Should My Middle-Schooler Take the SAT?

Each fall, some potentially gifted middle-school students and their parents face a unique dilemma. These students are offered a chance to take the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). Should students 11 to 13 register to take the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) -- the same SAT that college-bound seniors take?

Thomas' Dilemma

Mrs. French and her sixth grade son, Thomas, were faced with that decision. French was very excited and proud that her son had been selected for this experience.

Thomas was not excited. Actually, he was quite upset because he was the only student from his school selected for this so-called honor. When he and his mother went to the SAT test site, Thomas refused to take the test. The testing administrator recognized there was a problem between mother and son and suggested that Thomas wait until he was in seventh grade to take the SAT.

Because they had traveled quite a distance to the test site, the test administrator asked if Thomas would like to sit in the rear of the room for the first hour of the testing period while over 100 sixth, seventh and eighth graders began to take the SAT.

His mother waited in the hall and pondered the situation. Was she wrong in insisting that he take the test? Was the test too difficult for a sixth grader? Was her son as bright as his teacher thought?

Anyone who works with students who have high academic potential can empathize with French. The pre-teen years can be a difficult time. For gifted youth, these early years can have additional challenges.

Chronologically, gifted middle school students are between 11 and 14 years old. But intellectually, they can be far ahead. There's a wide range of intellect.  Thomas and other gifted students are given an opportunity to learn more about their educational development by taking the SAT.

Why Take the SAT in 6th Grade?

Students are selected to take the SAT because they have each scored at the 95th percentile or higher on a nationally normed, standardized achievement test. Scoring so high on a standardized test means that their potential for learning beyond their grade placement is not being measured; therefore, it is not possible to accurately plan for their educational needs.

Once the students have individual SAT scores, each student can be advised about his ability in math and language arts. Using the SAT score reports, school administrators and teachers are able to adjust course content and instructional pacing to challenge the students, allowing bright students more opportunities to realize their academic potential.

Who Came Up with this Idea?

The process of administering the SAT to middle school youngsters started more than 25 years ago at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Julian Stanley realized that he could not use information from local school districts’ standardized tests to determine how these students were doing in math and language arts.

The standardized tests were not difficult enough; students were scoring at the 99th percentile or topping out of the tests. The standardized tests had no “ceilings” for very bright students. Stanley administered the SAT (now SAT-I) to a group of very bright youngsters in order to learn their true intellectual potential.

As a result of Dr. Stanley’s research, every state in the United States and some foreign countries now offer middle school students the opportunity to take tests written for students who are three to six years older.

The process is called “off-level” testing which includes administering the SAT-I or American College Test (ACT) to very young students. Off-level testing removes the testing ceiling.

Another Year Can Make All the Difference

When Thomas reached seventh grade, he realized that he needed to take the SAT in order to have a chance of getting into more advanced level courses. In one year, he had matured and was ready for the challenge of the SAT. His SAT math score was high, so he was immediately placed in a ninth-grade algebra class.

New research suggests that students scoring at the 95th percentile or higher on a local school district’s standardized test should be administered an off-level test (SAT-1 or ACT).

The most widely used standardized tests are the California Achievement Test (CAT), Stanford Achievement Test, Cognitive Abilities, Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), and Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS).

Other nationally-normed, standardized in-grade achievement, aptitude, or abilities tests are also used by the various universities conducting talent search programs across the country. None of the talent search programs use scores from intelligence or I.Q. tests.

Intellectually bright middle school students in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota can participate in Midwest Talent Search, which is conducted by the Center for Talent Development (CTD) located at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Information is mailed to all middle schools in these states in September of each year.

School staff, teachers, or principals usually identify students for participation in Midwest Talent Search (MTS). However, a parent may nominate a student for MTS by completing a “Parent Nomination Form,” which is available from the child’s school, or on the MTS Web site.

As Stanley said, “The open secret is to participate in a talent search . . . to get onto the track where marvelous opportunities open up at every turn.”

Dorothy C. Lawshe is a freelance writer.