Yep, believe me, when I had the WISC done on DD I did so with great trepidation, not knowing it would help us. I knew she had processing speed issues before she even took it, so I asked the psych if she could report the GAI and explain in the report why the GAI was needed. Also, I turned in an article to the school with the report stating that the GAI is a better measure of giftedness than FSIQ. I think her FSIQ would have met their cut-off anyway. But with processing speed so low it would have been close. The CogAT and WISC also have different standard deviations so the district was saying that they wanted 139 on the CogAT. DD's FSIQ WISC was slightly lower but equivalent to around 139 on the CogAT if you consider the different percentiles. It's easier to get a 139 on the CogAT than it is to get a 139 on the WISC.
The CogAT supposedly tests nonverbal and verbal reasoning ability, same as the GAI of the WISC, so I'm not sure why a district would insist upon using data from working memory or processing speed. I think most districts simply don't know much about the tests they are administering OR about other intelligence tests. The district's g/t coordinator told me they'd have to look at the math section of DD's WISC to make sure it was above the 98th percentile cut-off they want, just like her math achievement test scores. But there is no math reasoning section on the WISC! Hello? Good luck with that folks.
At this point I'm so sick of even thinking about it, and if it turns out they are that clueless and can't see reason (which hopefully isn't the case but I don't know since I never get straight answers about anything), I don't want DD in their program anyway. Luckily we have other options for enrollment, which I know other people don't.
My DD's Cog AT composite was about 35 points lower than her WISC GAI. Most of the problem was that it is timed and she has no sense of time and processing speed issues.
The district said they would take outside results like the WISC but I had to inquire about this. Otherwise they would have just given her the Cog AT again the next year.
I also think there is a time limit on outside test results they will consider. They probably won't take anything that's older than the previous school year. So my DS took the WISC but they probably won't accept that when it's time for him to be eligible for g/t.
The GAI can also be dicey in many places- the regulations on FSIQ vs GAI can be vague, and many administrators don't understand GAI. A full psychologist's report is often helpful, but I know people who have encountered roadblocks on this point.
