My ds has stagnated from time to time and by the next test started moving forward. I know with Math he stayed flat for almost a year because he was so high to start and until I found an enrichment math for him- it did not go up. We had other health issues going on that prevented any extra enrichment for a good 2 years during that time- once he got well and he started learning again- they shot up- exposure has a lot to do with it. I can't home school but have a math class for him that has helped where his school can't teach any more. His science MAPS have him at a high school level and they really don't know what to do with him- I bought him high school science books to read on his own. So your son may just be dealing with lack of exposure or hitting a little plateau or he just had a bad testing day the second time. Regarding the COGATS- My son's COGATS do not always show him as "gifted"( he has taken it more than once for different school assesmemts) and the teachers say they don't reflect his giftedness- ds got put in gifted program with borderline scores and is thriving. The school recognizes he does not always test to his capabilities and the gifted teachers says he is one of the few kids who REALLY needs the gifted program. So scores don't always mean a lot and CogTs have never accurately demonstrated my ds's "giftedness". I'm lucky because the school gets my kid- he has a 504 for PANDAS and the administration decided if he is acting up or in a bad place with PANDAS he gets to go to the gifted classroom more. Normally they hold kids out for behavior issues- they know he needs it- so maybe your son can get in without the cogats( ours look at MAPS and teacher recommendations too). Good luck!
