One of the joys of homeschooling is the absence of tests. Yet, today I registered both of my kids in Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) Talent Search. As part of this program, they can both look forward to taking the SCAT test which compares their verbal and math reasoning skills to that of students two grades above.

Why did I sign them up for the Talent Search? CTY provides an excellent list of benefits:

1. Reveal or reaffirm academic abilities
2. Provide statistical data about Talent Search participants’ test scores by grade
3. Recognize your child for academic talent
4. Provide access to CTY’s rewarding Family Academic Programs
5. Give your child a chance to qualify for CTY’s Summer and Distance Education Programs

These are all good reasons to have your child participate in the Talent Search; but I would add two more: academic check up and ammunition.

First, the Talent Search test is a kind of academic check up. I already know or suspect that both of my kids are gifted learners. This has been confirmed through tests and experience with my older child, while my younger child appears to have similar abilities. What I don’t know is what impact our school choices (project based private school for one, homeschool for the other) will have on their ability to perform well on the standardized tests that determine academic opportunities. Testing this year, and in future years when required for the homeschooled child, will give us some insight about the efficacy of our schooling while giving them a chance to practice their test-taking skills.

Second, the Talent Search results provide a kind of ammunition when advocating for your child. School administrators and teachers are more likely to believe that a student is a gifted learner when there are test results backing up that assertion. Even with this kind of empirical evidence, there may be very little that a school district can do for your child. For now, we chose to remove our children from the public school because there wasn’t adequate programming for them at their grade levels. In the future, if things change, we may want to let them return to public school, and then these test results may help them get into desired programs.

If I thought that these tests would be stressful to these kids, none of these reasons would be worth any amount of emotional hardship. So far, neither kid has ever worried about a test. So, why not test for talent?

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