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06.15.08, 20:27 PM NY Schools
32 replies
We coached HARD for the OLSAT. We did the KTSS with a vengeance. We enrolled in SCORE two times a week for half a year. We did anything and everything we could to give our DC every advantage possible. And we snagged a spot at top G&T. The OLSAT can be coached, and, once again, the DOE left advantage to those who can afford it. It was never about "equity" was it? [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
NY Schools 06.15.08, 08:27 PM Flag
 

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I hope this is a joke. If not, I feel really sorry for your DC. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:29 PM Flag
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this is a woman whose kid did not do well, pretending she has a high scorer because of prepping. typical UB tactic. Play the person you are trying to belittle and prove a point with. she is a fraud and very bitter i suspect. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:40 PM Flag
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ita [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 05:28 AM Flag
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[ Removed by moderator ] [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:30 PM Flag
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I agree with you except I wouldn't call prep classes "enrichment" [ Reply | More
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General Topics 11.03.08, 07:28 AM Flag
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But what really is? Same thing with college admissions. On one hand it's not fair, but on the other hand it's about priorities for some people. I was middle class black kid whose parents spent all sorts of $ on extras like SAT classes to help me get into Ivy college. Problem really is for the the people who genuinely cannot afford it and have no $ to take from somewhere else to pay for the extras. Makes you realize things are only equal up to a point. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:32 PM Flag
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OP: that was my point. Our DC scored VERY high on uncoached SB5, but couldn't get the OLSAT. So we coached and coached until DC "got" it. OLSAT tested cultural knowledge gained by exposure to certain activities, certain lifestyles, certain levels of books and reading, a grasp of coin values, and a parent with time and ability to teach the test. A straight IQ test sits one psychologist with one kid and tries to figure out if the kid is smart. Equity does not come with a test, like the OLSAT or the SAT that can be easily gamed. But as long as we had the time and money to game it, we did. So by choosing a coachable test (and KTSS was a bestseller on UB) the DOE essentially shut out parents who had neither time nor income to coach -- and those were the folks they were supposed to be trying to get into the G&T system. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:38 PM Flag
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I couldn't read the rest of your post, but I am above poster and totally got your point. On one hand it's not fair, but on the other, you're going to do everything you can to help your child succeed. (Why shouldn't you?) But that's why this culture of standardized tests itself, meant to level the playing field, really does not. Congrats on your daughter's score, btw. Don't listen to the other people being mean. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:43 PM Flag
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^^^as much as we would like to quantify intelligence, we can not. It is a qualitative trait and I think that is why all of this testing and competition at such a young age that you NYC moms have to go through for your kids is so stressful and really kind of crazy. If your kids are smart they SHOULD be able to get the best education possible. You and your kids shouldn't have to jump through all of these hoops. I applaud you all for going through this, but I am too faint of heart for it which is why we left the city the minute the test was positive. I honestly wish all of the moms on here luck with their kids' education because I think every kid is entitled to a great education, and I feel these moms' pain over the process. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:46 PM Flag
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what's KTSS? i want to prepare my DD for OLSAT next year [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.18.08, 07:27 PM Flag
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I am sorry that is pure bull. There are too many uncoached and unprepped high scorers on the OLSAT (including mine) for your claim to be true. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 11.03.08, 06:24 AM Flag
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But there are equally enough kids who get into a great selective NYC public school or into an Ivy with no coaching or "extras". So if you are exceptional and, yes, lucky, you can do it without the $$$. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:38 PM Flag
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Yes and no. I think the process is so rigged and so flooded with people who do all of the extras (particularly the college application process, just look at any affluent community parent mag with all of the enrichment ads) that while yes, a person can be lucky and get through, but the vast majority of the kids getting in (to the colleges anyway) are people with the extras and the coaching and polishing. (In a way though, it probably then is why there is the balance of affirmative action and outreach not just to ethnic minorities, but to the less priviledged kids.) [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:50 PM Flag
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Exactly. I did it, with no help whatsoever. Now, having said that, will my dc go to SAT tutors/classes? Probably, depending on her wishes at the time. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 09:06 PM Flag
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I didn't "discover" UB until recently. I wished I had before - perhaps my dd who only got a 98 would have gotten a 99 if I had coached. If I knew about KTSS and being a helicopter mom before maybe she would have had a better shot. Too bad my poor DD was just subject to "regular" enrichment. But it does suck that some poor kids don't have a shot at all since there parents have no clue at all. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:37 PM Flag
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ITA. Gotta go back and find the site, but the OLSAT also has no research for working with 4yos. It's made for 5 and above. In addition, did you know Harcourt Brace (who manufactures the test) also does the KTSS. Someone's making a bunch of money off of our neurotism(sp?) [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 08:56 PM Flag
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"Neurosis" is the word you are looking for, I believe. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 04:56 AM Flag
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NP: I'm admittedly a bit neurotic - but all the non-neurotic/laid back moms at my kids pre-school dc did not make the G&T cut. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 07:01 PM Flag
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Proud to say that we didn't tutor and my kid has spent the past 4 years in daycare and public PreK and got into LL. Kinda worried what effect the LL environment is going to have on him. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 07:07 PM Flag
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we didn't tutor, got into ll and turned it down. if you're so proud of dc's modest pre-school experience, why did you need a name-brand k? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 11.01.08, 06:00 PM Flag
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I feel sorry for you. Who are you? What the f* is wrong with people like you? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.15.08, 10:10 PM Flag
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ITA. And I knew from the minute they announced the new system/test to equal the playing field it would result in many areas with lower income students getting screwed. I don't think the kids on the UES and UWS are smarter per say. Just have more parents that are in the know (how to enrich, what to use to coach, have money in some cases to get tutors, etc.). And I'm not bitter my dc did well, just don't think its fair to others. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 12:39 AM Flag
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ITA that this new testing system does certainly put poor kids without benefit of a good preschool experience at a significant disadvantage. BUT, it also seems like the process for getting into good public schools in the past was very subjective and the squeaky wheel could talk her kids into a good public school that they were not even zoned for. Now that is not fair either, and would benefit middle/upper middle class families [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 02:43 AM Flag
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if you are not exaggerating, the intensity of your prep is very disturbing. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 02:44 AM Flag
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Congratulations! I hope you are prepared for a lifetime of more prepping at the same intensity to allow you dc to keep up with the other kids. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 07:12 PM Flag
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I call fake. We prepped 6 wks with KTSS and I can't imagine doing anything crazier than that. No one would put their ds through all of that (Score at 3? For 2x a week?) unless she was psycho. You're trying to make a point with hyperbole [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 07:16 PM Flag
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How did DC score? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.16.08, 07:25 PM Flag
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99 [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.18.08, 07:32 PM Flag
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help me guys please i am the mother of 5 1/2 year old twin boys in nyc who are in kindergarten and are taking the test. i don't want the element of surprise for my kids but don't know what books are good for practice with them. any ideas? i cant afford the popular test prep course that touts itself as the expert (almost $1000 per child. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 10.31.08, 06:34 PM Flag
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Google KTSS OLSAT prep and order the packet. It's all you need and is only $40 [ Reply | More
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General Topics 10.31.08, 06:45 PM Flag
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the element of surprise (no coaching or prepping -- we didn't even have the sample test) worked for our DS. he got a 99 and now proudly attends a citywide. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 10.31.08, 06:45 PM Flag
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Look, the USofA does alot of things in the effort to make opportunity equal. The DOE g&t admissions process is the least of it. Do govt efforts eliminate the advantage that wealth ALWAYS brings? NO. Never. Again, g&t admissions process in NYC is the least of it. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 11.01.08, 05:47 PM Flag
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