GEP Preparatory Program

[nansk]

metz:

So, it does leave me wondering if DSA is really an advantage for GEP kids ONLY as most believe.

metz:

Is it true that there is a lower secondary entry requirement for those in the GEP?

GEP students do not have to sit for the GAT; I would say that constitutes a lower entry requirement to secondary school. And, although the article writer did not specifically mention DSA, since DSA is one route to secondary entry, it should be considered in this discussion.

[metz]

nansk:

metz:

So, it does leave me wondering if DSA is really an advantage for GEP kids ONLY as most believe.

metz:

Is it true that there is a lower secondary entry requirement for those in the GEP?

GEP students do not have to sit for the GAT; I would say that constitutes a lower entry requirement to secondary school. And, although the article writer did not specifically mention DSA, since DSA is one route to secondary entry, it should be considered in this discussion.

So, it is your stand that DSA is unfair, regardless if the student is from mainstream or GEP?

Btw, I think student B did take GAT.

[nansk]

Back to the topic of GEP Prep program, I read http://giftedphoenix.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/gifted-education-in-singapore-part-2/ yesterday about the GEP.


Quoting from the article:[quote]The testing process is designed to identify pupils with what the Ministry calls ‘high intellectual ability and potential’, as opposed to high attainment.[/quote][quote]The Ministry advises parents (the emphasis is mine (the writer)):

‘not to prepare their children for the Screening and the Selection Tests. No test/assessment books have been prepared by the MOE for such a purpose. The GEP Screening Test and Selection Test are based on what all pupils should have been taught by Primary 3 in our schools…

We have no evidence that schools are preparing their pupils for the GEP Screening and Selection Tests....’

This rather defensive statement appears directly to contradict the earlier statement that the tests are designed to locate high ability and potential rather than existing high attainment. If the tests are based on what pupils have been taught, they must relate to a defined range of knowledge, understanding and skills. As such, they must be coachable.

On the other hand, it is hard to understand how a test of ‘abstract reasoning ability’ can be ‘based on what all pupils should have been taught…’ There is a fundamental contradiction here..[/quote][quote]Mr Morris Allen, who teaches a two-week GEP prep class every June, exposes the kids to all sorts of IQ puzzles – words, pictures, numbers – to prepare them for the General Ability paper, which tests their problem-solving aptitude.

He also teaches them about time management, so that they do not panic and stumble or waste too much time on questions they cannot answer.
...
‘It’s just familiarising them with the unfamiliar,’ said Mr Allen, who sources cognitive ability tests from other countries for his pupils to practise on.’[/quote]So, purely on the basis of this info, I concluded:
1. The Maths and English papers are supposed to test what any P3 student has been taught.
2. The General Ability paper tests IQ questions, which a student can at least be made familiar with.

[sunflower]

metz:

nansk:

[quote=\"metz\"]So, it does leave me wondering if DSA is really an advantage for GEP kids ONLY as most believe.

metz:

Is it true that there is a lower secondary entry requirement for those in the GEP?

GEP students do not have to sit for the GAT; I would say that constitutes a lower entry requirement to secondary school. And, although the article writer did not specifically mention DSA, since DSA is one route to secondary entry, it should be considered in this discussion.

So, it is your stand that DSA is unfair, regardless if the student is from mainstream or GEP?

Btw, I think student B did take GAT.[/quote]From what I gathered, not ALL GEP students are exempted from GAT. As mentioned by metz, student B (GEP) did take GAT.

[nansk]

metz:

nansk:

[quote=\"metz\"]So, it does leave me wondering if DSA is really an advantage for GEP kids ONLY as most believe.

metz:

Is it true that there is a lower secondary entry requirement for those in the GEP?

GEP students do not have to sit for the GAT; I would say that constitutes a lower entry requirement to secondary school. And, although the article writer did not specifically mention DSA, since DSA is one route to secondary entry, it should be considered in this discussion.

So, it is your stand that DSA is unfair, regardless if the student is from mainstream or GEP?

Btw, I think student B did take GAT.[/quote]No, that is not my stand. I am all for academic achievement (and the benefits it confers). I was merely clarifying the other poster's point-of-view (as I interpreted it). You seemed to be keeping DSA out of the discussion on the basis that the article writer (Lydia Lim?) had not specifically mentioned that term, and I felt that the DSA advantage (specifically, the non-requirement of GAT for certain GEPpers) should be considered.
Hope that clears things.

[nansk]

sunflower:

From what I gathered, not ALL GEP students are exempted from GAT. As mentioned by metz, student B (GEP) did take GAT.

Yes, I'm aware of this.
If that Student B had to take the GAT, then, one can infer that he did not meet the min. 80% academic achievement in GEP.

And if that is the case, then it was only fair that he had to take the GAT (since he was not longer meeting the academic achievement standard).

[metz]

nansk:

No, that is not my stand. I am all for academic achievement (and the benefits it confers). I was merely clarifying the other poster's point-of-view (as I interpreted it). You seemed to be keeping DSA out of the discussion on the basis that the article writer (Lydia Lim?) had not specifically mentioned that term, and I felt that the DSA advantage (specifically, the non-requirement of GAT for certain GEPpers) should be considered.
Hope that clears things.

Thanks for the clarification.

DSA, as I mentioned, is beneifitting not only GEP kids but also Mainstream bright kids. If DSA is one of her discontentments on GEP, then I'm of the view she is not presenting a fair opinion, since there are mainstream kids who benefitted from DSA.

But if DSA is indeed benefitting only GEP kids regardless of their performance, I am of the view that it should be scrapped or modified.

[nansk]

metz:

DSA, as I mentioned, is beneifitting not only GEP kids but also Mainstream bright kids. If DSA is one of her discontentments on GEP, then I'm of the view she is not presenting a fair opinion, since there are mainstream kids who benefitted from DSA.


But if DSA is indeed benefitting only GEP kids regardless of their performance, I am of the view that it should be scrapped or modified.

After reading various opinions on this matter, I side with the view that the non-requirement of GAT for GEPpers is unfair.

As I understand, mainstream students have to submit their P5, P6 results (and, for some schools, P4 results too). Analogous to that is that GEPpers have to maintain an average 80% achievement.

So both groups of students have to demonstrate a consistently high academic achievement. Then why do the secondary schools require the mainstream applicants to sit for the GAT and not the GEP applicants?

[metz]

I shall leave this to the veteran GEP parents who have experience on DSA to present their views.


For me, it's fine if the GEP kids have to do another round of GATs. If we were to recall, they did clear some GATs at P3.

nansk:

After reading various opinions on this matter, I side with the view that the non-requirement of GAT for GEPpers is unfair.

As I understand, mainstream students have to submit their P5, P6 results (and, for some schools, P4 results too). Analogous to that is that GEPpers have to maintain an average 80% achievement.

So both groups of students have to demonstrate a consistently high academic achievement. Then why do the secondary schools require the mainstream applicants to sit for the GAT and not the GEP applicants?

[nansk]

metz:

I shall leave this to the veteran GEP parents who have experience on DSA to present their views.


For me, it's fine if the GEP kids have to do another round of GATs. If we were to recall, they did clear some GATs at P3.

I don't think a test at P3 level is the same as a test at P6 level. See, is this not the very thing mainstream parents are complaining about? That one test at P3 determines a child's whole schooling path?

And yet, if I were a GEP parent, I guess I would say the same thing in defence of my child's advantages.


BTW did you get a chance to read my earlier, on-topic post about GEP Prep? Any comments?