Education is a hot topic in Princeton. There are so many gifted children in town, as well as classified students, and parents in the area are passionate about what and how their children are learning. For this reason, I was happy to oblige when Mindprint Learning offered a complimentary assessment of my daughter so that I could honestly review their service. My opinion has not been influenced by this.
Mindprint Learning is an online service that assesses children and young adults ages 8 – 21. Testing takes 1-2 hours, including a few breaks, for participants to complete. The cost is $199 for a 13 month subscription, including the assessment and various recommended learning tools.
10 cognitive skills are tested from four major domains of learning.
SPEED
- Visual Motor speed
- Processing Speed
EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS
- Attention
- Working Memory
- Flexible Thinking
COMPLEX REASONING
- Verbal Reasoning
- Abstract Reasoning
- Spatial Perception
MEMORY
- Verbal Memory
- Visual Memory
The assessment can be taken on a computer anywhere and at any time. The format is not at all like standardized testing that uses math and reading comprehension. Instead, it measures speed and accuracy by working with patterns to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. Some might even find it a bit entertaining since they seem more like puzzles.
The results are available in approximately five days. A Unique Learning Profile is created for each child in the form of an overview and cognitive report stating your child’s strengths and weaknesses in the areas mentioned above. When applicable, an explanation of each area as a percentile is given to help understand how your child ranks amongst her peers.
Completing a Personal Interest questionnaire will help in customizing a Toolbox of activities. These are recommended third party websites, apps, books, and games aggregated to assist in developing well-suited learning strategies.
After reviewing the results, parents can choose whether to share the information with their child, teacher, and/or school.
My 13-year-old daughter took the test in 40 minutes with a few quick breaks. She was relieved about the format after enduring her annual ERB and PARCC testing at school. I received the results in five days, and was impressed with the thorough explaination of the evaluation. Within her strengths, there were areas were she was stronger than others, and advice was given to employ her strongest skill set to balance other skills.
The Toolbox changes daily, but recommendations reoccur, and there is always a good variety of materials. Restrictive access is available for the child, so I let my daughter look through the Toolbox so she can save her favorite products, and I can review them to download or purchase. I find Mindprint Learning to be very beneficial to all students parents, teachers, and schools.
As for parents who suspect their child has critical weaknesses, I think this is an invaluable service that is both convenient and affordable compared to other options. The report can be quickly shared with their child’s school, resulting in faster action to assist with learning needs.
Mindprint Learning is a breath of fresh air, and puts the power back in the hands of parents. Now there is no reason for curious parents to wonder whether their child is gifted, needs a tutor, or more support from school, such as an IEP.
There were times, in my family’s life, that I would have welcomed the chance to hire an independent assessment. Every mother thinks her child is gifted. But in a school district that HAS a gifted and talented program (Princeton does not), how do you know whether to push to have your child tested.
That Princeton does not have a G&T program (because supposedly a majority of the children are brilliant) is another story. In this school district, a teacher can get away with saying “if your student does not have a laptop to bring to class, he or she cannot be competitive.” Really?