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 Testing Placement in schools 
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So today in class we talked about testing placements in the schools. I thought back to when I was in public schools and I could not remember the testing that was done in VA. I look back now and realize that I was just in an average class. I was not in the gifted class or special education. Although I never had any problems with the classes that I was in. Although, my father was a teacher at the middle school that I attended and I knew that the teacher's would tell him if I was struggling or misbehaving.

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Jo Beth Pruitt


Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:26 pm
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I remember the testing in school. In a different topic I posted that most of the students in my classes in elementary school continued to be my classmates all through high school because of tracking I guess. I remember when they pulled us out to be tested, we all left class and went to another classroom and we were all given a test and I don't believe we were told why or what we were being tested on. But, I'm not sure because that was at the end of second grade.

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Elizabeth Griffin


Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:34 pm
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I remember being pulled out in 4th grade to have AG testing done. I know that your teacher had to refer you for the testing. All of us that had been referred took the test at the same time in a classroom. I also can't remember if they told us at the time what the test was for or not. My mother met with the school about how I did on the tests and then she talked with me about whether I wanted to be in the program or not. I decided to be in AG. My elementary and middle school only offered AG for English classes. We were pulled out of our regular classes around the time they did English and we went to another classroom for AG.

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Mallory Beck


Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:37 pm
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At first when we began talking about the AG testing in class I couldn't remember ever being tested. Honestly I thought AG classes were based off of EOG scores but I guess I was wrong. The more I thought about it though there was one time in second grade I remember being given some kind of reading test one on one by a lady I didn't know. At the time I just thought it was weird and didn't know why I had to take it. Now I wonder if that was an AG test because the next year in third grade they began separating us into different level classes and I was placed in the class with the hardest teacher. At the time I was a little mad that I was in her class because of all the extra work I had to do, but it all turned out good.

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Megan Snyder


Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:07 pm
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I remember being tested for AG in the third grade. They pulled us out of class for the test and we went to the AG classroom and took the test in a group. After that about 3 weeks later I got an envelope with my scores in it to take home to my parents, but i remember opening it up on the way home and being excited because this test just told me that i was above average. Now that i look back on it, i mean i could care less now, but back then it was a big deal. They took us out of class about once a week, and we would go to the AG room and do high order thinking activities. I can remember reading political cartoons and then being allowed to draw our own. We also got to take special field trips for being AG, we went to the Biltmore house and other places throughout elementary school. I guess at the time, i know it is bad to say, but as Dr. Turner said, I guess i did think i was better than kids who were not in AG at that time.

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Preston Bridges


Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:46 am
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I personally could not remember doing an IQ test in school. I know I wasn't in AG class or any other type of classes. I was basically on my regular pathway and it wasn't until high school that I took a couple of honors classes. I think it was because I got behind in reading when I was young, and I still struggle with grammar and when I should use apostrophes and things like that. But I never really remember much about A.G. except I knew that there were a few students who would leave the classroom to go to it. I think it would be interesting to know what my IQ was at that age.

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Chaise L. Swisher


Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:54 am
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I dont remember as vividly as some people about AG testing and stuff like that from elementary school but from what I do remember I am pretty sure we were pulled out of class to take the AG test and I dont think it was one on one. I am actually pretty sure that it was in small groups. And everyone wasnt pulled out to do the test. Im thinking it was just the people we were in the upper ranking of their grade level. This class made me really try and think back about this but its hard I dont remember much. So I really feel like calling home and asking my parents about it. Because I really do think that it is interesting.

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Melanie Klaus


Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:09 pm
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I was really intrigued with our discussion about AG. Like I shared in class I was in AG in the Haywood County (near Asheville) school district. From what I remember I was tested in the second grade for both english and math. Whatever the requirement was I met it in english, but not math. Looking back on this it doesn't surprise me because math has typically been my weakest subject. Whether on the teacher's recommendation or that of my parents I was retested the next year just for math, one-on-one and passed. What I remember of my time in AG was that it was a pull-out program where we went and did higher-level thinking skills activities. In fact, one activity I remember was making Christmas ornaments out of geometrical shapes. The reason I remember this to this day is that we continue to put that tacky ornament on our Christmas tree every year, up to this day. Like Preston, I was also able to go on trips where we missed whole days of class while the rest of our classmates were stuck in class.


Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:38 pm
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I remember being tested for AG in kindergarten and first grade and was even told that that it would be in my best interest to skip 2nd grade. I think I was only in AG in 1st grade and didn't like it so I dropped out of it. I never really thought of myself as being overly intelligent even though the tests proved I was. I feel like overall I was just an average student, it was only when I tried and put all my effort into something that I assume I was overly intelligent.

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Jenna Perry


Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:42 am
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I don't ever remember being tested. I was told that the 5th grade teacher was supposed to put us in AG, but since my 5th grade teacher had a baby and thus wasn't there for the first six months or so, I wasn't put in AG. Of course, I don't know if this is true or not, and it seems awfully late. I know some of my peers were in AG before 5th grade, but I was never really interested in it. As a result, I went from 5th grade math to 7th grade math because I was put in all the honors classes when I entered middle school..I was lost in math for 3/4 of the year because of it.....but I still managed to get a B, somehow. I was lucky to have a good math teacher (who was supposed to teach just science..) in 7th grade, so it evened out. Looking back, the kids that were in AG were the (white) kids of teachers and doctors. In middle school, though, the honors classes were more diverse. However, in high school, the majority of the AP kids were white..Interesting.

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Megan Van Hoy


Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:53 am
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I agree with Megan about AG...It seemed like most of the students were white and from middle class families. I realize that students are picked based on their IQ scores, but I have also noticed that the kids I work with at a school who are called "slower" usually seem to come from families with lower incomes(not always, but most of the time). I realize that several of these kids may have a more difficult home life because of certain circumstances, but I still think it is strange that it seems like the "smarter" kids are usually the ones with more money. Was it like this in anyone else's school growing up?

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brandivannoy


Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:39 pm
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I do not remember being tested at all in elementary, although I am sure that I was. Since elementary school it seems that I was in the same classes with most of the same people through high school. I was not in AG but did take honors classes. I had several friends who were in AG and I just assumed that they were picked by teachers to be in there. Like Brandi said it did seem that is many cases that students in AG or honors class were of middle class while the “slowerâ€

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Allyson Chambers


Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:21 pm
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I think if we polled everyone in the class we would find the majority of us were placed in AG classes. I think it is funny that we all seem to be white and middle-class individuals. I don't think it is a coincidence.

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Hoy Colson
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Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:15 pm
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Hoy is exactly right about this. Going up through school I knew that i was in the "honors" classes. We would all be together all day long, and funny enough we were all white and we were also the minority in our school. These things seem to happen more and more in school.


Tue Apr 01, 2008 12:21 pm
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Melanie summed up in a list what I would have written a paragraph on. There are definitely different types of intelligences and I don't see how a test could predict your IQ from just a few questions on paper. I, as a music major, have intelligence in music, but would one question come up on an IQ test about Ethnomusicology, music theory, composition or anything related - I seriously doubt it. Plus, in my own personal experience, I was a part of the enrichment program prior to the AG program. I was made to take the AG test once in 4th grade and again in 5th grade, due to my success in the classroom. However, while taking the test I really didn't understand what this test was for, or what it meant, why I was even taking it. I couldn't concentrate on the words. Instead of the teacher telling me the result - I'm sure they thought I would forget about it - a few weeks later, I asked my teacher what ever happened with that test I took. And she told me that my scores were shy of making the program, blah, blah. I was devastated. I knew what that meant. I wasn't good enough. I wasn't smart enough. I looked at her with welded tears in my eyes and she just didn't know what to say. I have held that in me for years and I know for a fact has affected me psychologically. And to think back on it... I probably just wasn't a good test-taker. Hell, maybe I'm not smart. It just says something to build a student up and then bring them down. If they're successful in a classroom, then maybe they should be given the opportunity to be challenged. After all, in high school I took all honors classes and Fast Forward classes from the local university for credit. It's just plain sad.

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Erica Shelton


Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:26 pm
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I remember when I was in middle school four students scored high enough on the test to be put in the AG program. One student was kept from it because of one point. His parents had him tested two other times and each time he missed it by one point. They wouldn't let him in and he was bored out of his mind in the other classes. I just think that was the wrong decision to make, I don't care what the rules were. And he was white, upper-middle class if anyone was wondering if that had something to do with it.

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Jessica DuBose


Thu May 01, 2008 11:39 pm
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