Saturday, October 15, 2011

Testing Children

I feel it is very important for children to be tested for intelligence, giftedness, and their understanding of a subject.  In my case, I feel very strongly about children being tested in order to participate in a G/T program .  My son, who is 11 and in the 5th grade, has been in the gifted and talented program since 1st grade.  In G/T he is challenged and given the freedom to learn in his own way.  He is bored in the regular classroom.  He finishes his work quickly and easily.   He spends much of his time waiting for the rest of the class to finish.  In the third grade, he had so much free time he read Moby Dick, Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, and Huckleberry Finn.  These are a few of the books I read in high school!  He says that he still has free time in class every day.  In this free time, he often works on G/T assignments.  He has been tested every few years by the school district to re qualify for services and will be tested one more time this year to qualify for services for 6th - 12th grades in the areas of math and English.

In Australia, children who are gifted are allowed to attend school earlier than other who are not gifted.  It is required that these children complete an IQ test given by a psychologist.  Most children in Australia are tested for giftedness by a licensed psychologist at the parents expense.  In some cased insurance companies may pay for the testing.  Some children are tested within their school.

Source: 
Gifted & Talented Children's Association of South Australia http://www.gtcasa.asn.au/site/index.php?module=faq&FAQ_op=view&FAQ_id=14

2 comments:

Cari B said...

Christine,

This is really interesting to me. Does your son take the regular standardized test that the rest of the 5th graders take? Do you think he should?

Christine said...

Yes, he takes the same test. I am indifferent on that subject. I am not a fan of standardized testing, as it does not give a true indicator of the achievement. Some kids are good at taking tests while other who aren't may actually be smarter, but score lower.