Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Test Reliability question

My husband and I are in conflict over whether or not to have DS6 tested. I would prefer we obtain IQ testing using either the Standford-Binet or the WISC prior to DS completing K this year to inform the decisions we make for first grade. Husband doesn't see a reason to push IQ testing and has stated he found information online indicating that IQ testing for a 6 year old is not reliable and scores can be much lower. He is in agreement with the school that we wait until 3rd grade when scores are higher and more reliable. Looking for any research to either support or contradict my husband's information. I cannot find anything online other than the reliability testing of both tests that indicate they are reliable for this age.

It is true that testing at 6 can be unreliable, (though not as unreliable as when even younger). Age 7 or 8 may be optimal.

I believe prior to age 6 they are considered fairly unreliable, mainly due to the (lack of) emotional maturity of the child.

I will say, though, if your goal is primarily to advocate for advancement through the school district you are probably better off getting achievement testing done, though the school will then likely want to do their own as well. IQ testing, in and of itself, isn't particularly helpful for most people.

If you need an IQ score for your son to get into a particular program now, then go for the testing. If it is for you to find what his strengths and weaknesses are, then it is better to wait until the child is 8 years old - the reason being lack of maturity at ages below this. I had my child tested at 4 and am waiting until he is 7-8 to get retested because I felt that he lacked maturity and was prone to chatting a lot etc during the testing - which ofcourse affects a the parts of the IQ test that measure speed.

Thanks all! The school is not meeting his academic needs, however he is happy, so they don't believe a change needs made. I'd like to use IQ testing to demonstrate that he has needs that they aren't meeting even though he's happy. My anecdotal evidence and even examples of his work at home have not encouraged change. My husband is more trusting that changes will happen next year without the testing.

Our experience in elementary school (and really continuing on beyond) is that achievement testing carried more weight when advocating, particularly if it was something that could be directly tied to curriculum benchmarks used in the school district.

Three things that were difficult for us to advocate through in early elementary:

1) General attitude of not putting much into the meaning of IQ scores for young children in particular, and for all children in general. None of our ds' teachers have ever really given a whit about his IQ scores (outside of his gifted program teachers). It's what teachers see in the classroom (motivation, attitude, classroom work) that has made the bigger difference in their perception of whether or not a child is gifted or "needs more".

2) A general belief that IQ test scores weren't really reliable until around age 8 (hence the reason that I think many school districts don't start gifted programs or screen for giftedness until 3rd grade). On the one hand, I think there's most likely a large portion of truth in that statement of unreliability - for kids who might score lower than their true ability due to distractions, going slow, not understanding the importance of testing, just feeling goofy that day, whatever. But the *perception* among school staff was that it works both ways - early high scores might not hold up over time.

3) There were (in our school) a *ton* of parents who were all clamoring for "something more" for their kids in early elementary school. A huge chunk of the parents I knew in K-1 who were convinced their children were gifted and needed that "more" disappeared into the ether by 2nd or 3rd grade - there kids were still in school, but the parents were no longer beating down the principal's door demanding gifted services. I suspect that meant there were typically a lot of parents thinking their children were exceptionally gifted who really weren't - and because of that groundswell of parents thinking their kids were gifted early on - it made it difficult for *all* parents advocating for their children to be heard.

In your situation, you've already experienced an unwillingness to respond to your requests for more challenge - given that resistance, I'd think that the likelihood of getting help with IQ scores but not achievement scores would also most likely be an uphill battle.

OTOH, if your ds is unhappy and you go forward with advocating for change this year, it should be relatively easy to get achievement testing along with IQ testing if you look for private testing. You can also consider requesting testing in writing through your school district - you'll need to look up what the official policy is, but where we are the policy states that any parent can request gifted testing - you just have to turn the request in to the gifted department in writing (email works a-ok).

Best wishes,

polarbear

ps - just another thought I'll throw out there - be prepared that IQ testing might not yield the results you are expecting. That doesn't mean your child isn't bright and doesn't need that "something more". For many kids, testing is straightforward, but not for all.

One other thought - if he's happy, maybe the best thing to do this year is to leave all as is, and to afterschool at home if he enjoys it. Our ds was not offered any subject acceleration at *all* in math in elementary school (even though we advocated for it), so he afterschooled himself, and then jumped into accelerated math easily in middle school. I doubt your ds would have to wait that long - but if he's happy right now at this point in time, it might in the long run be more effective for you to let go of the battle this year, let him afterschool for now, and in the meantime put together your game plan to advocate for placement/etc for *next* year.

polarbear

Thanks polarbear. This may be exactly what I need to hear. I hate seeing him learning to count to 30 in K when he's multiplying and dividing for fun at home, but if he's happy maybe the challenge can come later in life when more options are available.

Check what the school has to offer in the way of gifted classes. If it isn't much, then testing can wait. Our youngest has not been tested (she is in 4th). Our older two tested in 7th to gain entry to a certain high school class.