Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISCIV- test scores- thoughts?

Hi-
DS6 recently took the WISC IV. There was some scatter in his results and I'm a bit concerned about the processing speed score. I am considering applying to a local gifted school and I don't know if his relatively low processing score may cause stress? Also there seems to be a lot of scatter in his scores. I talked with the tester and she didn't seem concerned, and my other forum was quick to point out that there doesn't appear to be a learning disability- but slower processing can cause otherwise bright kids to be unable to keep up?

VCI 142
Similarities 18
Vocabulary 18
Comprehension 15

PRI 133
Block Design 17
Picture Concepts 13
Matrix Reasoning 16

WMI 132
Digit Span 13
Letter Number 18

PSI 121
Coding 13
Symbol Search 14

FSIQ 141
GAI 146

That PSI is actually extremely good. I absolutely wouldn't worry about it. Many gifted kids have lower PSI and/or WMI scores which is why the GAI is frequently reported in place of the FSIQ.

2E kids with learning disabilities that significantly lower the PSI or WMI will have scores in those areas sometimes *well* under 100.

Those are excellent scores, and I note that the GAI is high enough for DYS. Do you have qualifying achievement testing, too?

Hi- we haven't done any achievement testing except what was required by his school for kindergarten. (Iowa Basic and Gates readimg test). I checked out the young scholars requirements, but I think I would need to have the achievement tests administered privately if we applied.
I live in an area where there are two gifted magnet schools (min IQ must be 125 with achievement testing 95% or above), and a full time program for exceptionally gifted children (minimum IQ or GAI must be 140). DS's IQ score qualifies him for the latter, but I was worried that the processing score might affect his ability to manage the workload.. He does very well was long as he doesn't have to show a lot of work.

Canmom, you are the expert on your son, but he meets the criteria monjust with his GAI but also on FSIQ, and his processing speed is well above average, I doubt you need to be concerned. Certainly if his FSIQ was 10-15 points lower than the cutoff and his GAI only juts scraped in, your concerns might be very valid, but that's not what you are looking at here. Very few children have processing speed fully into the gifted range. I would hazard a guess that his score pattern would be common to ideal for a program with a 140 cutoff.

I know you mention worry about scatter but these scores look fairly normally distributed to me. It's not "normal" to have scores all line up in tidy row. also note that comprehension is commonly a little lower than other VCI scores, especially in young boys (it's more about social comprehension, certainly not to do with reading comprehension). I wouldn't worry!

Nice scores! PSI is enviably high!

I appreciate the feedback. I'm relieved that the PSI likely won't be an issue if we apply for the exceptionally gifted program. There are other, rigorous achievement tests and observations to gain admission, so it's not a guaranteed acceptance or a decision we have to make immediately. I assume they have a strict process so that at the end of the day, we can all feel comfortable that it's a place where he will (or will not) thrive.

I think that PSI is amazing! It pulls the FSIQ up, no?? He'll be awesome! Best of luck