardized tests that determine academic opportunities. Testing this year, and in future years when required for the homeschooled child, will give us some insight about the efficacy of our schooling while giving them a chance to practice their test-taking skills.
Second, the Talent Search results provide a kind of ammunition when advocating for your child. School administrators and teachers are more likely to believe that a student is a gifted learner when there are test results backing up that assertion. Even with this kind of empirical evidence, there may be very little that a school district can do for your child. For now, we chose to remove our children from the public school because there wasn’t adequate programming for them at their grade levels. In the future, if things change, we may want to let them return to public school, and then these test results may help them get into desired programs.
If I thought that these tests would be stressful to these kids, none of these reasons would be worth any amount of emotional hardship. So far, neither kid has ever worried about a test. So, why not test for talent?
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) Talent Search
The CTY Talent Search identifies, assesses, and recognizes students with exceptional mathematical and/or verbal reasoning abilities. After online application, students in Grades 2-6 take the SCAT test while those in Grades 7-8 take the SAT to qualify for:
Prepping for the SCAT
It is unnecessary to prepare for the SCAT test, but a little familiarity with the test format might help reduce stress:
Otherwise, reading a lot and working through challenging math problems is all the prep needed. Additionally, offering a rich assortment of enrichment programs can help inspire passionate lifelong learners. For a long list of enrichment ideas – in a variety of subjects such as art, engineering, and storybook travel – visit our Enrichment page.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice info, do you know where I can see some sample SCAT test?
Thanks…
Wow, am I glad to have found this blog entry. It’s almost like I just did some kind of futuristic cerebral Google search using all the things on my mind at this very moment. In fact, I just hung up with a psychologist at the Johns Hopkins CTY Center, reluctantly setting up an evaluation and SCAT testing appointment for my homeschooled son (11yo). I raised the identical concerns in this entry, and have been mulling them over for weeks now. Why test? How will he do on his first standardized test? Will it be worth testing for a homeschooler who will never need the services of a public school? Your experience has made me realize this is the best course for my gifted learner. Thanks so much for sharing all of this, you have not just been “shouting into the digital wind” but your voice has been picked up and heard. I’m curious how your 8yo has done since testing, and if it all worked out for you (the blog entry is undated, so I don’t know where you are in the process now).
Hi Terry,
My son is now 12-years-old, and with the gift of hindsight, I can attest that this was a worthwhile experience. This year he returned to the school setting for the middle school experience, but he went in with great confidence and is doing very well in this transition. Partly, this is due to opportunities such as online classes offered by Johns Hopkins that are available as a result of the Talent Search process.
Good luck with your journey, and let me know if you have more questions.
Sandra
Hi, I have 3 homeschoolers aged 11-13, who have been doing CTY summer programs since 3rd grade, and a few online courses. Let me share my reasons: at first, i thought this would help prove they were gifted, like you, assuming that “proof” would render a benefit. It is so if you plan to send kids to school at some point, and the prospective school has special programs to offer to your kid. However, they will probably use their own assesment tools for that. Then, as they got older and being still homeschooled (like when the eldest took the SAT at age 11) I thought these courses would prove benefitial for college admission in the future. Not really so. Colleges care what you do grades 9-11, not before, and if you are doing CTY Summer programs after grade 9, they are not really that challenging for a gifted child. So, why do them?
Summer courses: because they are fun, kids meet other kids like them in one room and get to share 3 weeks of intellectual and physical fun. They will learn some things other kids their age have no interest or ability in, eventhough these courses are a bit sketchy and “rushed” (cty tries to fit a one year college course in 3 weeks, or for the 2-4 graders, a lot of info at once). I must say my 3 kids have enjoyed a lot these courses over the last 5 summers.
Online courses: beware, they are not all designed by CTY, in fact the good ones, like Math, are purchased from Thinkwell, and you can get them directly from them at a fraction of the cost, albeit without the “prestigious” CTY Certificate of Completion. The Literature ones we tried were not that challenging and/or interesting, since the books to choose from were very child-like, at least for my kids.
I can tell you, however, that there is a certain prestige attached to the Summer Program (in its Intensive Studies version for 7 graders and up) that many parents seek, which in my view is somehow overrated. In addition, I heavily dislike the tendency I find, at least in my community, to use having a “gifted” kid as a status symbol in itself, and the push to qualify them for CTY for this purpose. John Hopkins, with a shrewd sense of business, has fudged the difference between the 2 programs that used to exist (one for slightly advanced learners and another for more gifted kids, called CTY) by calling them now CTY Academic Explorations and CTY Intensive Studies respectively), so that everybody can claim to have been qualified for John Hopkins CTY.
That’s very interesting, Victoria. For instance, I didn’t know that Johns Hopkins had merged two programs under one umbrella. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!