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    #239021 06/28/17 12:36 PM
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    My gr 4 son underwent some testing. He has two older siblings who have tested very high in all tests and are identified as gifted.

    The results are:

    WISC-V
    VCI 98th percentile
    VSI 97th percentile
    FRI 73rd percentile
    WMI 58th percentile
    PSI 45th percentile
    PSI 45 th percentile

    Full scale IQ 94th percentile

    GAI 97th percentile

    WIAT III
    Pseudoword deciding 88th
    Word reading 97th
    Reading comprehension 96th
    Spelling 68th (he is in an immersion program in another language)
    Numerical operations 77th
    Math problem solving 86th
    Math fluency 47th, 53rd and 61st respectively

    My questions: is there any way he can be labelled gifted? If the Math scores are so low compared to the other scores- should we be concerned? Do we share this with the school or leave it?

    Thanks for your help. With my other two it was very easy to interpret. This kid is different.


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    Welcome!

    Purely based on test scores (which are, of course, only one part of the information about an individual's learning profile), he could be considered gifted in the verbal area, with visual spatial skills just outside of the GT range, and all other areas age-appropriate.

    Strictly speaking, his math scores are not considered discrepantly lower than his highest cognitive and achievement scores, although obviously he displays a bit of a learning preference for language areas over math. His lowest math scores are in timed math facts, which align perfectly with his PSI on the WISC-V. This is the only area which might spur further questions, which leads to Portia's question regarding IRL function. (Though there is no measure of written expression.) That's the most important question.


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    aeh #239028 06/28/17 03:26 PM
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    Thank you for your thoughtful replies. I appreciate it. The older two kids were easily identified and this one has us puzzled!

    He is a very good student. No issues in the classroom. Had a hard time memorizing his times tables but other than that no problems in math or any subject this year. Likes school and is a social butterfly! He came home with all As and A+s on his report card for Math.

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    Originally Posted by momtothree
    My questions: is there any way he can be labelled gifted? If the Math scores are so low compared to the other scores- should we be concerned? Do we share this with the school or leave it?
    For your first question, I think it will likely depend on the school/school district and what they use to officially define gifted as. Those scores would have qualified for a 1 day a week pull out in my children's previous school but they would not qualify for anything at their current school. Both schools were very strict about whatever number they happened to use as the cutoff but that isn't always the case everywhere.

    For the "should we be concerned" part - depends. As mentioned above - is he having challenges with school work? Have teachers mentioned it before?

    My response for sharing it with the school is also it depends. Is there any sort of gifted programming available? Do classroom teachers change their teaching/materials/etc with a gifted label? Do they understand the meaning of the results? If they routinely ignore gifted kids then there isn't really much point in my mind (sorry that is very cynical but that is based on our experience).

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    Difficulty memorizing times tables is quite consistent with his personal weakness in math fluency. I would suspect that he may have some vulnerabilities with regard to automaticity or retrieval fluency skills, based on the pattern of which skills are personally lowest. (spelling is also affected by automaticity skills) However, if it isn't interfering with his overall growth, development, and enjoyment of school, I would probably keep an eye on it, but not rush into an intervention.

    I will note, again, that there is no measure of written expression. There is also no measure of reading or writing fluency, which means that, as well as he is performing at the moment, it is not clear if there are factors that may affect his school and personal success when demands for lengthy, complex, or rapid written language or calculation output become greater over the next few years. That's what I would monitor.

    Sharing with the school depends largely on available resources for either GT extension or academic support (though it is unlikely that most systems would qualify him for academic support with his Average-to-Above academic profile). If there isn't anything to be gained, and where he appears happy where he is, there probably isn't much benefit to sharing with the school. If he is ever evaluated by the school for either advancement or support, though, do share these results. Responsible school-based examiners can design and execute better evaluations when they have access to all available data.


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    aeh #239044 06/29/17 08:33 PM
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    WIAT III
    Essay Composition Subtest

    Theme Development and Text Organization 81 percentile

    Grammar and Mechanics 99 percentile

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    Sorry. Just saw this. So those are very respectable written expression scores, and don't off-hand suggest any concerns. He does spell a lot better in self-selected text than in on-demand spelling, though, which makes me suspect that he is not using his whole oral vocabulary in his writing, due to wanting to avoid mistakes. Also, that must have been a pretty lengthy essay (for his age) to attain that G&M subscore, which suggests to me that mechanical writing fluency is not a significant concern. This leaves automaticity and retrieval fluency for rote memorized academic basic skills like math facts and spelling as the two possible areas of concern. He might benefit from learning some mnemonics for math facts (such as Times Tales), and possibly a rule-based system for spelling (such as a quick run through an OG-based program, such as All About Spelling, Barton, or Logic of English, or even a visual pattern-based program, such as AVKO's Sequential Spelling).


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    Thanks for your help. I appreciate the feedback. I did talk to the tester about the results and if there are any areas of concern. She said the GAI at 97% is just below the gifted class cut-off and she would personally accept that for a gifted class. She did suggest we call the school board and see if he would be allowed into the gifted class for middle school (in a year). My son is bored and doesn't enjoy school now, feels it's too slow and he ends up being the "helper" a lot in class, explaining things to other kids and working with slow learners to help them grasp material he got the first time. Any suggestions on how to approach it with the board? I know I have to advocate for him but I'm a stutterer and will end up talking in circles if I'm nervous. There is a special ed rep that I have to speak to about this. There is no email option listed on the board's website.

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    Perhaps you could write down your key points prior to getting on the phone, and practice a few phrases for redirecting the conversation to your primary action objectives. (Write the redirection phrases down, too, so you can use them as a cue if you get lost.) If you have a trusted friend or family member who can help you refocus and relax, perhaps they may be available to sit with you while you make this call. Sometimes it helps to keep the focus narrow, just on the actual decision or action your son needs the most (e.g., entry to gifted class), and the objective data that most strongly supports it (tester recommends this GAI as qualifying, he would obtain significant educational benefit, as he learns at a faster pace than is accessible in a differentiated classroom, etc.). If you can get her to write a little note to that effect, that would likely help.


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    aeh #239537 08/27/17 11:06 PM
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    Quote
    significant educational benefit
    Educational benefit is the phrasing that you need. aeh always has great advice.

    Last edited by EmmaL; 08/27/17 11:44 PM.

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