Comments on: G&T increases don’t reflect systemic change

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:18:24 +0000

soccer mom–most experts think there is quite a lot wrong with the OLSAT as a test for 4-year-olds. I’m glad your child scored well, but it’s actually one of the poorest tests for establishing giftedness in that age group.

By: soccer mom

soccer mom — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:12:08 +0000

There is nothing wrong with the Olsat. ERB/and other IQ test are not the same as Olsat! Olsat measure creative and abstract thinking as oppose to ERB and so fourth. ERB measure their current intelligence. If your child did not get a high score, he may not be gifted. He may have scored high on ERB but he could just be very bright. Gifted and bright are different.

By: Anon

Anon — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:14:33 +0000

I don’t think anything is terribly wrong. You may consider asking someone at Hunter. Don’t they use both tests?

I’m sure kids bomb tests all the time at this age, so I suspect it has to do with the age and not the test.

If we really wanted a true measure of giftedness, I be we’d have to hire a psychometric evaluator, where tests are comprehensive. (Who can afford that?) But this is what we have, and I think it’s a decent measure, but not perfect. It’s a measure used nationwide, so this is also probably the reason for DOE using this measure.

DOE should consider dropping the label gifted and talented, and use accelerated or something. (I still wonder why they include talented: my daughter didn’t baton twirl for the evaluator!!).

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:01:15 +0000

I feel much better now after reading these comments. My 4 year old scored 95% on Stanford-Binet, 94% on BSRA but 38% on OLSAT! When I discussed the discrepancy in these results with the G&T administrators all I heard back was too bad, try next year. I was also told that BSRA and OLSAT measure very different things, which I agree with after reading about them, but I am still puzzled about the degree of difference. I am even more puzzled about the discrepancy between the OLSAT and S&B scores? Are these tests so different as to make a score of 2 standard deviations above the mean in S-B and one standard deviation below the mean in OLSAt not a reason for concern? I do have a son in G&T and his OLSAT and S-B results were much closer. Could someone tell me what may be going on here. Is it unreasonable to ask for a re-test assuming that something has gone terribly wrong here?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 09 May 2009 03:14:44 +0000

Parents also have right to prep thier gifted children.

By: Anon

Anon — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:16:32 +0000

In a sense, people are attacking kids. “Oh, you must have prepped your kid,” is probably meant for the parent, of course, but is also implying that the kid isn’t gifted, just prepped.

I, too, am expressing my concerns, and I respect yours, but don’t agree.

By: anon

anon — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:03:19 +0000

No one is attacking children here…parents have a right to voice these concerns.

By: Anon

Anon — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:56:58 +0000

There’s always going to be complaints no matter what the test is to measure giftedness. In fact, didn’t they change the test to OLSAT because of the charges the ERB/SB were racist or something. I’m sure there are pros and cons to both tests, and I am sure both can miss gifted kids. At the same time, it doesn’t mean those that scored high on the OLSAT aren’t gifted.

This argument always comes up after the results. Of course, parents are disappointed if their children didn’t score high. It doesn’t help to attack the test, however, or the children who did score high. And the charges of prepping are getting old and boring. In our child’s case, it didn’t occur.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:25:17 +0000

Anon @ 7:23am: LL K has exactly one spot open at this point. There are a few children who will not come back next year. I am very sure one 100% for sure open seat is not enough to make it to the application (there will be enough sibs who will snag it up anyway). The seats that will open up over the summer due to attrition will probably go up to the auction block for the new folks having their children tested in the summer. Or the DOE will get back to folks who haven’t accepted anything and ask them if they are interested.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:23:30 +0000

Actually - PS 77’s Kindergarten (”Lower Lab”) is not totally full. There are a few spots there and that is the great mystery this season: Why have the G&T folks at DOE not made PS 77 an option for first grade?