People (doctors/teachers) have always told us that our son was quite smart and I guess we have always thought he picked things up quite easily. His school wanted us to have him tested, but I didn't want them to put him in a box, so we privately had it done.
What led to the school suggesting testing? Was he referred for testing for a gifted program or id, or was the school requesting testing because they were concerned about something? What type of "box" were you concerned about the school putting him in - was it a gifted label or a different kind of label?
The results are very mixed (some very superior and some that seem very average) and I really don't fully understand where we should go from here. We are novice parents and have not really done anything to help him. I would appreciate any advice on how we could help him, what should we say to his school etc?
What to do and what to say to the school etc is going to depend partially on understanding what the test results mean in and of themselves, and then putting that into context of why you had your ds tested. The first important piece of information is to ask the tester (if it's not mentioned in the testing report or if you haven't already had a conversation about it) - what was the tester's perception of your ds' mood/responsiveness/etc during testing, and what order were the tests given in. Does the tester think there are any reasons the lower subtest scores might be artificially low?
Next step is to google WISC-IV + subtest descriptions and read through each, so that you understand how the questions were ask (verbal, written etc), what the specific type of question was for each subtest, and what type of response was required (verbal/written/etc). Then look for patterns in the low scoring tests and also think through whether or not the lower scores correlate with anything you've seen in your ds' schoolwork.
Just out of curiousity - did you have any type of achievement testing done at the same time as the WISC?
Once you have a good understanding of your ds' scores, what each subtest measures, and whether or not you believe the score is accurate - the next step is to decide - what are your goals? Do you want to advocate for more challenge at school? Is there an issue you need to address? Is there a program you want him considered for? etc. After making your list of goals, research what you need to do in order to make them happen, then go back through the test to see how you can use it in advocating for those goals.
Also, there is a school that is more academic than his current school, but requires him to do an entrance exam. Should someone with such mixed results do such an exam and go to an academic school?
There's really no way to know based on one IQ test, even if you are confident that the results accurately reflect your ds' abilities. There are so many different factors that go into whether a child is going to perform well in any given school - child's personality, motivation, abilities, school's philosophy, curriculum, structure, teacher's style, caring, all sorts of things. I wouldn't discount any school based on the IQ test - unless you know upfront that the school requires a specific minimum FSIQ or GAI on the WISC to be admitted. I'd suggest talking to other parents who have children enrolled at the school, learn as much as you can about the school, go on a school tour, see how it seems to mesh with what you think would be a good learning environment for your ds.
If you do determine from analyzing the WISC that your ds has a weakness in an area that impacts a certain type of academics, that doesn't mean your ds won't be successful in an academically challenging program, but it does most likely mean you need to understand the impact of the challenge and also seek out help with either remediation or accommodations (or both).
Best wishes,
polarbear
