Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Ability testing for young boys who like math

Hi, all - these questions were raised in my mind by another thread, but I didn't want to hijack that thread. So here are my 2 questions:

1) What is the best ability test for a young, math-loving boy? DS just turned 6, is a good reader, but prefers (and seems VERY good at) math. I was thinking of having him tested on the WISC when he turns 6 (so possibly this summer), but I wonder whether the WISC favors "verbally gifted" kiddos (like my DYS DD). DS is quiet when compared with his sister - so I just have never thought of him "verbal," although in my case it is probably all relative (he seems very, very bright).

2) What is the best age to IQ/ability test? DS will almost certainly face various ability testing in the future through school (G&T program), but not until about 3rd grade. That is a LONG wait. Also, the school typically favors abbreviated tests, and if I had it to do over again (hindsight is 20/20) - I'd prefer to have a full test performed first (although I would have to do this on my own, and fully realize that the current school may still feel the need to do its own testing).

Testing now might allow DS to join his sister in some activities she is enjoying - which would be great. Also, depending on how school goes this year for both DC, we could be considering a school switch at some point (and testing might be needed, depending on the new school).

TIA!

An ability test for your own unofficial use could be a placement test for Singapore Math http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm , a curriculum that is fairly popular among parents of gifted children (we have used it). You could give him successively harder tests (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc.) until he struggles and then order the appropriate Singapore Math books to work with him.

Thanks, Bostonian - I probably wasn't clear. I am looking for IQ testing, which would be accepted by our local gifted school (full IQ), as well as possibly DYS (testing that is useful for more than a single purpose is preferred).

Actually, he will probably need updated achievement testing, too.
The current school will do plenty of achievement testing, although not the kind useful for DYS.

Thanks, squishys. It it interesting to hear a positive review of the SBV. It seems more popular outside of the US. I was told by one tester that he saw many HG kiddos NOT test as gifted on the SBV (while they tested as HG on other tests). So I have a fear of false negatives with the SBV. It is good to hear that it DOES catch some of the gifted children.

I actually will not be able to wait until he is 10 y.o., because the current school will test him with their abbreviated/screening tests before that.

Right now, because of prior comments here and elsewhere, I honestly trust the WISC more. It does not sound like the gifted schools in my area will take the WJ Cognitive. Still, I am not certain that the WISC IV is likely to identify a "more mathy" than verbal child. What is confusing is that I understand a new version will soon be available, but it seems like every time a test has a new version there is a great deal of confusion about what is actually "gifted" on the newer test. I am just trying to understand the pros and cons. Thank you for any opinions or information!

DS6 was tested in May. He's a voracious reader and has a great vocabulary as a result. We never worked on any math at home and the math in his K class was skip counting and patterns. He was tested with the WISC and hit ceilings on all PRI subtests. He scored mid-3rd grade on the KTEA. The psych noted she would like to test him with the SBV because she thought it would better illustrate the math.

Mine tested on the WISC IV but it does not have the testing needed for his mathematical abilities. His psychologist will be testing him on the SBV so we can get an actual mathematical IQ. He averages 4 grades above level in math right now.

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate the information and experiences of others. Also wanted to share this older post that I stumbled across:

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/116455/1.html

My DS with 160s across the board on the WIAT math sections had compeletely irregular and nowhere near that on the SB5. The SB5 is very visually oriented and that seemed to have a huge negative effect.

DS is the same as yours and there was a large verbal-nonverbal gap(nonverbal being a lot higher) on the WISC, although his GAI was high enough (133?) to qualify for gifted programming assuming the school takes a GAI. My concern with the WISC is that it seems like it really favors kids who are "expressive" on the verbal section. My DS's common response when he doesn't feel like explaining or elaborating is "I don't know". He may actually do better on the stupid CogAT in terms of verbal ability. I also think that my DS keeps improving in terms of verbal ability and at 6-7 we are still not seeing his full abilities in that area. He seems to have very uneven brain development which I think is common in visual/mathy kids. I don't know if we're going to need another test but I'm going to wait as long as possible, then probably re-test on the WISC (only reason to re-test is because I doubt the school district will accept a score from kindergarten, plus it wasn't done by one of their accepted providers).

The WISC doesn't test specifically for math that I'm aware. I would suggest a WISC (or SB if your DS hits the ceiling), then follow it with an individual achievement test.

The achievement test doesn't test ability, but I think (just my opinion) some sense of math ability can be discerned if some scores fall far outside of "normal" for the age.

We had a privately administered Woodcock Johnson Achievement.