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    Joined: Oct 2009
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    a friend's DD took the DAS-II at 5.4 and the scores are a little curious. Her DD is very bright, and I would really say gifted. They wanted to get her tested to obtain gifted ed. courses.

    Under what circumstances do they give the DAS-II? Why not test with the WPPSI or WISC?

    She saw: "Differential Abilities Scales. A fairly new (1989) IQ test, said to be a good option for visual / spatial and twice exceptional gifted children" as a description on Hoagies, and is wondering why this test was used on her DD.

    It was given at a local State University by a grad student, and my friend is now wondering if she should get her DD retested since, she is showing signs of boredom and frustrationin 1st grade. (she has not learned anything new this year, just weeks and weeks of review of things she knew back in Kg)

    Does anyone have experience with DAS-II, and can I run her test scores by you, to see what you think?

    Thanks

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    That's what my DS was tested with at 3.5 through the school district. I'm not sure if they only use that or if they used that due to his age (there were some behavior/adhd concerns that brought on the eval) or what.

    I've long wondered what the scores amount to and how accurate they would be considering he is 5.5 now and was only 3.5 at the time of testing.

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    My son was tested with the DAS when he was quite young (barely 4) and then we had to have him retested at not quite 5 with the WPPSI for gifted school K requirements. Our psych told us originally that she was using the DAS b/c it was more engaging for young boys than the WPSSI. He actually scored 10 points higher on the WPSSI than the DAS (his FSIQ was 139 with the DAS and 149 with the WPSSI). The verbal IQ score was almost exactly the same on both (I think it was 146 on the DAS and 145 on the WPSSI) but his nonverbal IQ went up significantly on the WPSSI (by around 15 or more points, I think). Anyway, I really believe that it had to do with maturity. I don't know that much about the two tests, but we were bummed that we had to have him retested since his scores on the DAS were good enough to qualify for the gifted school. They simply would not take the DAS. Once we saw that his WPSSI scores were better, we wondered if perhaps it were a better test for him, but who knows. He was still awfully young. I guess we know regardless that he is gifted, to some degree (which we really already knew before testing). We just have to wait and see how things pan out for him.

    One thing that I do remember about the DAS is that it has a drawing component, called "copying." I think this is scored in the nonverbal section. My son did most poorly in that section--it was a significantly lower score, to the point that the psych even mentioned that we should watch him for dysgraphia. What's so funny to me now is that this all has turned out just fine. We were told by his PreK teachers that his fine motor was below average, but by the end of the year they said that he was average. Then in early K (this fall) we were told that his fine motor was above average! He has had no trouble whatsoever. I attribute it all to his (4 1/2 to present) obsession with paper airplanes and origami--which have no doubt strengthened his hand muscles. What amazes me is that in the DAS it seems that this may be measured as a part of IQ, and perhaps this is why my son's nonverbal IQ was 10+ points lower on the DAS? This is one reason that I would be wary of the test--or at least look carefully at the results and subtest scores. I am definitely no expert, though, so maybe others know more about the test.

    Last edited by mom2boys; 01/22/10 08:43 PM. Reason: typos!
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    What do you make of the following scores?

    I am a very close friend and have know DC since she was 3, and have noticed that she is very bright and very,very good at understanding and using logic and reasoning.

    Her scores appear very lopsided, and as a personal friend, I do not see that they are very indicative of her actual ability. Could the inexperienced tester and the DAS-II test play that big a part in the score outcomes?

    Here are her DAS-II scores:
    She was administered the Early Years Battery

    Verbal Ability: 117 Standard Score 87%
    Subtest Verbal Comprehension: T-score 59 82%
    Subtest Naming Vocabulary: T-score 60 84%

    Nonverbal Reasoning: 145 Standard Score 99%
    Subtest Picture Similarities: T-Score 90 99%
    Subtest Matrices: T-Score 61 86%

    Spatial Ability: 89 Standard Score 23%
    Subtest Pattern Construction: T-Score 49 46%
    Subtest Copying: T-Score 39 14%

    GCA 121 92%


    Thanks for looking.

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    It does seem that an inexperienced test giver (or even one who just isn't very experienced with gifted children) can result in a lower score.

    DS 5.5 (then 3.5) had a very experienced test giver AND loves tests like that he just wanted more and more, so there was no problem with him cooperating the whole time. I almost think we might have a harder time with him doing so now then we did then. Now it could possibly depend on his mood how cooperative he would be which I would think would drastically affect his scores.

    The spatial cluster has the copying part which is where DS did the 'worst'.

    Did your friend's child have a bad day or was she possibly just bored with the test and didn't necessarily really try hard? I think that is where an experienced tester would help since they would see the 'signs' and do things differently to maintain the interest better.

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    Originally Posted by mom2boys
    He actually scored 10 points higher on the WPSSI than the DAS (his FSIQ was 139 with the DAS and 149 with the WPSSI). The verbal IQ score was almost exactly the same on both (I think it was 146 on the DAS and 145 on the WPSSI) but his nonverbal IQ went up significantly on the WPSSI (by around 15 or more points, I think).

    One thing that I do remember about the DAS is that it has a drawing component, called "copying." I think this is scored in the nonverbal section.

    How do you determine the FSIQ? I only have 4 Cluster scores: GCA, Verbal, Nonverbal Reasoning, and Spatial.

    The Copying is a part of the Spatial cluster along with Pattern Construction.

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    Originally Posted by CourtneyB
    Originally Posted by mom2boys
    He actually scored 10 points higher on the WPSSI than the DAS (his FSIQ was 139 with the DAS and 149 with the WPSSI). The verbal IQ score was almost exactly the same on both (I think it was 146 on the DAS and 145 on the WPSSI) but his nonverbal IQ went up significantly on the WPSSI (by around 15 or more points, I think).

    One thing that I do remember about the DAS is that it has a drawing component, called "copying." I think this is scored in the nonverbal section.


    How do you determine the FSIQ? I only have 4 Cluster scores: GCA, Verbal, Nonverbal Reasoning, and Spatial.

    The Copying is a part of the Spatial cluster along with Pattern Construction.


    Thanks! I wasn't sure if the GCA was the FSIQ. How much variance do you think there would be now that he is older(5.5 vs. 3.5)? He scored lowest on the matrices and copying sections (69 and 73%) but in the 99+ range everywhere else.

    I think we're going to have to pay to have him retested so I'm going to have to figure out which test we want to use.


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