Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment determining best educational fit for son

Hi everyone,

My 4 year-old son just took the WPPSI-IV, which we signed him up for to help us choose a school for him. His results were not quite what we expected. We went in knowing his math/spatial ability was his strong point, but expected his overall IQ to be higher than what we were told.

His FSIQ is 122. Verbal comprehension was 120. Visual spatial was 132. Fluid reasoning was 124. Working memory was 103. Processing speed was 112.

We were considering applying for a TAG school or TAG program, but other than the visual/spatial scores, it looks like that would probably be unnecessary/he wouldn't get in, right? We did overhear the testing, and during the verbal stuff, he was getting things wrong that I KNOW he knows (e.g., wouldn't provide an answer if he wasn't 100% sure he's right). Thoughts? My spouse and I had expected to see an overall score that made our educational decision easy (e.g., >130).

There are no right or wrong answers. Even if your DS had scored in the range you expected, it would not guarantee that the school using the scores as a minimum requirement would have been the best fit.

So much of it depends on your child and on the school itself. Since the WPPSI can not be retaken for at least a year if not two, those are the scores you have - which is just a snapshot of your child at that one point of time.

Without knowing anything about your DS other than the scores - which is only a partial picture - all I can suggest is not to slam the door on TAG schools/programs if you think he belongs there, but not to focus DS's educational setting solely based on whether he would go into TAG program or not - regardless of LOG, but rather - if the school would provide what your DS needs.

I have read enough comments people post on various TAGs to know that it does not work for all kids, regardless of LOG. And each child is unique and some schools that don't have formal TAGs can sometimes work better for children who are advanced than schools that have TAG programs simply because they ended up in a school with personnel that supported their children's needs *appropriately*.

Also - if the school you place him into for next year does not work out, you can still change schools (at least for most people, this is an option).

My advice is to visit all of the most convenient schools for the adults in your house. Look around and see if you like what they have to offer. If not, throw your net wider. If yes, take your child and see how they fit in.

Unless there is a specific reason not to try your local school first. Barring the specific reason they are just as likely to be a good fit as a further away school. There is a lot to be said for being a part of your community.

Yes. Some gifted programs and schools are positively toxic. You want to look for flexibility and relaxed-ness, IMO. I don't know what the buzzwords to look for are, but I do think a high pressure, high output school would be unwilling to take the time to get to know him and see past the perfectionism and low working memory.

Just to clarify, his working memory is not low, but dead average, so in a regular school setting should not be a problem at all. It might be in a high achiever program the likes of which Tallulah describes, though. With almost two standard deviation between working memory and vs, I wonder whether they calculated a GAI at all? Though unless you provide more details on what the TAG programs you were looking at require there's no telling whether that would be even useful.
Provided the scores were fairly accurate with the verbal index somewhat underestimating his skills, a neighbourhood school with fairly high SES demographic or a regular private school with flexibility built into their methods might be just right. You might want to check out schools which use Montessori methods or are Montessori inspired. Personally, I have found "real" Montessori programs in my area too rigid in their approach, but our DS whose scores have been recently all over the place but who scores very highly on a number of various subtests has so far been served adequately in a catholic school which skews highly for SES and incorporates Montessori elements. (Gifted and high achiever programming starting only in fifth grade where I live).

Thanks for your input, everyone. One of the schools we're considering is a TAG school. We'll do the tour and student evaluation there. I am concerned that some of his scores are low, but also want to make sure he is adequately challenged in math. Our local elementary school is fine, but our local middle school is awful. I may just be borrowing trouble from the future.

Tigerle, his GAI is 130. TTthe local elementary has a lot of non-English speakers and low income families. We're still looking into the strength of the gifted program at the public school.