Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Do I advocate for IQ testing?

DS5 is in PM K this year. He is being placed in a cluster group for reading. He has a folder of extra math worksheets, but doesn't complete them and there is no extra math teaching occuring. DH and I met with teacher and principal and they will not be doing anything additional this year. They have agreed to place him in a 1st grade classroom next year with other advanced kids. I have outreached to the Gifted teacher, but the K teacher does not want her assistance. DS is happy and having fun with new friends and we challenge him with math and science work at home in the AM.

In the interim to 1st grade, I was thinking it might be worthwhile to get an IQ test. The gifted teacher does not support this. She has stated that DS will not be tested until 3rd grade citing something about brain development not being far enough along prior to K. Are there disadvantages to IQ testing in K? Has anyone had a negatice experience with this? Anyone have any articles or words of support that I can take to the school supporting IQ testing at this age? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

We declined to test our DD at age 5, but that had nothing to do with brain development, and everything to do with how our state handles access to GT. She was limited to one test attempt per calendar year, and for a 5yo, access depended on scoring >2.5 SDs, or the 99.5th percentile, on a test of cognitive ability. We declined, because if she failed to hit it on that threshold, we didn't want to limit her access once she turned 6, when the requirements change significantly.

This state sets the threshold this high at 5 as a way to screen out the well-prepared students from the highly-able ones. I hear that 3rd grade is a common cut-off in other places. My advice is to check your state and district policies about access to GT services.

I would find out if the school would even look at outside IQ results. I don't know where you are in PA, but around us (SE portion of PA), a lot of districts will not accept outside testing, and many won't test until around 2nd/3rd grade.

If the school doesn't clearly state the policy on IQ tests, ask other parents. If they don't accept outside testing then there might not be much use in testing (unless he likes tests and you want to see the result).

You should also investigate what the gifted program is like in elementary. Many programs are weak for the younger kids. We had the school test the older two in 7th grade to gain entrance to a special course in HS, but there wasn't much worthwhile prior to 9th grade in our district.

And perhaps you might not even need the testing. With our middle kid, teachers in 6th grade sent her to the gifted pullout even though she was not officially in the program. The gifted support teacher put me on the gifted email list. The admin folks didn't think she would qualify (FSIQ > 130), but the teachers saw something in her that the admin folks did not. It seems that his teacher recognizes that he is bright and wants to help with placement for next year - that is a start.

This is just a hunch, but I think part of the push-back you are getting from school is due to what happened a lot in our school district in the first few years of elementary school - you are most likely not the only parent asking for differentiation and acceleration, there are probably quite a few. Most of these parents only have their hunch about their child's ability, not an IQ test. When we were advocating for our EG ds, we found it extremely helpful to have that early IQ test because whenever a teacher or staff member tried to say "Well everyone wants that" or "Every parent thinks their child is smart" we were able to pull out the actual numbers so they couldn't argue that we just *thought* our child was "that smart". You might not be hearing things like that said out loud and overtly to you... but the school staff may very well be thinking it anyway - and that's where having the testing could potentially help in advocating.

polarbear

Yes, to what Polarbear said! Testing was helpful for us. We decided to test DS soon after he turned 6 in K, having waited until 6 so that we could use the WISC, but also as we were hoping that we would not need to test. While it could have been a coincidence, the school was much more responsive afterwards. It was my sense that this was due both to them assessing DS differently (out-of-level testing in math, for instance) after being made aware of his IQ percentile, as well as them coming to their own awareness through observation. It seemed the percentiles provided a lens to interpret their observations and helped in our advocacy, as they were now aware that he was an outlier and someone who would likely always need more, rather than a kid who entered K reading several grades ahead perhaps through work that we'd done. Additionally, testing can be helpful to both school and family in highlighting -- and therefore helping to anticipate -- the extent of the the acceleration that may be needed as well as pointing out any as-yet-unnoticed strengths or needs.

I noticed you are in PA. IQ testing would be helpful because it can help you get a GIEP for your son. However, the school is required to do an assessment for giftedness, including an IQ test, if you request it. After I requested it for my twins, they did an assessment, and once they passed that, they scheduled an IQ test with the school psychologist.

PA public schools are required by law to offer an IEP to gifted students in any grade to address their needs. You have to put the request to have your child assessed for the gifted program in writing, and then they have a certain number of days to respond. If you request in writing that your child be assessed, they have to do it. And whether or not they have a gifted program in place for that grade, they have to offer services and develop a GIEP if your child qualifies.

Read this:
http://www.psea.org/uploadedFiles/P...lets/Booklets_Summaries/ParentsGuide.pdf

and this http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter16/s16.21.html

We decided to wait until my twins were six to have them assessed, so that they could take the WISC, instead of the test for under six. Once they turned six, I submitted the request for assessment directly to the gifted coordinator, and then notified the teacher that I had done so. (She had told me that there was nothing that could be done to help until 2nd, when the official gifted program starts in our school, so she didn't take it very well when I went around her. We had been having issues, and hadn't made any progress dealing directly with her. I won't go into detail, but let's just say that we now have first-hand knowledge of how emotionally damaging it can be for a gifted child to be under-challenged and not have their needs met in school. It was an eye-opening experience.)

It took 3 1/2 months to get the testing, the report, and the GIEP, but it was in place at the very end of school so that it could be used in first grade. And as I noted, we had been experiencing issues with the teachers and I will say that once they saw the scores, their attitudes changed.

We are very lucky in that the gifted coordinator at our school is fabulous, and was very encouraging and helpful during the process, even though she knew I was having issues with one of the teachers. She works with the children's teachers now in first grade and works with the children directly each week. The official pullout program doesn't start until second, but because of their GIEPs my children's needs are being addressed now at least somewhat. It's not perfect, but it is much better than K. They are still not being taught more advanced math, but at least they are offered harder worksheets to do, which helps a little. The GIEP covers a lot more than math, though, and it is all of the other things in it that are making first grade go more smoothly than K.

After you read the state law and the Parent's Guide to Gifted Education in PA, maybe you could set up a meeting with the gifted coordinator and let her know (nicely) that although you value her opinion, you have done some research on your own and think it would be best for your son to be assessed. Then follow up with a request in writing.

Thank you all. This is incredibly helpful. DS turns 6 in January. Sounds like we should wait until then and then request IQ testing.

I agree that age 6 is helpful to wait for... having the options for extended norms if you have a "way out there" kid can make a difference in scoring... also being able to do that GAI and leave out a processing score that makes child looks less able may matter if that is a significant difference for him.

My child is extreme on both ends and WPPSI at 4 had him hitting lots of hard and soft ceilings which made it less informative. Processing Speed was significantly lower and did impact his scores negatively. There was no way to filter out that effect on WPPSI.

At 6, taking the WISC gave him more room and we got more information. His processing gap had increased and on WISC it makes his full scale IQ just under 130 (cut off for many gifted programs). Having the option of a GAI calc on the WISC however shows that he is in fact profoundly gifted.

It's hard to know which kind of child you have before testing (that's really the point isn't it ) but what I've seen is that for most the broader and more adaptable nature of the WISC provided more helpful information.

Good luck with your testing!

Showing my ignorance here. What is the GAI and what is the affect of the processing score?

The GAI stands for General Ability Index, and it is an alternate way of calculating IQ for kids with big discrepancies between their processing speed and their other scores. DITD does accept GAI for purposes of qualifying as a Davidson Young Scholar.