How can you determine the academic difference between an exceptionally gifted eighth grader and an Einstein of the same age? You create a test so difficult that neither student has much hope of getting even three quarters of the test correct. Welcome to the ISEE and SSAT (and sometimes TACHS). All we should seek to do is to make your student as competitive as possible. Some schools just want to see the score, they won’t necessarily deny your enrollment due to a low score.

Regardless of the school’s expectations, it is very important to manage the expectations of each student who takes this test. They are not competing against the test, they are competing against their peers. If they struggle with a question, it’s likely many other students did as well. However, the truth is some students have received so much instructional support throughout their life so far that they are hard to outscore on this exam. With the time we have, it’s most important for the student to gain a sense of familiarity with the test and the strategies they will employ in completing it. These tests are stressful enough, we need to do our best to make taking them as normal as possible.