Thanks Kerripat - I think that's a good insight into the gifted brain vs. CogAT.
It seems to me that testing your DD's Math ability against local 'scope and sequence' tests is the gold standard.
If the school wants something more official, take a look at
http://www.idealsolutionsmath.com/They take the data from
ITBS ACT EXPLORE IAAT (Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test)
and turn it into a boilerplate/official documentation for 'needs math acceleration.'
Many schools that I've seen/heard about don't care 2 bits for IQ tests. But if you live in a place where Explore is normally given to 8th graders and can show that your DD does as well as the 50% percentile of them, that will probably make their eyes pop a bit.
Anyway, the general principle is to 'speak your schools language' whatever the local language happens to be - SAT, Explore, MAP, State achievement tests, CogAT, end of year tests, or worksheet in her own handwriting.
One never knows what a school will decide. When we asked for a single subject acceleration in math early 4th grade, the school administered WISC, and WJ, and in the end said "No." Why? They said that when their district math specialist sat down with him she judged that he 'wasn't a deep thinker in math.' What did they do together that gave her this idea? Soduku puzzles.
I'm pretty sure I can document that she was wrong - as a 14 year old 9th grader he completed Algebra 2 with a 95% average this year, and was his teacher's favorite student because 'he's not arrogant like the other kids who are ahead in math.'
((shrugs and more shrugs))
Grinity
