Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment IQ test administration - did parents observe?

Nope... it was drop off and pick up visits with the psychologist. Maybe I should have been there - he was hard to settle down and difficult to test (and she couldn't even calculate his IQ because the range between his highest and lowest score was too wide). Waste of money.

RIAS given to 5 1/2 yr. Old 2e (ASD) by his private pysch. I was not allowed to sit in. It was given over the course of several visits and took twice as long than the 30 minutes average they say it takes. There was one day that I was asked to come in the room to console my child.He got upset at a question asked and started to have a aspie shutdown. He needed a hug and some reassurance from Mommy that he just needed to do his best and it was okay to not know or understand something. I was shown briefly what upset him just so I could have an idea what was wrong. But That was it. I was able to hear the pysch. through the closed door on occassion but not enough to know what all was being asked or shown to my child.

All this said, I certainly wish I had been able to observe because I would love to know why my DD bombed one subtest out of 4. (The RIAS is short.) Her MG score would have been rather different if she hadn't done that. However, I think there are extremely good reasons not to allow parents in, so on balance I think the policy is correct. A GOOD psych (not the one we had) would be able to provide good notes on what might have happened. I have no idea. Ours just says "DD appears to have average skills in this area" whch does not in any way match up with what we see.

I'm really a bit nervous about DS5's coming test, because he has a tendency to blurt out wrong answers within .0001 microseconds. If I just say, "Hold on--think again" he'll go, "Oh, wait. No! It's ____." This happens most with hard questions. (DD will use another strategy--"I don't know.") Will a good psych ever do this or allow this? Any suggestions on how to handle that problem?

DD9 is like this too. She speaks before she even has time to think and just says the first thing that pops into her head. I'm sure sometimes that works out fine, but we have to constantly tell her it is not a race. We tell her she needs to take a breath first, to give her time to process, then answer. We've also tried to tell her to repeat the question (either in her head or out loud if she needs to) hoping that might give her some time to think about it. However, these things might be more difficult to get a 5 year old to do.

I would practice with your DS to get him used to stopping to think before he answers. We did this with DD9 recently when she asked us to give her some spelling words for the spelling bee. She would immediately start spelling as soon as we said the word, so we made her repeat the word and take a breath before she could spell it. She would get the hang of it and then the next time she asked for some words she would revert right back to immediately starting to spell. It took some practice (and patience), but we just kept working with her and reminding her to take her time.

We also tried to be as upfront with DD9's tester as we could and explained she likes to give goofy answers sometimes just to see if you are paying attention, thinking she is being tricky. You should probably do the same - just explain to the psych that your DS has a habit of blurting and see if they will intervene somehow by maybe giving the question then immediately saying he should think about it before he answers.

Good Luck!

Thank you all for your wonderful, in-depth, and heartfelt replies.

Our experience is similar to yours and momoftwins. Testing was conducted at the school and was treated as a relatively nonchalant non-event.

Unfortunately, gifted high-IQ kids may still often be unwelcome as they do not fit the mold of standardized education. Many/most schools do not enjoy the addition of a gifted pupil to their ranks, often because the schools do not know how to support the gifted pupil's unique learning trajectory... also because other parents may tend to complain when the school does find a way to support a gifted pupil's learning trajectory.

Beyond those who join the discussion, many thousands of others read the forums over time, especially topics/posts found via web searches.

By having open, honest, polite & respectful discussions about unique circumstances and authentic lived experiences (both positive and negative) regarding our gifted children, we can come to an understanding of the impact of those varied experiences (if any). For example, although this discussion thread does not represent research and is not a comprehensive or random cross-section of all parents whose children have taken IQ/achievement tests... certain themes emerge:
- Does parental presence = influence?
- Is there inherent advantage/disadvantage to the child being tested, of having a parent present?
- Does having a parent present contribute to the Flynn effect?
- Some parents have mentioned test prep - What role, if any, does test prep play in IQ test scores? In contributing to the Flynn effect?
- What role does subsequent re-testing play in the child's IQ score?
- Are there ethical considerations to parents being present?
- If parental presence is statistically of no impact, might it still have significant impact on an individual child?
- What are best practices?
The answers may be complex and boil down to "It Depends."

In discussing complex issues we may come to an understanding of whether certain differences in test administration may impact a child's individual scores and/or the future score trends within the community. From my quick read of posts on this topic over time, parental presence may be a precursor to fishing for reasons to invalidate a test's results (failure to establish parental desired level of: rapport, depth of probing, breaks for snacks, test session length, etc) if the parent is not pleased with the IQ score(s) of their child. This is just an observation, it is not to say the parental concerns are with or without merit. Knowing these concerns may arise, testers may wish to address these issues proactively. For example, it may be possible to manage expectations about level of rapport, length of test, snacks/breaks, etc.

I believe that another poster has accurately described that public schools typically do not have parents observe testing; it may be when parents are having children tested privately that parents may in some cases observe. Some schools accept private testing done outside the schools, other schools do not but these independent, privately administered tests may help parents know their children better, illuminating aspects of the child's processing which the parent may have previously been unaware of.

It is my understanding that test administration guidelines would be determined by the test publisher (Pearson?) and the American Psychological Association (APA)? Although I previously understood that parental presence was forbidden, the powers-that-be may have wisely left the decision of whether a parent may be present to the individual tester, because "It Depends."

There has been discussion of parents coaching kids by learning the questions, but it seems to me that subtle things (like encouraging a child or giving subtle hints) could play a bigger role. A tester might even test differently with a parent present (e.g., maybe being more patient and allowing more time than if the parent weren't in the room). I don't know if any of these things happen, but it does seem like there could be an effect. At the same time, some kids may need to have a parent (e.g., very young children too anxious to be left with a stranger). I think it must come down to a judgement call on the part of the tester.

Apm221 - while I was in the room we were positioned behind our child so they couldn't interact with us without obviously turning and instructed not to speak. We did occasionally speak with the tester, such as "They seem to need a break, do you want to take them for a quick walk?" "Sure, childname want to go for a walk?"

Same here. The time I was in the room with my son I was positioned behind him so he couldn't see me. I was silent unless the tester talked directly to me.

I am currently sitting in the waiting room at the university pschology clinic while my older son is being tested.

The few people we discussed testing with (when DD was 4-6yo) wanted us to NOT be present in the room.

That meant no testing-- as an absolute thing, actually-- because of her (relative) medical fragility. Line of sight was a critical make-or-break factor for us, although we completely understood why policy had parents deprived of that during testing.

Catch-22 for us personally.

I'm surprised that so many parents were present with children this age. Not judging-- just surprised, since our sample indicated that this would be rather uncommon. Might be a regional/local thing.