We recently moved cross county and DS9's new school district has a GATE program. I thought this would be a great opportunity as he had few opportunities for enrichment in school back in Southern CA.
He was tested with WISC-IV when he was 6 when we were trying to figure out why 1st grade (public school) was causing his intense distress. Long story short- we grade skipped him that Fall into 2nd and it was a fairly successful solution to the problem. He still complained about "challenge," but his overall feelings about school improved. After the skip, he continued to perform at the top of grade level expectations.
Fast forward to 5th grade in a new state. The WISC-IV scores from three years ago are not valid. For consideration into the GATE program, they administered the CoGat and Naglieri.
I haven't seen the results, but the program coordinator said his CoGat scores were Verbal: 95% Quantitative: 92% Nonverbal: 92% (they are looking for score 96% or better for program)
Here are the questions:
Is the CoGat test age specific or grade specific? Would the grade skip matter in the results?
His GAI when he took the WISC-IV (when he was 6 1/2) was 143 (99.8%) with his PRI score 145 and VCI score 126. He succeeds academically with little to no effort and we certainly have dealt with many of the intensities and issues that are shared experience when raising a "highly gifted" child. To me, his CoGat scores do not seem to be a good reflection of his abilities? Have others had this experience with the CoGat?
He said there was a fire drill during the testing day- but other than that, nothing else seemed off.
There is a nearby university that has a psychology dept. that administers ability testing (WISC, SB) for reasonable fees. Is it worth getting an "up to date" WISC? I tend to worry about "over advocating" - but on the flip side, being a military family, our kids have to endure moves, breaks in education and lots of life challenges...
I don't want to stress over one test, however I'm a little confused over the results, especially if they are a factor that excludes DS9 from services. Thoughts?
