Hi Mountainmom,
My son also had a significant drop in scores (two standard deviations) between private testing and the testing eventually done by the school psychologist after we had been raising concerns for some time. The school was quite happy to take the position that we parents must have got it wrong after all. This, however, from our department's own training material:
"For some students, the very factors that lead to their performing below potential in the classroom can also lead to their performing below potential on standardised identification measures, such as IQ tests."
"At worst a student with low academic self-efficacy will choose not to try, or to put in minimal effort, for fear of failing."
(GERRIC 2004,
http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=31755)
Not sure if this gels with what you're seeing?
BKD
