Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Average OLSAT - Is this the end of the road?

Our 6 yr old took the OLSAT in his first grade classroom. We expected him to do very well, however his scores were mostly in the normal range. Total SAI was 114 with 119 Verbal and 105 Nonverbal. The only area where he scored above average was verbal reasoning.

Is his average OLSAT the end of the road, or are there situations where even an average OLSAT can translate to a gifted IQ? I've seen reference to studies that show gifted children can test lower than their ability in a group setting, but is it reasonable to think a child with average scores could still be gifted? I haven't spoken with the school yet, as I would like to be prepared with as much knowledge about the subject as possible.

Thanks!
Emily

Hi Emily. No not the end of the road at all.

There are many reasons why a test may show results lower than you might expect, especially in young children. As a starting point, this is a long article from the Hoagies page which explains some of the reasons. Scroll down the page to Types of Tests and Intelligence tests. Olsat is a group test so subject to all the possible issues of any group test situation, distractions from noise or other people, not hearing the instructions, thinking outside the box when answering the questions. These are things that can be adjusted for or noted in an individual testing situation.

You will see the Hoagies article comments on learning disabilities. That can be a whole range of things from hearing and eyesight to inattention, poor motor coordination etc etc. An individual tester would note clues for these things.

Having said all that, you have a bright child. If there are reasons to think they might be gifted then an individual assessment could be worth pursuing. Testing is only really valuable if there is a question you need answered in regard to your child's learning or to access services they need, including gifted or learning disabled services. Schools may do the testing or it can be done privately but at a cost, sometimes a significant one. A combination of intelligence and achievement testing may be needed or other test batteries if a learning disability is being examined which add to the cost.

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/tests_tell_us.htm

Thanks ndw. I appreciate the link to more info.

I know the school uses a 3-step process, including OLSAT and another test before an actual IQ test. I will definitely contact them to see if they would consider DS for the second round regardless of his OLSAT results.

I tested gifted as a child, and I definitely see so much of myself in him that I just assumed he would test in without a problem. He's a bright kid, but easily distracted. He told me he paid attention during the OLSAT and chose "the most sensible answer." He despises worksheets and I'm sure he would perform better if the test were more of a discussion, as he loves to explain how he figures things out.

Hopefully the school will allow him to continue in the process. Unfortunately, our school doesn't offer much in the way of accelerated learning, so the once-a-week gifted pull-out program would at least give him an opportunity to be challenged in school.

I wanted to post an update in case this can help anyone else...and because I'm so thrilled that I decided to pursue this!

I contacted the school guidance counselor, and explained that we were surprised DS didn't do better on the OLSAT. After he went through the standard "he didn't do poorly," he eagerly offered to pull him out of class to do an individual test. He called me back 40 minutes later after administering the KBIT-2 and said he did "exceptionally well" and was surprised at some of the things he knew. He scored 137 verbal, 124 non-verbal with a 135 composite. He'll be moving on to the next round of gifted testing, which is an individual achievement test, where he'll have to score 95% or higher and at that point we can give approval for an IQ test by the school psychologist.

I'm so glad I trusted my gut and made that phone call. And I'm super thrilled that the guidance counselor was responsive. I can't wait to hear what my son has to say about it when he gets home from school!