We have used an Educational Psychologist in Houston for testing. Not sure where in East TX you are, but if you are close to Houston I am happy to provide her contact information for you. She provides testing for the Wechsler tests which include the Wisc (6-16 years) and the Wppsi (2.5-7 yrs). There is nothing like a true IQ test to determine a child's abilities and level of giftedness. The Cogat is not a true IQ test, although it tends to correlate with IQ. There are plenty of kiddos who don't score high enough on the Cogat to be considered GT, but then have a very high score on an IQ test. In addition to the reasons given by the other posters (like the fact that it can be timed), the Cogat does not allow for elaboration on an answer. On an IQ test (or at least the older version of the wisc my daughter took last year), there are sections on the test that a child can elaborate and score more points per answer. If you have a highly verbal child, this should allow their true abilities to shine through. I have been round and round with the appeals process, and no matter what the grades, the parent information/referral sheet, or the teacher says about my child, the district is only interested in the test scores. To really strengthen your case I would highly recommend private IQ testing.
