Soumya’s parents just looked at her SAT scores online and found that she only needed ten more points on her math score to qualify for a prestigious gifted program. Determined to help their daughter however they can, they enroll her in an afterschool tutoring program (more on test prep). Soumya retakes the SAT and when her scores come in, her parents find that she actually performed 20 points lower in math than she did before. Her parents are shocked and quickly blame the tutoring service.
There can be a knee-jerk reaction if a child does not get into a gifted program. Parents want what is best for their children. Parents often believe that this is a gifted label and gifted programming. Gifted education programs offer educational opportunities, not to mention a sense of victory and success. A child not qualifying for a program can feel like a missed opportunity or even a loss. The immediate reaction can be that the child had a bad day and just did not test well. This may be true. However, as illustrated in the above example, a retest does not always mean a better score.
As many may know from election polling predictions, estimates of performance come with a margin of error. Although not always advertised, test scores also come with a margin of error. For example, a poll may say that a candidate is polling at 45% plus or minus 3%. In election polling, that plus or minus is called the margin of error. In testing, it is sometimes called a confidence interval. A confidence interval for a test is the range that a student’s “true score” is expected to actually fall. A “true score” is the expected score a student would get if she took that many times and all the error has been removed.
For example, with an IQ test, a person might score a 150 +/-3. That means that we believe that that person’s true IQ likely falls between 147 and 153. The important consideration is that a confidence interval goes two directions (plus and minus). In other words, unless the individual truly did have a bad day while testing (i.e., was actually sick), then at retest, that person’s score could just as likely decrease as increase from the original testing experience.
Error on tests can come in the form of taking a test after staying up the night before to coming into the test an hour late and rushing. It can also include getting lucky and happening to get a question where the answer was mentioned on the radio on the way to the test. Even in the best situations there will always be an element of chance that comes into play with test scores.
What should Soumya’s parents do? They can have their daughter take the test again and hope that their daughter scores on the positive side of the confidence interval rather than the negative. There is always the very real possibility of a child losing motivation as well. Finally, if their daughter qualified by chance, will she benefit from an educational environment that she might not be ready to learn in?
Anonymous says
I can not speak to what other programs do, such as the one you mention, but I can further detail how and why we use qualifying standards at Duke TIP.
There are actually two tiers of services at TIP: enrichment services and accelerated learning programs. They differ from gifted services offered at schools in that we augment school services and are in no way a replacement for them, and our educational programs are short term. In general, this means we must be able to accomplish a lot in a short period of time in a student’s life.
Anyone who qualifies and joins Duke TIP receives enrichment services to help them develop their potential. We have generous qualifying standards to join Duke TIP (it equates to the top 5% of commensurate grade level students) and we offer a teacher recommendation option so that students whose standardized test scores may not reflect their level of giftedness can join regardless of those test scores. Teachers and homeschoolers use this option for a variety of reasons. Once enrolled, TIP’s many enrichment services and free benefits are offered to all; how much good they do the student is largely dependent on the motivation of the student and whether these services are used.
On the other hand, we have different qualifying standards when it comes to attending our educational program for a number of good, research-based reasons. For many of our programs, students must take an above-level test through TIP and achieve certain test score thresholds in order to apply to our accelerated learning programs. These programs have very strict qualifying standards while other programs do not. Programs that do not require minimum scores typically involve age groups or types of learning (such as team-based or field learning) that can accommodate a wider academic skill range without impairing the value it provides to all students in the program.
There are some solid reasons why some of our classroom-based educational programs require qualifying scores. These include:
1) We want to challenge gifted students, encourage them to take intellectual risks, and expose them to high level ideas and topics so they can broaden their academic world. But we also want to place them in an academic environment where they can succeed. Finding that middle ground between challenge and potential success is tricky. Some of the factors contributing to this goal are out of our control. But some such as test scores are not.
2) Our research has repeatedly shown a direct correlation between test scores and success in both the classroom and careers. Requiring qualifying scores allows us to build a classroom of students with at least similar abilities and skill levels, allowing us to build an accelerated curriculum that challenges but does not discourage. It allows for an appropriate pace of instruction for the whole group and avoids leaving students feeling as if they don’t have a chance of keeping up.
3) Peer discussion and social interaction are both crucial components of the transformative experience TIP offers gifted students. In both of these instances, having an overall student group at a similar level helps students feel comfortable and encourages them to participate.
If we let interest alone drive enrollment, it would become extremely difficult to achieve these goals for the majority of our students in classroom-based environments focused on individual achievement. However, when it comes to other programs we have that rely on team learning or the individual exploration of field-based learning opportunities, test scores are not as critical and a student’s academic preparation, interest level, and determination can be enough to support that balance between challenge and success. This is why many people and organizations, including TIP, argue that gifted identification practices should match the service being provided and can not be applied across the board to all services and programs.
all the best,
Katy
Pegi M Ficken says
It’s too bad that inclusion in gifted programs is set up as exclusive. An excellent gifted program that I know of used interest as the only criterion. I was told that while anyone interested could enroll, if they didn’t belong there they didn’t come back. No accommodations were made for those who couldn’t keep up.
What a refreshing system!
Katy Munger says
Please contact Duke TIP at (919) 668-9100 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on any business day with your inquiry. We are unable to answer customer service questions on Gifted Today at this time, but our trained representatives at that number will be glad to assist you. Thanks.
Jeffrey Blum says
My child took TIP test with ACT and made the academy level. If they retest in 8th graded and score higher cxan they get into the next level, and how are the scores combined
Joelle says
How do we apply to retest. My daughter had influenza the day of the exam and feels like she would do better if she felt better