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To add a little perspective to the good student, good state tests / poor ssat test results ....
Talents searches like the Duke TiP program invite all high-acheiving (in the 95th percentile on state or nationally normed test, or nomination by school because of high GPA or participation in "gifted" programs) to take the SAT in 7th grade. Out of this pool of great students, only 10% qualify with a score of 550 - which is the high school senior average. Only 10% of the students who score well on state tests are really super exceptional in math and critical reading per the SAT.
I think the ssat is similar. Only the best students take the test - and that's who you are competing against. If state tests and grades were an adequate measure of exceptional talent, the ssat would not have been created and programs designed to serve intellectually gifted children would not rely on out of level tests to determine talent.
There is a difference between high-acheiving students and giftedness: as italian's story illutrates.
Good grades / high state test scores + low out of level tests = a dedicated, hard-working student. The kind of kid who will probably be successful anywhere.
Good grades / high state test scores + high ssat is pretty inconclusive. If a student is in public school, they could get good grades by simply showing up.
Poor Grade + high test scores could mean trouble. It has been well documented through research that highly gifted children do much worse when placed below their levels. Or it could mean a bad attitute!
Of course there are many other explanations for these patterns. A kid could just have a bubble sheet fiasco, or be sick, or freak at the sight of no 2 pencils; but if their other standardized tests are way above average, this is unlikely.
Both the ssat and the sat are ability tests - not achievement tests. They don't really test what you have already learned as much as your ability to figure things out and see through a problem, which is really not needed to get A's in most public schools.
Please don't flame me for any of this. I am not belittling grades or state test results. All I'm saying is that they measure something completely different from what tests like the ssat and sat do and that's why they exist.
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