Talent Searches for 12-14 year olds have been conducted for over 35 years. Over 150,000 7th and 8th graders participate in these Talent Searches each year. Traditional testing often fails to measure the variation among many gifted students who reach the upper limits of scoring on grade-level exams. The Talent Search tests are above-grade-level tests desiged for older children. These tests reveal where the student stands in relation to his/her gifted peers and what level of educational challenge is appropriate. These Talent Searches all identify, assess, and recognize outstanding academic talent, and provide special opportunities to this select group of high-achievers, including summer programs, weekend enrichment programs, online courses and independent learning resources.
Duke University TIP - Talent Identification Search
http://www.tip.duke.edu/
Johns Hopkins CTY - Center for Talented Youth
http://cty.jhu.edu/
Northwestern university NUMATS - Midwest Academic Talent Search
http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/
University of Denver CITY - Center for Innovative and Talented Youth
http://www.du.edu/city/
CSU-Los Angeles SEAA - Search for Exceptional Academic Achievement
http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/eep/seaa.php
UC-Irvine ATS - Academic Talent Search
http://www.giftedstudents.uci.edu/ats/
 |
 |
| EEP L-O-V-E | snow fun at Big Bear |
The Above-Grade-Level Test
All of the Talent Search programs use the SAT and/or ACT to identify talent in these Middle-School-aged children. The SAT and ACT are tests specifically designed for high school students, to assess their college readiness. The 35+ years of testing results confirm the viability of using these out-of-norm tests for childen ages 11-15. For example, the math covers only what is required at the 9th grade level (see Newsweek Magazine article on the Five Lies About the SAT.)
The benefit of taking the test with one of the talent Searches above is that the younger 11-15 year olds take the test with other children their own age, rather than in a room full of high school juniors. For families who live far away from these testing centers, a local testing option can be preferable. These tests are available several times a year at many college and high school locales. Children ages 13 and above can enroll themselves online (SAT website or ACT website). For children under age 13, it is illegal to enroll online for the SAT or ACT, due to internet privacy laws, however hard-copy mail-in registration is still available. Registration forms can be picked up at any local high school, or online at the SAT/ACT websites.
For children who have not taken such a difficult "out-of-norm" test, it would be wise to review test tips to learn about suggestions on pacing and guessing. Practice questions and practice tests are also available at both SAT and ACT, with additional teaching aids available at Khan Academy and Sakib's Academy among others.
Both children and their parents should rest assured that these test results are private; none of these scores will ever be used without the consent of the child and/or the parent. ACT and SAT will release only the scores from the specific test date that the student specifies, and only to whom the student specifies.
Reasons to take an Out-Of-Norm Test
So why should a child consider taking the SAT/ACT "college tests" before grade 9?
1. Identification. For many profoundly-gifted children, the only tests they have ever taken have been grade-appropriate ones, and therefore their potential may not be accurately measured. If your child is "topping out" on the grade-level exams (e.g., ERBs), then you do not have a true measurement of his/her abilities. It is like measuring your 5-foot-tall teenager with a yardstick! The SAT/ACT will give you an accurate measurement of how advanced your child is in an absolute sense, compared to other very bright students of all ages, and not just compared to same-age peers.
2. Assessment. The information gleaned from the test scores will help you the parents as well as school administrators evaluate your child's abilities more realistically, and will greatly assist in planning a more optimal educational program for your highly gifted child.
3. Practice. Your college-bound child will probably be taking many similar tests in the years to come. The experience of taking a difficult exam, often the first difficult test many highly gifted students have ever taken, is valuable, and often humbling. It is advisable that the first attempt at such a difficult test be a practice one, in advance of the PSAT (used to determine National Merit scholarship standings) in grades 10 and 11 as well as the SAT/ACT in grades 11 and 12 for college applications. Find out what areas your child needs to concentrate on to improve scores for later, when it determines the colleges for which he or she is eligible.
4. Recognition. All of these high-achieving students receive recognition of their superior performance.
5. Opportunities. Each Talent Search provides special summer and year-round academic opportunities in their locale, as well as online opportunities, appropriate for all test-takers. For the select group of students who score above the 75% level, parents should consider accelleration to college to one of the three programs nationwide: University of Washington TS/EEP, Cal State University-Los Angeles EEP, or Mary Baldwin College PEG.
For an article detailing results from the 2008-2009 Duke TIP testing year, including tables of comparative scores and suggestions for academic paths based on scores, visit http://www.tip.duke.edu/talent_searches/grade_7/7GTSResultsSummary.pdf
Also available are pdf and ppt copies of the presentation about these tests as presented at the SEAA Talent Searches held at CSULA. All participants should be aware that this is a very hard test; it is designed to be hard even for college entrants. Also, a score of 50% is excellent; 50% is defined as college-ready. Finally, parents are encouraged to share the test score information with schools, to find the appropriate enrichment opportunities that will help to nurture the talents identified in their children.
Please write, call, fax, or email.
Early Entrance Foundation
16311 Ventura Blvd, Suite 1298, Encino, CA 91436
Telephone: 323-906-0300
fax: 323-906-0310
email: earlyentrance@gmail.com
Early Entrance Programs:
University of Washington - TS/EEP
Cal State University-Los Angeles - EEP, PEEP
Mary Baldwin College -
PEG