Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment To Test Again?

DS has been WISC-V tested by the school psychologist twice. First at age 7 (first grade), at our request, then again at age 9, after his third grade teacher referred him for the gifted program. He failed to qualify both times.

DS is now in 4th grade. One of the first comments his teachers made to us at our parent-teacher conference in the fall was "Have you considered having him tested for gifted?" Having been down this road twice already, I don't expect different results the third time. However, DS has expressed an interest in the gifted program at school, primarily because his two best friends are involved, and he is intrigued by the things they talk about.

Do we allow him to test again? Is there any reason NOT to allow him to test again, since he is asking for it? Our school will test annually, at the parents' request, but what is the likelihood that the results will vary? He would need 130+ on any index or FSIQ to qualify for the 1x/week pull-out program.

Age 9:
VCI 124
VSI 108
FRI 103
WMI 115
PSI 100
FSIQ 113
GAI 116

Age 7:
VCI 127
VSI 117
FRI 115
WMI - not administered
PSI 80
FSIQ 111
GAI 120

It is not impossible that his VCI, which is consistently mid 120s, might drift up into the 130 range on a retest, but I would strongly caution against retesting with the WISC-V at this time, as a third test within three years is highly likely to result in score inflation due to retest effects, which, while it might increase your likelihood of a qualifying score, would be hazardously close to cheating. Although your school allows annual retesting, it would be better practice to wait 24 months between retests using the same instrument. Besides, the chances of the score coming out lower can be similar to, or even higher than, those of it rising (score inflation effects aside), as you can see illustrated in your existing two sets of test scores.

This does not mean that he is not very bright, especially in the language area, or that he does not require some level of additional support, in the sense of greater academic challenge. We draw arbitrary lines separating "gifted" from "bright but not gifted", but the reality is, of course, not nearly so articulated.

TBH, I also wouldn't expect too much from a once a week pullout enrichment program. And nothing stops him from joining his two best friends as they continue discussions started in class.

Testing more often than every two years with the same test is pretty dodgy. Testing every year even using different teats seems unusual. It is one of my annoyances - the school knows stuff about teat results but the teacher never does.