Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC V scores - Help please

Hi,

My son took the WISC V and I was hoping for some guidance. We had an inkling that it would be in the gifted range, but his scores seem way higher than we anticipated.

These are the scores we were given :

General Ability Index - 154
Full Scale Intellectual Quotient - 150
Verbal Comprehension Index - 150
Visual Spatial Index - 151
Fluid Reasoning Index -147
Working Memory Index - 146
Processing Speed Index - 105

We are wondering now what would be the right option for him. He was not accepted in the Public School gifted program where we currently reside, but we could make a move to another district which will accept him into their full time gifted program based on his scores. We are also wondering if a private gifted school would be the most beneficial for him. It will be really expensive for us, though. Our third option is to continue where he currently is, but he is frustrated about not learning anything new. We are also open to provide him with enrichment after school.

I have read and learned so much from this forum. Thank you for the wealth of information here. Any guidance/ advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Based on those scores, you might want to consider applying to the Davidson Young Scholars (DYS) program.

You may also wish to read up on advocacy and meeting prep, as you may need or benefit from having that knowledge base for future efforts.

Regarding your earlier posts about possibly appealing the school's decision (to not include your child in the gifted program based on the school's timed test results), what does the program consist of? Would it be a good "fit" for your child?

Thank you. He is 8. I wish I could home school, but I don't think it will work for us. His current school seems really rigid with curriculum and they are more focussed on getting kids up to speed. They have refused to accommodate any sort of acceleration/ enrichment.

I will look into online classes that he can work through at home, but sending him to school everyday is just an ongoing struggle now.

Hi! I looked into DYS and it seems like a great program. I see that he needs a nominator for it. Should his teacher nominate him?

Thank you for the link to the advocacy thread. I will read through that today.

I did appeal, but I'm not pinning my hopes on it. We are looking at other options now. The school's full-time gifted program is more of acceleration (4th grade curriculum in 3rd grade and so on) than a differenciated learning approach. But they also include a few hands-on activities and there is a focus on STEM, that my son would have loved. The main draw was that he would have been with other kids who he could connect with on an intellectual level and who would challenge and motivate him. He is now more of a class helper.

The nominator is not a big deal, especially if you have clearly qualifying scores - any non-family adult in his life who knows him well can do it. That could be a teacher, but it could also be a coach or a therapist or even a family friend. We used DDs occupational therapist, who wrote a fabulous letter for us.

Teachers who notice a child's giftedness can be good nominators. Those who may be focused on bringing up the kids at the bottom and do not notice how advanced other kids may be once they have "met standards", may be reluctant nominators.

If it helps in choosing a nominator, you can view the 4 questions which nominators are asked at the Checklist in Step 2 on this webpage: How to Apply

This is important. As you may have read elsewhere, for continuing growth and development, kids need:
1) appropriate academic challenge
2) true peers
For typical kids, these needs may be met in a general ed classroom, however for children with higher IQ/giftedness, these needs may not be met without intentional effort in providing advanced curriculum, and grouping for instruction with academic/intellectual peers.

Indigo, Thanks for all your insight. The links are also really helpful. Your point about a 'reluctant nominator' hits the nail on the head. But I don't entirely blame them. I expected him to be in the mildly gifted range, and his scores were quite shocking to me. We still keep wondering if there is a mistake of some sort in his scores, because he seems far off from our perceived notion of what highly gifted kids look like.

Thanks everyone for all the help. We have quite a few options there!

For now, we are leaning towards moving to the full time gifted program at a different School district. It may at the very least provide a more challenging curriculum and peers that he can connect with.

This old post has some resources about evaluating/choosing a school or program.

Here's a list of Buzzwords, to help parents recognize, understand, and cut through any edu-speak marketing terms (aka BS).