Oh, I'm not saying that if you can be prepped to test gifted, you ARE gifted. I'm saying--dang, it's a blunt instrument if it's that easy. But really, I guess I already knew that.
I have to say, I lost faith in IQ tests' ability to tease out the tails a long time ago. I mean, a solid 90th% kid is probably going to be a different kid than a solid 99.99 kid. But as far as an inconsistent kid with some 99s and some 95s and a random 67 just for fun? I don't know. How do we pit that kid against a 97th all around? You factor in squirrelly kid, bad tester, shadows on the ceiling--it starts to look ridiculous. I also say this in part because I know 30-some kids who tested 98th% and up (DD's grade) and they are...wow, a really diverse bunch of kids for the top 2%! Let's not forget about one's ability not to eat the marshmallow (sorry for the shorthand if not familiar with that experiment).
I see why parents are going nuts with this.
