Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment group testing compared to individual testing

I am wondering how other children have done in group tests at a public school. My DD is in first grade and is having group testing this week and next (and some of these results may qualify her for gifted programming). She had outside testing (IQ and achievement) that was one on one. She scored high on those, but the school does not consider outside testing and wants to "see for themselves" which means they place great emphasis on these group tests and I worry she won't do as well in that setting and then not get needed services. She is not a little bit ahead, she is working well beyond grade level. How have your kids done in group tests compared to one on one?

I'm sure a lot of it depends on the kid and on the test. My son does not have any test anxiety and has done well on group tests. Do you know the particular tests? Is it a GT screener? Or achievement testing? Is it a format she's seen before? E.g., kids who have all kinds of access to computers at home will likely do better on computerized tests than kids who have never used one.

Do you have any reason to believe your DD won't do well in a group test setting? Does she have any LDs? Some kids can get accommodations to take tests alone.

I'd try not to worry about how she'll do ahead of time (unless of course she has an LD or needs accommodations etc - in that case you'll want to ask for the accommodations). If she does well, all will be well. If she tests lower than you'd anticipate based on her past testing or other things you know about her, don't take the "we only accept our own testing" from the school as an absolute. Write down your concerns, write down what you want, and send it all in to the school along with copies of her previous test results. If you don't get the answer you want from your school, forward it all on to your school district's administrative office (to the head of the gifted department if there is one). The one thing I've learned over the years is that in most school districts, no policy is set in stone, and chances are there are already legions of parents ahead of you who've advoceated for their children who haven't qualified for gifted programming, chances are some of them have been successful, and chances are if you have a child who's anywhere near DYS levels, most of those other parents were advocating with far lower scores. SO - don't be intimidated if you do have to ultimately appeal a decision based on a "low" group test score.

Best wishes,

polarbear

I agree it depends on the kid.

This is what information I can offer you -
DD9 took the MAP test for reading and math toward the end of 1st grade. A lot of schools use this computer-based test just to see academically where students are at and if they are making progress from the 1st semester to the 2nd semester. Our school doesn't use the MAP test until 2nd grade but they offered to let DD take the test since we needed some answers about why she was acting out in class. She took the test on 2 different days in a one on one situation with the school counselor or principal. The tests showed she was comprehending well above her grade level and that helped answer some of our questions and made us have even more questions.

Since that first time 2 years ago, she has taken the same test 3 more times - 1st and 2nd semester of 2nd grade and 1st semester this year (3rd grade). Each of these times it was taken in a group setting. She still did really well, just not as well as everyone expected, considering her scores the first time she took it. I think this was partly because of the group setting. I also think part of the difference in her scores was that she had already seen the test and it was no longer new and interesting to her. I think she probably does do better one on one. She is the kind of kid that needs to absorb everything in a room and everything going on in a room, so she is easily distracted. She also isn't one to try really hard at something she doesn't have much interest in.

OTOH - I've realized over the years that even though sometimes we doubt just how smart she is; when it comes to testing she always scores high because she is that smart and you can't change that no matter what the testing situation is.

I see group testing, such as Cogat and ITBS as different from computerized stuff like scantron. My DD had done one on one testing with a private psychologist and with the school TAG coordinator and performed at a higher level than on the true group ability testing. She did fine on COGAT and ITBS but not at the level I might have expected. She always does well on computerized stuff like scantron, though, because she looks at that as a game. She enjoys one on one testing and hates the group thing, including the state standardized testing. She views that stuff as torture. It really is individual, though, and I agree with what polarbear says.