Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Testing Cost, $600+ Where to take the test

I would love to get my grand daughter involved with the Davidson Young Scholars Program.
She was tested by the public school system and identified as gifted. She is 6 now and she has scored 99% in the star test. I need to have her tested again in order to qualify for the Davidson program. I wonder if private testing at $600+ is my only option. Unfortunately, this is not a viable option for us. Are there any other, less costly ways to get the proper testing
done?
Can u please send me the other procedures to know and apply for Davidson Young Scholars Program.[For your kind information we are in Los Angeles]

Welcome!

Information on the Davidson Young Scholars program is found here. Qualifications listed here.

There are lists of testers on Hoagies Gifted Education Page, that is one place to start. Some families find that the Psychology Department at their local University may also offer testing.

Other recent posts about testing include this, and a post comparing
Yermish article on test prep, and Webb article on testing here

Thank you indigo, this is very helpful.

Keep in mind you don't have to do both the IQ and achievement tests in one sitting. You might do one, wait and make sure the results are what you'd hoped, then decide when you can afford to do the other. University testing is probably a good start, because $600 isn't a bad cost for private testing.

If you want cognitive and achievement to be interpretable together (in a learning disability or neuropsychological context), though, don't wait more than six months between their administrations, as that will affect the reliability of between-test comparisons.

If private testing is prohibitive, then you can use an achievement test like the SAT and a portfolio.

I would begin with the school. Some public schools will do iq testing when there is reasonable consideration that a student is well beyond age peers in ability.

She is 6 and the low cost test like ACT/SAT or EXPLORE will not be a good fit right now :-).


I guess that she is in 1st grade now. How's her reading and Math level? Is she doing at least > 2 grades above (3rd or 4th, etc)? What's her interest? Is the school not being challenged enough?

If the school is a good fit, I would wait until she gets a little older to be able to take like EXPLORE (that costs <$40) through talent search. (EXPLORE may go away for good in a few years but hopefully there will be a new test (for 3rd to 6th grade level) before the kids are old enough to take SAT/ACT).

If she is reading at middle school level and doing multiple digit multiplication, I would encourage for you to talk to the school and the school district to see if they can give IQ test or achievement test for your grand daughter.

And you can submit it along with a portfolio (the video of her talking/explaining something she is passionate about whether it be a book or scince stuff, her math work sample (at least 2 grades above her age peers, etc....).

Good luck!

I notice that she was tested already by the school system. What tests was she administered? Besides STAR.

Link to ACT's current webpage on the Explore test: http://www.act.org/products/k-12-act-explore/. Looks like the replacement test will be Aspire, a longitudinal test for students in grade 3 through grade 8.