I thought this might be about me when I saw the title! No, I don't mind you moving it here. My one issue would be with the term, "group IQ tests." None of these tests with which I am familiar (CogAT, OLSAT, etc.) purports to be an IQ test. They all actually state emphatically that they are not.
I'll find it and then come back here to add it (eta
), but someone posted an article from Renzulli, I believe, in another thread that contained a quote I loved. It was something about validity (is it measuring what we say it is).
Eta: so here it is from the thread on does achievement imply ability:
As Sternberg (1982a) has pointed out, quantitative does not necessarily mean valid. When it comes to identification, it is far better to have imprecise answers to the right questions than precise answers to the wrong questions.
Now, to be fair, Renzulli wasn't discussing group ability tests and I'm not sure that his concept of giftedness and mine totally jibe, but his thinking did give me pause to reconsider a few issues. I'm having some cut and paste issues right now or I'd link the article's web addy here.
It is my humble opinion that tests like the CogAT and OLSAT are asking the wrong questions. I'd just as soon see straight achievement tests used b/c I don't think that these tests do any better of a job in narrowing down gifted from high achiever. It is often pooh-poohed, but I also think that, as Renzulli's article also mentions, it isn't static. Kids who are given these types of tests repeatedly wind up with their scores changing over time. There is an article (again link issues, but you can google it) called "Gifted Today but not Tomorrow" that speaks to the instability of scores on achievement and both IQ and group ability tests over time.
I'm not arguing that any of these tests are useless b/c of regression to the mean, errors of measurement, or changes in relation to your peer group due to growth spurts or periods of stagnation. I just don't care for programs that test all kids on a test that isn't even an IQ test in mid-elementary and then view that as the be all end all of the child's potential for the rest of his schooling experience.
