Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Testing - Where to Begin?

Hello!

I am new to the forum, but it seems like a great resource. Our son is 8 years old and just finished 3rd grade, but has been working a grade level ahead for reading, math and spanish for the last year and a half and basically acing those classes. He has been asking to complete the skip and just move ahead completely next year but the school seems opposed.

We just got his annual test scores through the private school he attends (this year was Terra Nova, for the first time) and his total battery was in the 98th percentile, although the reading score was lower than I would have expected as they administered a "common core" test and do not follow a "common core" reading curriculum so the kids were not familiar with some of the test material.

I have been starting to think some independent testing for him would be worth looking into, and wondered if anyone has any recommendations. We are in southern California (Orange County, specifically). Funds are tight and the couple testing options I have looked at seemed prohibitively expensive, but might be something we can work towards.

Any certain test to look for first? Cost-effective options? Any help would really be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tim

th79 I would first try to determine what your purpose for testing is. That will determine the route you take.

Primarily we are advocating a grade skip as he is asking for it. Or possibly moving to a different school environment, but that is likely not an option at this time. So any testing would be with hopes of supporting our position.

I had also inquired with the local public school district as to entrance into their GATE program but thus far have been told we would have to transfer him in and leave him in their "regular" program for a year while they evaluate eligibility for their GATE program (not going to happen) - possibly additional test results would assist in that area as well.

If you are looking to skip a grade, can you possible ask the school if he can take the next grade level end of year tests (whichever they use)?

Welcome!


The Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS), described here on Hoagies' Gifted Education Page, is the gold standard for evaluating evidence for/against a full-grade skip at a given point in time.

The IAS is in its 3rd edition (2009) and is therefore sometimes called IAS-3.

There are three parts to the IAS:
1) Manual (re-usable paperback with process description, essays, examples)
2) Form (one form is completed for each child, each time an acceleration is considered)
3) Summary and Planning Record (one summary and planning record is completed for each child, each time an acceleration is considered)

The IAS is described on the website of the Acceleration Institute and is available from Great Potential Press. If your school is not aware of the IAS, you may wish to share this information with them.

The IAS recommends tests which measure student ability, aptitude, and achievement:

• Ability
  Most recent Wechsler or Binet, Woodcock-Johnson... or CogAT
• Aptitude
  Above-level tests such as ITBS (for 2 grade levels above child's current placement), EXPLORE, or ACT
• Achievement
  Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) or Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJ-ACH).

For information on finding a tester, see Hoagies Gifted Education Page, Psychologists familiar with testing the gifted. Some universities offer testing at greatly reduced rates through their Psychology departments, however these testers may not be familiar with the gifted.

For information on testing, see this old post from a thread whose subject is What do you tell your DC before IQ testing?
Other posts on this topic include this one from a thread whose subject is Help! What do I tell him about the testing?

Here is an old post with a roundup of links/posts on the subject of How much error can there be in test scores?

Here is an old post with a roundup of threads discussing pros and cons of acceleration experiences.

Thanks so much for all that info indigo! So helpful. We have a lot of learning and catching up to do in order to be better advocates for our little guy.

You are welcome. You just happened to inquire about one of my favorite subjects - acceleration.

Now that you've mentioned advocacy, I'll add this link to your thread, so when you are ready, you can read all about it...
Advocacy as a non-Newtonian fluid.