It's been quite a while since the IAS was filled out for my dd14, but as I recall, there are a few different sections with just a couple of them being automatic "nos" in regard to skipping. The pieces that are considered to be immediate disqualifiers are: IQ below 130 (98th percentile) unless the child is old for grade, in which instance I believe that they consider kids with IQs around 115+, a sibling in the receiving grade (although this has been successfully done by some), or the child does not want to skip. The first part is objective and just assigns scores for IQ and achievement (both grade level and above level tests). As I recall, it doesn't specify how far above grade level the test should be which is a bit of a flaw IMHO. For instance, the kid gets a certain # of points for a 75th percentile + score on an above level test and a different, lower, number of points for a 50th percentile score on the same test. My dd took the Explore as her above level test. She was in grade 4 at the time, so it was +4 levels. I believe that I've seen kids given just a +1 level test, though. Personally, I'd want to see everything at or above the 75th percentile if the above level test is only +1.
The other objective parts are the child's physical size in relation to grade peers, grades and timeliness of turning in work, and age in relation to grade peers.
Other parts of the IAS are more subjective and ask the teachers to rank how the child gets along with kids of different ages, parental support including whether parents are overly involved and pushing the kid, school support for the skip, and a few other things along those lines that I cannot remember at this point!
Regarding the WISC, it has four subtests and really isn't something that you are supposed to prepare for although I imagine that it feels pretty high stakes in your situation. We weren't in that spot so much in that dd had taken the WISC two years prior to her skip so we weren't waiting to see if the IQ scores would rule her out. Essentially, the WISC will look at your dc's verbal reasoning abilities (verbal comprehension index), visual spatial and abstract reasoning abilities (perceptual reasoning index), short term auditory memory (working memory index), and speed (processing speed index).
Ooh, this is great info, as our DC may have been similar ages when the IAS was done? DS took an EXPLORE test (+3) and scored overall higher than 92% 8th grader and in reading, the subject we're considering for acceleration, he scored higher than 95% eighth graders. Math, his lowest, was still 75%. I'm hoping he won't have to take another above-level achievement test.
He's definitely interested in accelerating by subject. He states that's he's unsure about whole grade because many of his friends are in his grade. (though many times he complains he doesn't have friends, so I wonder) Anyway, if he's unsure, I doubt they'll consider the whole grade skip a possibility and that's okay with us, but I don't want it to negate the possibility of subject acceleration.
