Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment How do you interpret this eligibility language?

Background info - DD is age 8 1/2, in third grade. Her standardized test scores (tests for all third graders)came back this week. On the ITBS, she scored in the 99% percentile for Reading, 98% percentile for Math, and 80% percentile for Language (because she screwed up on punctuation and capitalization of all things - no surprise since her second grade teacher told her all year those things did not matter). It says her Core Total is 99% percentile.

On the CogAT, she scored as follows:
Verbal 98%
Quantitative 73%
Nonverbal 87%
Composite 92%

Here's my question - how do you interpret the language below for gifted eligibility?? Specifically on CogAT, where it says "appropriate component score" do you think that means that the Verbal percentile score is enough to check off the Mental Ability category?

Option B �Student must meet criteria in three of the four areas; mental ability, achievement, creativity, or motivation to qualify.

Mental Ability
≥96th percentile, by age, on a composite or full scale score or appropriate component score of a standardized test of mental ability.
(CogAT)

Achievement
≥90th percentile on total reading, total math or total battery score of a standardized achievement test
(ITBS)

Creativity
≥90th percentile on the total battery of a standardized test of creativity
(K-3, GIFT)
(4-12, TTCT)

Motivation
≥90th percentile on a standardized characteristics rating score (motivational)
(K-3, GES-2)
(4-5, CAIMI)

Thanks! I know the CogAT has lots of detractors, but I think it was pretty on the mark for her except in one way - there were three days of ITBS and two days of CogAT spread over two school weeks - so on Tuesday of the second week, CogAT math day, she was over the test and didn't try anymore. Which is what happened when she was tested one-on-one by a horrid gifted teacher - no nurturing, anxiety-easing bedside manner whatsoever! - in the first grade - she told me on the last day she just "filled in all the circles" she could as fast as possible so she could go back to class. Thus, I'm really hopeful that if she does have to be tested in any area again, it will be just one or two, NOT four!

Creativity and motivation are only required if you score below 99+ on achievement and 96+ on mental ability - she's got the 99+ on achievement and 92+ on mental ability - which, again, given that her lowest score is from the part of the test on day five of testing (which lowered her average - first day 98+, second day 90+), to me really means her mental ability is there but her interest level in the test was not!!