Karen and Michael Answer Questions of the Week (Audio Teleseminar Feb. 28, 2011) – Top 1% and Top 5%

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - March 2nd, 2011

[audio:https://cdn.testingmom.com/uploads/Karen-Michael-weekly-QA-feb28-2011.mp3]

Listen to the teleseminar above. Here are the questions answered during this 33 minute teleseminar.

1. I have a question in regards to protocol or rather how to handle a phone call from an independent school. Last Monday I sent an email to a school I had applied to “respectfully declining their offer”. Turns out I have a voice mail from the admissions director telling me how disappointed she was with our decision and she is requesting that I give her a call to talk. My plan was to follow up with the schools (I initially sent emails) and send a formal letter. I did not anticipate making any follow up phone calls especially since we have already made up our minds. Is it considered rude if I do not return this woman’s call?how should I handle this? I am driving myself nuts with potential scenarios! I would be grateful if you’d be able to give me some pointers
2. We have a 4th grade daughter who just got her results back from the OSAT exam which is being used for placement into the Gifted & Talented Program here in our Texas School District.  Her scores put her in the 90.9% percentile for overall national ranking (120 SAI).  For our district this is a few percentile points low for qualification into the GT program. There is also a creativity component which she passed with flying colors.  We are concerned that the test wasn’t an accurate measurement of her ability because she said she left a whole bunch of the questions blank.  She told us she left 17 blank (we don’t know for sure) which would mean that she answered almost every one she got to correctly and would lead us to believe her score was impacted by a time management issue.  We are going to go through the appeals process shortly and they have asked us to submit supplementary data.  Do you have any ideas?  We have also thought about having her tested outside school.  Does anyone administer the OLSAT exam outside of the school districts or is this much like the SAT where Pearson only offers it once or twice a year?
3. Karen, I get your daily tips from Testing For Kindergaten.com.  You just sent a tip that said we should use richer vocabulary with our kids – use words like pleasant or agreeable instead of good.  Use interesting words that your child will enjoy learning.  For example, if he’s slow and dragging behind you, tell him to stop lallygagging.  I like your idea but wanted to know how I can find these kinds of richer words to start using with my child.
4. To gain entrance to the advanced kindergarten class, my child is going to have to take an “internal” non standardized test in which she will be asked questions about the alphabet(upper/lower case), sight word recognition, counting e.g. how many pencils in this group. She will have to letter sounds. I truly appreciate any help you can give us to get her ready for these tests!
5. We are based in Seattle , WA  and here the private schools we are looking into , want WWPSI  or  Stanford-Binet as the required tests for children for kindergarten admissions. ( this is how they state on their website ). I just had a few questions in this regard and will appreciate your input: does that mean that we can request either one ? if we do get to request , which one would you recommend ? My daughter is turning 4 in march , what is the best time ( and most productive age wise)  to test her for next year applications ? Is the testing done in one day or can it be done over 2 days ? If she does not do her best that day and we want to repeat it , are we allowed , or is it binding , when can we repeat if we want ? Are the tests one on one ?
6. What can i do to encourage my 4 year old to do school work, there are times when I try to do some work with him, but he always tells me that he is tire or does not want to do it.  It is  hard for me to have him do his school work.
7. My 5 year old does not speak clearly, what can I do to improve her speech, she has no hearing problems.
8. My son just turned 2. What can I do to help him prepare for the test. Yes, I know it’s 2 years away but I want to start practicing with him now.
9. Who grades the test that my child takes? Is it graded on the spot?