Quote:
Originally Posted by 2GirlzMom
Hello,
I am very happy to have chanced on this website to post my queries and concerns. My 2nd grader was screened for CogAT, NNAT and didnt quite make the pool. I think as a mother I didnt do enough to prep her for these tests, if I did she probably would have had a better chance to make it.
The more I think about it, the more guilty I feel, that I didnt do enough. She will be in 3rd grade next year and I would like to know what I can do to get her to qualify for GT school.
Will they have these tests again in 3rd grade? If not are there other options.
Please help.
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Hi, 2GirlzMom,
What I'm going to say, please take with a grain of salt because the only thing I know about you is what you've said about yourself and your situation. You know more about your situation than I do, so please accept what I'm saying with this in mind.
It's always difficult when parents of bright, interested kids test for a GT or GATE program and don't make it in. It's unfortunate, because somewhere, someone has to draw a line and say "Yes on this side, no on this one." It's arbitrary-ish in that a child of (let's say) 129 I.Q. will have many of the same needs as a child who tests at 130. Unfortunately, as I said, you have to draw a line somewhere.
I'm very concerned, though, about your statement that you "prepped" your child for these tests. Obviously, I can understand (and highly approve of) prepping for tests which assess content area knowledge -- that is, reviewing the importance of 1492, 1776, etc. for a history exam.
However, the CogAt and NNAT aren't tests of content-area knowledge; they're tests of reasoning. By prepping for them, your child probably became more test-wise, which is helpful to raise a score, but what I'm sure you certainly realize is that raising a test score isn't the same as
needing accommodation.
Bottom line, special programs -- GATE, special ed, translators for deaf children, ESL -- those are all there for kids who need accommodation, whose
needs (not wants) are not sufficiently met within the regular classroom.
Of course, as I said above, I don't have all the facts. You know more than I do, naturally, about your own situation, but what remains is that if your child needed (at least in your opinion) to be prepped for the test, then that suggests to me that you weren't sure she would meet the requirements of the GT program
without the prepping. In that case, please understand why I wouldn't be convinced she needs the program.
I realize that the perception of GT programs is that they somehow provide a "better" education than the one available in the regular classroom. That depends on how you define "better." If I have a child with a size 3 foot, then a size 2 shoe is not going to fit well. A size 3 shoe will be "better." The same is true of a GT program -- or it should be. Often, it's the only possible accommodation for kids who are genuinely so far removed from the norm that serving them in a regular classroom may not really be that possible.
I'm not talking about a child who's doing well for her or his grade. I'm not even talking about a child who's doing well for the next grade ahead. Generally speaking -- with some exceptions, of course -- those folks are for the most part definitely well-served in the regular classroom because they'll generally find school rewarding. They'll know the answers.
The gifted kids most in need of accommodation are
several grades ahead. They're the ones who point out that yes, you *can* subtract 7 from 5. They're the ones who don't just know the answers; they're the ones asking questions the teacher can't answer. Bottom line, if what you're saying is the case, prepping a child to do temporarily well on a test so that she can get into a GT school isn't morally right. Potentially, that takes one slot away from a child who may genuinely
need that accommodation, not just
want it. To do so would be similar, ethically speaking, to claiming you have a disability in order to get special accommodations.
Again, I'm only going on the very, very limited data you've presented. If your child genuinely needs accommodation, one of the very best ways to accomplish that is to advocate for subject- or grade-level acceleration. Despite parental and administrative fears, grade-skipping has been proven time and again to be an effective method of meeting the academic (and social) needs of students whose academic abilities
cannot be met in the regular classroom. There is also the possibility of homeschooling or distance learning, both of which allow a parent to challenge a child and teach her at her level of challenge.
I wish you and your child well in your endeavors.
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