Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment New here, DYS question, school question, etc.

Hi everyone.

I've been a longtime lurker, while DS7 has been undergoing private testing. I have scores now and questions, and am delurking in hopes of help.

DS's district did the 'standard' testing for the gifted program last spring. In GA it is a combo of ITBS's (scores=very high), CoGATs (scores = middling), and several fuzzy creativity/motivation tests (scores=all over the map, and the tests ranged in their validity, IMHO, from not-too-bad to total poop.) The net sum was that DS did not qualify by county guidelines and when I asked questions, the county basically told me to take a long walk off a short pier.

So I had him privately tested, the WISC-IV and the WIAT-II. The psychologist also did the Torrance Test and a full psych workup. And YIKES! I thought DS was pretty bright before all this, but wow. DH's expression when the psych explained that DS was going to be heading off to college early was priceless. :-)

Here are the scores:
WISC IV WIAT II
VCI: 155 Reading: 134
PRI: 135 Mathematics: 138
WMI: 138 Written Language: 119
PSI: 112
FSIQ: 139
GAI: 155

The full report was really great, the psych went into a lot of detail about the differences between verbal reasoning and processing speed, really 'got' his personality (cautious, doesn't like to guess, would rather be right than fast, likes structure and direction, and is a pleaser). Her recommendations: application for DYS, compacting this year (2nd grade) and subject acceleration in reading/math (NOT grade skip based on his personality, at least not now), plus we are to find him any/all enrichment to his interests.

Re: DYS application. Psych really pushed this one... but if I read the requirements right on the website, DS qualifies on WISC IV scores, but NOT in achievement. (close but no cigar). So on to the portfolio, which totally has me chewing my nails off. Like I said, I've lurked here a while, and DS hasn't done any of those 'easy to see it's a cheetah' things... He didn't read early, or solve a rubik's cube, or do middle school math for fun or make stop motion movies. He does all sorts of what I think of as normal kid stuff: piano lessons, dress up, bakugan and legos. He's starting chess club this year and is just starting learning to play bagpipes. (which maybe qualifies as an unusual interest but he is still � and will be for quite awhile- at the 'wailing dying cat' stage of the instrument!) I am at a total loss as to what I might put in a portfolio! I haven't asked DS yet because I'm afraid he will shrug and get that turtle-y look. The only thing I can think of � and if it's silly please tell me- is to document all his lego creations. He tinkers constantly with them. He'll get a set, build it as spec-ed, and then deconstruct the whole thing and build all kinds of other stuff (mostly in the spaceship genre). I was thinking of photographing every lego creation he made over a couple of months. Alternatively (and with a much bigger price tag) I was thinking of saving up and getting him one of those Lego NXT robotics kits for xmas. I am pretty darn sure he could put that together himself. Would that be interesting enough? I apologize if it's against the board protocol to ask for this kind of help, but any advice would be really helpful. (heck, even if the lego robotics kit is not really good for the portfolio I will get it for him anyway because he would looooooooovelovelovelove it.)

Re: acceleration. I met with Assis. Principal yesterday, and I think that went well. AP is a data junkie and was already sorting the entire second grade based on available achievement scores/grades and had DS on his list as a 'high achiever'. Gifted delivery model in this school is 'cluster grouping' which means in-class differentiation. So, the teacher is already going to be differentiating in her class therefore DS can participate in that regardless of county 'label' of gifted or not. They are pretesting (particularly for math) to ability group and compact instruction throughout the year. Also, AP said that our school has experience with subject acceleration (some students currently doing in 3rd and 4th grade) and the AP will work with me in the spring to discuss county rules about admin of the Iowa Acceleration Scale. Also said that when county gifted testing came around again in 3rd grade that DS would have no problem jumping through proper hoops. In essence: no promises exactly, but that yeah, they knew DS was a bright kid, assurance that school was willing to work with me and DS directly and leave county out of it except where necessary. My take on all of this, especially after reading some of the horror stories related on these boards, was YAY! Do the experts of school-speak concur? Oh, I should mention that this elementary school is part of the IB primary years programme, which I've really liked so far, and that we are geographically very close to the CDC and Emory, so the school is filled with kids of exceptionally bright people.

Whew. Sorry this ran so long. Needed to get that out, I don't really have anybody here but spouse to talk about this with. Any advice re: DYS application would be appreciated and if there is anything I missed re: talking to school, please tell me!

Thanks so much!

Thanks for the feedback! You're right about the pics. Of course I didn't think of it 'til just now... but DS has been jonesing for his own digital camera. Maybe I'll give him our older one and let *him* do the documentation. Duh! Shoulda thought of that! :-)

Re: acceleration. Part of me is inclined to push (being a pushy person ;-) ), part of me wants to give it a bit to see what they will do.

I'm interested to see how DS 'pretests' for the 2nd grade units, how the ability grouping works, etc... basically to see it in action first before I start asking for something else. Right now DS is happy at his school and likes his teacher a lot, so while I need to keep on top of things, there is not the kind of urgency other parents here have shared. Our school - while it is not any kind of official magnet school for the county - does, by virtue of it's program and the community around it (full of smart people who are very actively involved) significantly boosts the county test scores.

SO I guess, as several posters described the 'least worst option'.... even if I did absolutely nothing, it would still be pretty good. Believe me, I am thankful for that blessing!

My advice is to get the camera out and start seeing what happens when it is ready. He might do something that you think is normal, but you are so used to him that it could be "wow" behavior or academics to someone else. You will know if you are getting anything worthwhile.