<p>My school district promotes taking the ACT test to students in grades 6, 7, and 8 who demonstrate high achievement or ability in school. Is there truth in the belief that taking the test at this young age will improve test scores when the students retest again in later years?</p>
<p>I know that maturity will improve test scores. I know that accumulation of the knowledge taught in later grades will improve test scores. However, will the actual taking of the ACT test in the middle grades improve later test stores?</p>
<p>Some summer enrichment programs such as Johns Hopkins CTY use the ACTs or SATs for eligibility. Maybe your school is playing into that ?? My son just took the SATs - he's in 8th grade. His best friend goes to CTY so he wanted to take the test to see if he qualifies.</p>
<p>My son took the SAT in seventh grade as part of the Duke Talent Search. We just viewed it as an opportunity for him to get a little exposure to that kind of testing, plus it did open some doors to some camps. I'd say if your child thinks it sounds fun then do it. If the idea of the test is stress-inducing, then don't do it.</p>
<p>It is interesting to look at those early scores and see his PSAT this year. Not surprising to us, his top scores were in math then and still are.</p>
<p>Yes, I understand that ACT tests do indeed grant admission to various GT programs for middle-schoolers. However, my question is whether or not the actual taking of the test at that age increases the likelihood of a higher test score when the test is taken in the high school years.</p>
<p>I don't know about "causing me to do better", but I took the SAT in 6th and 8th grade for admission into a Talent Search program and a camp. There was no pressure, but I got a feel for the test and did pretty well: 1360/1600 in 6th, 2180/2400 in 8th. Needless to say, while everyone taking the test with me as juniors was freaking out about how long the test was, OMG the essay, OMG I'm gonna fail, etc, I was calm and confident since I had already been through it and knew what it felt like. There is nothing like taking a test under actual conditions; doing a "dry run" helped me a lot (2400!).</p>
<p>I don't think there's anyway to tell. I remember seeing some studies that say you gain xx points each time you take the SAT, but how could you really measure that taking the ACT in sixth grade will help you five years later?</p>
<p>S took the SAT through the Duke Talent Tip as well and is now a HS sophomore. Daughter just did the SAT's as 7th Grader. S has conveyed to us that having taken state's comprehensive achievement test each year since 3rd grade and taking the SAT's in middleschool has really helped him with regard to his composure, he never feels pressured or nervous. DD on the other hand, has stated that taking an exam for 5 hours in MS was not worth it in her opinion. Oh well, two different kids, two different minds. :-). She never bought our sell on getting the exposure 4 years in advance.</p>
<p>My GT English teacher encouraged her students to take the SAT and/or ACT in middle school for the exposure, and while the students who took it then performed well above average as we took it again in high school, I think that the majority of the cause for that was the sample pool: GT English students.</p>
<p>However, I took the tests in middle school, and when I took it back then, I was really nervous. The scores didn't count for anything, but I was still nervous about taking any kind of test. Even though five years had passed when I went to take it again (even with the added essay since my middle school days), I'd already worked my nerves out and I knew how the test worked, so I'd say it went a lot smoother. Some would probably argue that maybe I'd just matured or something, but I do think the previous exposure did help to some degree.</p>
<p>What I'm hearing from all of your thoughtful responses is that many GT kids enjoy the challenge of taking this test at a young age, develop a composure for the stress of it (which is a definite advantage in later years) and generally enjoy seeing how they score at such a young age. Whether the scores actually increase upon subsequent retakings is, then, not the main reason to take it (other than the obvious admission requirements to certain accelerated programs).</p>
<p>citygirlsmom, does anyone ever look at those tests again? I can't even think of what a "bad" score would be. The 1360 posted by someone was certainly an outlier from a sixth-grader. My son scored a 1,040, which I thought was pretty good and qualified him for state recognition. But even if he had scored much lower, I don't see that it would have made a difference to anyone.</p>
<p>I've never heard of schools using middle school SAT/ACT scores to track students. All of the talent searches publish percentile rankings for middle school students, so as youdontsay pointed out, even a score of 1040, which is about average for a high school senior is probably about 90 percentile for a 7th grader.</p>
<p>I am in the eighth grade now and I took the ACT in 7th as part of the Duke TIP and got a 24. I think it's really good because I'm getting all sorts of info about schools that are at my level, like the Fountain Valley School of Colorado. I'm even getting calls to help me find colleges. One woman who called asked me if I was planning to go to college in the next sixth months and I laughed when I told her I wasn't even in high school. I got special recognation at my school with the others who took it and I think I got something else. It was actually very boring and sometimes frustrating, but I got the highest score in my school (a boy at another middle school nearby got 26). I'm not bragging, just you don't have to stress. It's a total breeze except for a few science questions. I'm glad I took it last year because now I know what to expect when I take it next year (scores expire after 2 years, right?). BTW, they didn't just pick us by random, they pulled the students from their sixth grade math and reading scores from the MAP tests (Missouri something something). Anyway, I just think it's reaaly good that kids are getting to take these tests and really see for themselves how easy or hard it is. Plus, it's a good feeling to know how smart you really are.</p>