Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Couldn't keep my mouth shut

My kids are in private school but the PSS does evaluations for learning disabilities. I took one of my younger children for an evaluation. In the course of the conversation, I realized that these were the same people who evaluated my DYS DD10 at 3 for the gifted program and told my DH after a 10 min multiple choice "screen" where they asked her mostly about animals (she had no interest in animals but knew every tool in my dads garage and what they were used for) that her IQ was 117. It is GAI 155 on WISC-IV They didn't ask her to read or do any kind of reasoning question or puzzles (she was doing 100 piece puzzles like nothing at that time). Anyway, I couldn't help but bring it up to suggest they consider a different way of screening. Of course what came after were all the reasons(excuses) for her not making the cut. I mostly just gave them my "You can't be serious" look. I can only imagine what they said about me when I left, but I had to get it off my chest. Lol!

Oh good. Me too.

Our DSthen4 had one of those prescreens, and was judged to be barely above average. We were stunned. We couldn't understand how they could fail to detect his ability, and so we asked about the nature of the test. They explained that they ask questions like "what's round and bounces". We asked, well did you put anything in front of him to read. The tester said that oh no they would never do anything like that, saying, and I quote, "cos a four year old aint spose ta be readin"!

117 is a very precise answer for such a brief test. Did it by chance have a margin of error of + or - 30?

There's that glass ceiling.

Some people keep a folder or ring binder of hand-outs for just such occasions. The hand-outs could be personally typed lists of websites, book lists, or actual reprints of articles. Keeping the collection in the car may mean it's close at hand when there is an opportunity to raise awareness about giftedness. Recipients may be surprised, amused, and even delighted to learn what some kids are doing at early ages.

+1

My DS took the Weschler IQ test at age 3 and his IQ was roughly 30 points lower than what it is now a couple years later (on the WISC). I think there is simply no good way to measure IQ in a preschooler, and even if the tests were reliable for that age, their brains are still developing at a rapid pace. The kids who score well(due to early development) may not score well a few years later, and vice versa.

I think it's a good idea to evaluate young kids and put them into appropriate programming for their level, but the term "gifted" should not be used and the kid should be continually reassessed until third grade or so when IQ testing is more stable. And of course they should use a decent test as well, if they are even going to bother to do it.

Yes but someone was saying the other day that the screening test her daughter had consisted of questions about animals. Her daughter wasn't that interested in animals but could read fluently and was several years advanced in maths.

Puffin,

I should not have had anything in my mouth when I read that. Actually, it should have been + or - 40.

Since we know that these tests are unreliable at that age, it is silly to rely on them. What they should determine is if the child is ready to learn reading and math in a more structured environment. If they teach the kids to read and do math, then it seems like that's what they should test for that kind of readiness and not try to pretend that they are testing someone's IQ and use knowledge questions.