Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC guru needed

Hello. This is my first post here, although I am a regular lurker to these forums.

I have two sons, both are in a congregated gifted program now. They were both tested with the WISC-IV through the school to receive identification and placement in the program.

When the school board sends the WISC report, they send the subtest scores not as numbers, but as just being within a range. Now, when my second son was tested, I called the tester back and asked for the number for the FSIQ and the GAI. However, when my first son was tested, the psychologist at that time said that "they don't do that, the number is not important, all you need to know is he qualifies for the gifted program". At that time, I didn't question it. However, I am still feeling curious. Is it possible to figure out a score that is more or less accurate, using just the ranges?

His scores are as follows:

VCI
Similarities - Very Superior
Vocabulary - Very Superior
Comprehension - Superior

PRI
Block Design - Very Superior
Matrix Reasoning - Very Superior
Picture Concepts - Superior

Working Memory
Letter/Number Sequencing - Superior
Digit Span - Average

Processing Speed
Coding - High Average
Symbol Search - High Average

FSIQ score within Very Superior range

All I know for sure is that the children need a FSIQ or a GAI of 130 or above. So, I know he has to be at least 130. Beyond that, I am not sure what this would work out to.

I tried last year, after getting concrete scores for my second son, but they were too busy/unwilling to look up DS1 scores at that time.

If it's part of his educational record, you are supposed to have access to it.

DeeDee

You should be able to contact the district and make a request to come in and view his entire file. It's like medical records you are allowed to view all of them.

Here is a link I believe Grinity put it up in another post recently. It will give general ranges anyway.

http://www.medfriendly.com/standardscoretopercentileconversion.html

Thank you.

Wow, the range in "very superior" is pretty wide...basically anything from 130 on up.

Maybe I'll have to try the board offices again, and hope I get someone who is willing to go digging/look it up for me. Perhaps I'll find someone a bit more helpful this year.

3piggies, I would put my request in writing, and request a copy of all your ds' school records. There's an example letter for doing this in the Wrights' "From Emotions to Advocacy" book - there may also be an example on their website: www.wrightslaw.org

You might also call your district office and just ask them what the procedure is for requesting a complete copy of a student's file.

polarbear

Thanks for the insight, Dottie!

Are the norms for IQ tests different in Canada? I thought the WISC IV was re-normed ever 15-20 years, generally speaking, but I didn't think each country had a different scoring mechanism. I'll have to look into that, for my own curiosity's sake.

If or when I find out anything concrete, I'll update the post. I forget how exactly it was worded to me, but the gist was basically "parents don't know what to do with this sort of information. All that should matter is he qualifies for the program"