Hi -
I'm new both to this site and to G/T ideas altogether. Our DD just entered 2nd grade at a new school this year and as part of the intake, took the computer adaptive Scantron Performance Series test. She's a young 2nd grader, as her 7th bday falls in mid-August. Prior to this, she has never taken a standardized test so the results are enlightening for us. Her K and 1st grade years were in a preschool environment and weren't particularly rigorous but focused a lot on social-emotional development.
Her scores were 90th national percentile rank for language arts, 93rd percentile for maths and 99th for reading. Her reading GLE was 8th - 10th grade equivalent for "fiction" and "nonfiction" passages and 6th grade level for "long passage" (which included things like nuance and implied character motivation). Her reading rate was "NM" (not measurable) because she read each passage in under 5 seconds. Her teachers and I suspect she is a speed reader.
While her math score was more conservative, it was the subscores that were really interesting. Her "numbers and operations" and "measurement" units were rated above average but not earth-shattering (GLE of 3rd - 4th grade), but her "data analysis and probability" section was WAY higher - closer to 6th - 8th grade level. Given the little math instruction she's had up til now, we were surprised by these scores.
While we knew she was an extraordinary reader, we hadn't ever worried much about it. She's also our only child so I guess we didn't have a sense of her ability vs. more typical kids. She taught herself to read by 3 and we've just supplied her with a lot of books but otherwise never thought much of labels... we knew she was intelligent, but it really never occurred to us she might be gifted.
Since we got back the results we're awaiting a meeting with her teachers to discuss what they mean. In the meantime, we're not sure if we should get her tested further. She's already in a small, private school that uses a multi-age, individual-learning-plan type model, so testing wouldn't be needed for access to some G/T school program. But we're wondering if we need to know more about her development if she's potentially gifted - at least in terms of reading.
Since we're just now looking into GT stuff, we're realizing some other descriptors of GT kids fit her: her development is quite uneven. IE, her exceptional reading is balanced with lower-than average fine motor skills. Her handwriting is almost illegible and she's completely uninterested in improving it.
Would you recommend testing? I've checked out the Hoagie's testing page and a few others, but I'm still coming to terms with her Scantron results and if they merit further investigation. I'm not sure if she's just a high achiever or warrants GT testing based on her results.
Thanks for your help.
