Learning and Life Skills

What skills are assessed by the Otis-Lennon School Abilities Test (OLSAT)?

Part 2 in our series - How parents can put to use their child's scores from the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT). 

In Part 1, I discussed that parents can, indeed, help their children build and strength cognitive skills assessed on the OLSAT and encouraged you to request a detailed score report from your school.  Don't be satisfied with just the overall composite score and an indication of whether your child qualified or didn't qualify for the gifted-talented program.  Get the detailed scores by subsection - or cluster/item. 

What are the Cluster/Item Types on the OLSAT?

Depending on the age/grade of your child, the item cluster and item types will differ.  Refer to this table to see the make-up of the assessment by grade: (click on the image to see if full-size)

 

 

Notice how the skillsets being assessed change once a child reaches 3rd grade - moving from a heavy dependence on figure-based reasoning to more verbal-based reasoning tasks. Notice also that students are not assessed for quantitative reasoning until 3rd grade, as well.  This is the point at which children are thought capable of doing deeper types of reasoning, have developed a more extensive vocabulary and a greater facility with numbers.  Inferential reasoning is not assessed until the 4th grade and beyond.  All of the picture-based reasoning tasks are dropped by 3rd grade, with figural classification eliminated from 4th grade and up.

How parents can put to use scores from the Otis Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) (1)

Whether a child gains access to gifted and talented programs or not, results from the OLSAT (Otis-Lennon School Ability Test) assessment provide parents with a wealth of information they can use for the benefit of their children...if they are willing to engage.

The OLSAT helps us understand student learning abilities

Pearson Education, in their pamphlet - OLSAT - Assessing the Abilities That Relate To Success In School -  states: “... these tests have enabled educators to understand better the attributes that students bring to the task of learning.” 

 

Engaged parents can make a difference

So, what about us parents?  Couldn’t parents also gain some understanding about the unique potential of children by understanding the test results?  Is it possible that parents could engage thier children in activities that enhance a child’s cognitive abilities said to: “..relate to a student’s ability to learn in school.”  And, wouldn’t that be a good thing?  I say ‘yes’, emphatically!

The first step is  to request a detailed report of the test results from your child’s teacher or school test administrator.  Request results reporting scores by cluster and item type.  Then, ask lots of questions and be sure to read the rest of this series.  

Reasoning skills can be taught... even by parents!

Again, quoting from the OLSAT pamphlet: “Tasks such as detecting likenesses and differences, recalling words and numbers, defining words, following directions, classifying, establishing sequence, solving arithmetic problems, and completing analogies are included in OLSAT since they have been shown to be valid measures of an individual's ability to reason logically.”

Can parents make a difference in improving a child’s ability in these areas?  Yes.  Look at the Building Thinking Skills resources matched to your child's grade.

Does it make a difference in school success?  Yes.  

Would you like to understand more about your child and then take action based on this information?   

Next post - breaking it down - what are the cognitive skills on the OLSAT?

Then... how can parents work with their children to improve specific skills?

 

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In the meantime, be sure to check out these related posts about the OLSAT - Otis-Lennon School Ability Test:

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Resources to help your child with the OLSAT:

Find resources on our website: ThinkingToLearn.com

Or, use the information we have made available about the OLSAT assessment and resources for use by parents, tutors and teachers. 

Questions, suggestions?  Be sure to share your comments...

 

New York City... and the saga continues as "Parents Fret as Kids Seek 'Gifted' Status"

The number of incoming kindergartners who took the test to qualify for gifted programs in New York public schools shot up 13% this year over last, according to data released by the Department of Education Thursday.

It is no small thing to feel as if there is only one alternative for your child getting what he/she needs - the gifted program - and realizing that the one high-stakes test determines it all.   Parents need access to additional resources to use at home to help their children develop crucial 21 Century skills and cognitive abilities - like critical thinking and critical reading - regardless of whether those skills are taught at school.

What are you doing to ensure that your child stays challenged and growing in his/her learning?  Have you considered how to develop and build key skills - creativity, collaboration, critical thinking outside the school system?  If so, how are you making it work?

 

The Pitfalls in Identifying a Gifted Child - New York City Gifted Programs - NYTimes.com

Thirty-seven states have some sort of mandate to address the needs of gifted and talented students in public schools. While many parents and teachers have mixed views about the tests used to identify talent and “giftedness,” the programs are strongly supported by many parents who cannot afford to send their children to private schools. They are hard to overhaul, for various reasons.

via roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com

While I can't recommend the comments and ideas put forth by the 'experts' quoted in this article, I can urge every parent to read the discussion points.  Listen especially to those individuals who were identified as gifted during their school careers and the impact of the failure of the school system to provide either adequate curriculum to address their abilities, or an environment which valued their talents.  

Several comments hit the mark, in my opinion, clarifying that finding another tool to identify gifted children is not the issue if the abilities of those identified children are not adequately addressed, or if the children, once identified, are unable to access the programs.

What is a parent to do?  There are increasingly more alternatives for us:  online coursework, home schooling and charter schools with a specific focus (assuming you could find one which addresses your child's interest areas).  Parents, who continue to assume that the school system is firmly committed to meeting the educational, social, and emotional needs of its gifted population, set themselves and their children up for disappointment.

What is the risk?  A child who shows giftedness and is not challenged early and often grows up lazy and smug.  At some point the work level increases, yet the gifted child will not have developed the skills to manage either the difficulty or the volume, resulting in loss of stature as the 'smartest guy/girl in the class'.  This begins a downward spiral, which if not arrested, continues through high school and on to college.  I would love to see the statistics on the giftedness of our high school dropout population and of high school graduates who fail to enter college.  I think we would be surprised to learn of the exceptional abilities, and saddened by this lost potential.

My suggestion is to home-school and/or supplement in as many creative ways as possible - forming interest groups of other gifted children in the area who share the same interests, tie into the regional Talent Search programs which provide access to online courses and offerings based on abilities rather than grade level. 

Queens Kids Top Gifted Exam - WSJ.com - Thinking To Learn mention

And yet another article trying to explore the meaning behind New York City's gifted entrance competitions for 4 year olds. It never ceases to amaze me. While it is arguable whether the assessment being used - the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) and Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA) can accurately identify gifted children at this age, it is an attempt by the DOE to be 'fair' and level the playing field. Research has shown that teacher identification of gifted children is fraught with problems, so to keep the lawsuits down, and introduce more objectivity, it comes down to tests.

The challenge is that the process takes the future of young, bright children and boils it down  into the results of one testing day. Yet, does nothing to resolve the issues of the unmet needs of those who either tested just below the cutoff score, or had a bad testing day, but still need differentiation in their learning. When all is said and done, it still comes down to the parents, advocating for services and supplementing at home. For many, it becomes the impetus for the launch of their home school.

This Wall-Street Journal article tries to explain the drop in number of applications for gifted testing, some of which I believe is due to the availability of sample tests and sample questions via the DOE.  My guess, and it is a guess, is that parents have children work the sample questions, see them struggle, and decide their child isn't bright enough to qualify.  Trouble is, some of the skills assessed, are learned skills - not inherited - and can be taught. 

Read the full article  via online.wsj.com

If you are considering having your child test to gain access to gifted programs, please consider the resources available at ThinkingToLearn.com, the website and store evolving out of our family's experience homeschooling a high ability child from preschool to high school. Especially useful to you may be this link to the search by assessments and information on the Building Thinking Skills series, one of my top recommendations for use in building core cognitive skills for all children.

Other posts about the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test:

What is the OLSAT?

What do the OLSAT scores mean and how are they used?

What are the main segments of the OLSAT?

If you are considering a home school option, please watch for future posts and more information on my site: ThinkingToLearn.com or contact me to schedule a parent coaching session.