Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment what would you do?

Hello all,

Our DS8 was evaluated at age 5Y3M at the University of Washington in Seattle, and without looking at all the scores, the evaluator stated essentially that he was a "well mannered, bright boy" the number that comes to mind was 128. My question to you all isn't about his scores, but whether or not to re-test at some point.

We had decided to have him assessed because he was, well, you know, different! and looking back I realize my ignorance of timing was vast. He hadn't decided to read at that point.

Fast forward to now: Last fall he did a computerized multiple choice thing (NWEA Measure of Academic Progress) and he was reading at the 11th grade level (at age 8y1m) and this spring he did the NWEA MAP math assessment that put him solidly in 8th grade math.

He is a vibrant, curious, challenging person who is absolutely driven to learn what he wants to learn. He had a really horrible 2nd grade experience in PS and we pulled him out in Feb last year to home school/alternative public school and that is going well.

Ok, here's my question and I suppose it's really for me. We live in a rural area with no gifted programs as the state doesn't require them (Washington) and even if there were, I know a "number" doesn't change a thing about who DS is.

But would accurate (I think) identification make a difference for access to any future resources?

blah blah blah. and thank you for listening.

Hi Barbara,
Welcome!
You don't need a number to hang out here, but BTW - congrads on those MAP scores! I love the Idea of those self-regulating tests! They don't always find all the gifted kids, but they sure allow lots and lots of the gifted ones to show what they know. On an achievement test, there may be only one or two items that give an 11th grade result, by contrast, when a kid gets a score of 11th grade on MAP - that means they answered lots and lots of 11th-type question.

Testing might help you decide if you want to go for a gradeskip or two if you ever wanted to return to 'regular' public school.

An alternative is to use the talent search - perhaps Explore now, and SAT or ACT in a few years. Much cheaper than WISC and SB-V, and really make an impression on decision makers.

Sounds like your son is developing well. If you are happy with homeschooling and it works for you, why not keep things as they are?

Smiles,
Grinity

I like the advice given in this article from Hoagies:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/why_test.htm

We have tested our son twice. First time he was 5 years 2 months old. We just tested again at the age of 7 years 5 months. Both times we tested to help us answer questions about his educational programming. We needed answers because things weren't working. He was unhappy, hated school, acting out at home sometimes, etc. We had a sense that there was something we needed to do but didn't know what. We deliberated a long time before testing the second time. It was worth it because the testing answered our questions and gave us new direction for our son.

I wouldn't hesitate to test again, if more questions come up. I think we'll have our son test with Midwest Talent Search at Northwestern for the sake of achievement testing and keeping a handle on just where he is in terms of educational needs. But not likely to ever do another IQ test. I don't see how it would be needed.

Read through the Hoagies article. See if it helps you to decide. As Grin says, why test if you're happy with how things are? But if you need answers, testing is a good place to start.

thanks for the responses - in some sense I was thinking out loud!