[NSW] Oztests Opportunity Classes Rush Hour Revision Offer - 20% off + More FREE Tests

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  alvian on 13/07/2018 - 15:22

  FYI $5 increase from yesterday

  OP, do you have data that show these revisions work to improve the students' test outcome?

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    Associatedchipsns @ OzTests on 13/07/2018 - 16:46

    Yes, less discount compared to yesterday. More important, more than 750 questions added and more Free Resources available now.

    These tests are for practice similar kind of questions; test outcome depends on individual student. Same applies to sports or performing art, we need to practice to succeed, exceptions will always be there :)

    Regards

    • 

      alvian on 13/07/2018 - 17:27

      Improvements in sport from practice are easily measurable and universal. Improvements in OC test scores from doing your practice tests are unmeasurable according to your reply. Contrary to your claim sports and OC tests are not the same.

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  [Deactivated] on 13/07/2018 - 15:30

  Geez Yr4 kids have exams that require practice tests?

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    bargaino on 13/07/2018 - 15:53

    +1

    It is optional, for selecting students for advanced streams, in NSW upper primary.
    Especially good if you don't like your local school and want to get your kid into more desirable one without moving house or paying private school fees.

    WA has similar tests for PEAC - once per week classes outside your normal school.

    The tests are intended as aptitude tests, similar to IQ, measuring ability rather than learned skills.
    But the schools don't have the budget for proper IQ tests, just a couple of multi-choice tests.
    So they can be "gamed". You can improve your score by lessons and practice, even though they are designed to minimise this.

    The tests are quite competitive these days, especially in Sydney with lots of immigrant kids doing after-school coaching.
    Anyone wanting to get in should be practising with past papers and sample tests.
    But once you are familiar with the question types, and are able to budget time, there are rapidly diminishing returns on further practice.

    You can download past papers and practice tests. The ICAS tests are similar. There is no real need to pay for them, but it can be easier.

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      [Deactivated] on 13/07/2018 - 16:20

      Right so even though IQ tests have long been shown as pointless and inherently biased, rather then an accurate assessment of intelligence.

      Got to love how the solution to a perceived problem is to throw money at it, which invariably leads to excessive spending on consultants and more paperwork for those actually teaching, rather then investing in actual teachers and giving them more time to actually teach.

      Victoria's no better, one of my friends kids was telling me how they had a maths test on geometry, before they even learnt geometry to see if anyone actually knew anything about geometry before they taught it. And here's the kicker, even if little Jane did know how to calculate the volume of a cylinder (one of the questions), they weren't actually given more advanced work, whilst the others learnt about Pythagoras & Pi, nope they got to sit through it too.

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        alvian on 13/07/2018 - 17:21

        A student who can calculate the volume of a cylinder before s/he was taught the formula receives direct entry to year 11. One who does it using calculus goes straight to first year uni maths major.

      • 

        bargaino on 13/07/2018 - 18:14

        IQ tests have long been shown as pointless and inherently biased,

        That is just plain ignorant. You must not know the first thing about psychology.
        Do you even know what makes a psychometric test valid?
        Hint: it does not matter if we know what exactly it measures. Scales are useful measures even if we don't know exactly what mass or gravity is.

        I can't speak for OC test, but proper IQ tests are highly repeatable, and predictive. Far better than any other test at predicting academic (and life) outcomes.
        Of course none of this proves a benefit in putting all the smart kids together. They no longer spend half their class-time helping their slower peers, so good for them, less free help for the teachers.

        Not sure what the rest of your rant has to do with it though. All it shows is that you cannot see the point of the tests you described. I could make a guess: they want a baseline, so that when they retest the kids later, they can see how much they learned. Seems obvious.