Greetings Everyone.
The Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth, a private nonprofit
organization that provides programs and services for academically talented
students throughout Wisconsin, is now offering FREE, computer-based
academic skills assessments for children in grades 2 - 8 in Dane County.
If you are a parent, or know a parent, of a child who you believe, based
on their academic performance and/or interests, has significant academic
potential, please give us a call so we can get them registered for our next
testing date on Saturday, May 6, 2000 from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m..
Additional testing dates and times will also be available soon, and WCATY
has three different Madison area (including one in Waunakee) locations
where testing will be done.
WHY IS WCATY OFFERING FREE ACADEMIC SKILLS TESTING?
First, as stated earlier, WCATY is a nonprofit organization. WCATY's is
committed to providing programs and services that support, motivate, and
challenge academically talented students in the state. WCATY's philosophy
emphasizes that rigor in the curriculum, high expectations for student
achievement, and a student's personal passion for learning must work in
concert if talented students are to excel academically. As the premier
program for academically talented students in Wisconsin, WCATY provides
these students with challenging and rigorous learning experiences from
grades 4 - 12 through its summer residential programs, weekend workshops,
on-line courses, and other programs and activities on college and
university campuses throughout the state. WCATY now plans to offer
programming to children as young as 2nd grade.
Wisconsin students who participate in WCATY programs have generally
established their eligibility by performing exceptionally well on
school-based achievement tests in reading and mathematics. They then must
participate in ACT, SAT, or ACT EXPLORE testing through the Center for
Talent Development's Midwest Talent Search (MTS) and Midwest Talent Search
for Young Students (MTSY) programs at Northwestern University in Evanston,
Illinois. While Midwest Talent Search has reached many eligible students,
there are thousands of Wisconsin students who are being missed by WCATY and
CTD each year. Several issues include:
* Students younger than 4th grade are not currently being reached or served
by MTS/MTSY.
* Hundreds of Wisconsin public and private schools, and most home schools,
are not involved with Midwest Talent Search.
* Academically talented students do not always perform well on
standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests. This may be due to test
anxiety, differences in academic preparation, test bias, or other reasons.
* Academically talented students of color are severely underrepresented
among WCATY's current student population and among students participating
in Midwest Talent Search and Midwest Talent Search for Young Students.
In light of these issues, WCATY is piloting an alternative method for young
students to qualify for WCATY and be identified as candidates for CTD's
Talent Search programs using STAR ReadingTM and STAR MathTM software, two
of the leading computer-based assessment software in schools in the United
States. STAR is currently administered in over 48,000 schools nationwide
to assess students' reading and math abilities in grades 1 - 12.
While not all students completing testing will be eligible for Midwest
Talent Search or all of WCATY's programs, it offers parents a valuable
opportunity to have their child's potential in reading and math assessed
early and receive a thorough explanation of the results . WCATY's
Assessment Coordinators, many of whom are skilled and veteran educators,
will be on hand to answer parents questions. The reading test generally
takes 10 - 15 minutes for students to complete and the math test takes 15 -
25 minutes. Performance reports are generated and shared with parents
immediately after their child concludes testing. Similar to popular
standardized tests that students take in school, STAR provides information
on each student's:
* Instructional Reading Level (e.g., are they in 5th grade but reading at a
seventh grade level)
* National Percentile Ranking (how do they perform in comparison to 60,000
- 80,000 other students who took the tests)
* Zone of Proximal Development (meaning, WCATY can help parents identify
the appropriate level of books children should reading to help them make
significant progress in reading skill and achievement; and in math as
well).
Please contact Kaleem Caire, Special Projects Director at WCATY at (608)
233-4448 or (outside Madison area; 800-353-8183) if you have questions or
would like to register your child for testing. Peace.
P.S. WCATY is operating this program with the additional support of
Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development.
************************************************************************
Lack of knowledge leads to misguided and ineffective strategies. Lack of
effective strategies leads to ineffective plans. Ineffective plans
increase the likeliness of failure. Failure increases apathy and
diminishes individual commitment. Without commitment and action, our
meetings become pointless, our goals unattainable, and our greatest
advocates begin to disappear.
Kaleem M. S. Caire
Special Projects Director
Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth (WCATY)
2909 Landmark Place
Madison, WI 53713
Phone: (608) 271-1617 ext. 22
Fax: (608) 271-8080
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
WCATY Web Site: www.wcaty.org
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