[jcranmer]

At my middle school, you could enroll in an afterschool prep class for TJHSST, run by the school. (And a large fraction of the GT students did!)

If you live in Fairfax County [where the school is located], it would be almost impossible to not have heard about TJHSST if you were in middle school.

[scudd]

I think the exam for TJ was relatively well known; but one thing I'd be interested in seeing is how much of kids attending TJ also attended a GT middle school, and how many also attended a GT elementary school. I have no numbers, but having gone through these systems myself, it seems like a lot to maybe even most. It become like a conveyer belt, and parents who understand the long term ramifications of these programs try to get their children on as early as possible.

Here is an interesting page I found on the history of the GT program for Fairfax Country Public Schools at elementary and middle school level: http://www.fcag.org/gtfcps.html

These are the names of some of the previous tests:

- Gifted Behaviors Rating Scale form

- Naglieri Non-Verbal Abilities Test

- OLSAT

Obviously we can't go back in time, but it would be interesting to know what kids at the testing eligible age thoughts/knowledge/understanding where around these tests.