<p>I teach gifted children. We are offered Duke TIP opportunity to have qualifying 7th graders take the ACT (we're in an area in the mid-west where the SAT is seldom taken). The parents ask me if it will help their child do better on their final ACT before college. I doubt if gifted students would score higher later because of taking the test in 7th grade. Does anyone have any available data on this? Thanks</p>
<p>unlikely. seems like a waste of money to me. 7th graders won't care. College is so far off.</p>
<p>It probably wouldn't help. I took the ACT for the first time my freshman year. Then again, I guess if the child is extremely gifted, he/she might score well on the ACT and it would be a boost of confidence. I go to a "gifted" school, and the term seems to encompass a large group of students with varying abilities. I know "gifted" people who scored a 30 in the 7th grade, and "gifted" people who have trouble getting above a 22 their senior year. </p>
<p>I wouldn't give the ACT to anyone who hasn't had at least Algebra I. Being familiar with the ACT will help you score better, but starting too early can cause you to burnout.</p>
<p>oh yeah i took that in 7th grade as part of the Duke TIP program
which i'm still in actually</p>
<p>I don't really see it as that big a deal but it is a good indicator of what skills the kid already has. Of course they're not going to do spectacular in math(usually with only arithmatic and some pre algebra under their belt) but reading and english should come to them pretty easily. I myself got in the 20's during it and i can say that it did give a good indication to my strengths and weaknesses</p>
<p>Not sure if it will help them score higher on the test as a Jr/Sr in High School, but it certainly won't hurt them. It will give them a taste of what it is like to sit for a college entrance exam. A waste of money for some - money well spent for others. </p>
<p>I'd say go for it if the kid is interested taking the test. Good scores can open the door to some terrific summer programs for advanced students. </p>
<p>If they do decide to take it, the kid should definitely receive a caveat along the lines of "You may be in the top 1-5% of your classmates on standardized tests you've taken so far, but this test is different. Don't be disappointed if your score is below average or average compared to the other 7th graders or high school students who take this exam. Have fun and look at it as a learning experience. And there's no need to panic. Keep studying and you'll be at the front of the pack when you take it a few years from now."</p>
<p>I took the SAT during the 7th grade in 1981 as part of the Duke TIP. AFAIK, it was the first year of that program, though Johns Hopkins had run a similar search sometime earlier. I walked in there cold (no studying) and found the test to be a humbling and inspiring experience. Can't remember any of my classmates really studying for the test or placing a lot importance on it - the whole concept was brand-new. I was a prototypical hate-achool-but-like-to-learn-on-my-own-Why-do-I-have-to-do-homework-or-even-show-up? student who would routinely be in the 99th percentile on grade-level standardized tests. I surprised myself and others by receiving a couple of awards, but there were a number of participants who scored much higher.</p>
<p>If memory serves... I did the best on the TSWE portion. Never cared for English courses and teachers, but I was a serious reader and I understood grammar. Verbal: I could grasp most of what was said in the passages, but a lot of the vocabulary was foreign to me. Math: After taking the test, I realized that I would have scored a good 100 points higher had I spent even a little time learning more Algebra and Geometry concepts.</p>
<p>Which brings me back to the last post. If a kid walks into the ACT with, say, basic competence in Algebra, rudiments of Geometry, and no Trig knowledge, they should be realistic about what type of score they will receive. Encouraging a prospective student to read through a prep guide to see what type of material is tested and how comfortable they would be with it is, IMO, highly recommended.</p>
<p>Again, so if the kid - not just parent or teachers - really wants to try this I'd definitely encourage them.</p>
<p>I'm new to this site - just found it yesterday searching for information on ACT. I'm pleasantly surprised at the great responses I have already had. I am trying to compare final ACT scores of gifted students (or at least those who would have qualified to take the ACT in 7th grade) who did take the ACT in 7th grade and those who chose not to take it before their junior year in high school. I doubt that this would be the determining factor, but this is what parents want to know. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Well, I don't know how you will be able to prove this one way or another. I would think that taking it more than once helps, but not necessarily taking it in 7th/8th grade then again in 11th/12th grade. I would think that this is to large of a time gap to benefit from knowing how the test "works."</p>
<p>I did not take the ACT until 11th grade, and scored a 31, which was the 98th percentile that year. Since my science reasoning was dragging me down, I decided to retake it in 12th. My problem the first time was that I was not used to the format of the science section. The second time, I raised this score significantly, but my reading dropped a bit! I ended up with a score of 32 the second time, which was the 99th percentile.</p>
<p>Good to be familiar with it. I took the SAT as a 7th grader, but this was before the change. Turns out that it was useless since the test was completely different this time around.</p>