Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment privately administered retest?

DD was considered for our school's GT program, but missed the cut-off by a couple of points on her WISC-IV. I have a few misgivings about the way the test was conducted and would like to have her retested by someone else in a year.

I anticipate that our school will not welcome outside test scores. They have already refused to use the GAI from her existing WISC-IV results, even though the huge discrepancy in DD's subtest scores suggest that they should. They have made it very clear that they can only accept a certain number of students into the program and their decision is final. Given that they are likely to be resistant, I want to make sure that DD's retesting is entirely legitimate, so that there can be no technical or other reason for them to reject it.

Can anyone offer guidance? I am also interested in hearing about the experiences of people who have successfully or unsuccessfully proposed that their child be reconsidered using scores obtained from outside testing. I have so many questions, like is it a good idea to let the school know that we plan to do this, or to ask them to recommend an outside tester?

In our SD, there is an arbirtration process spelled out after group administered tests. they do NOT under any circumstances accept outside scores, saying that there is no guarantee they are unbiased (so much for the professionals involved!).

A neighboring district, however, has accepted, sometimes, outside results.

In any case, your dd can't take the WISC again. You have to have at least 1 year or the results lose their validity due to memory issues. You could then have her take SB5.

I have also heard of many Dc who do not test well one year, but are accepted into the program the next year.

Finally, SD set up their policies, and many would not take GAI because they don't want to deal with Dc with lower processing speeds or working memory. Many full contained gifted classrooms require children to be fairly independent and organized in order to suceed in their program. I am not stating a personal opinion of whether that is right or wrong.

Right, I should have said that I was thinking about next year.

Your response is very helpful! I will definitely consult with the SD before doing anything. If other SDs have policies that prevent outside testing, ours likely does too. I already know that they do not accept the SB5.

I would think one could get around suspicions of bias by using a school-recommended tester? Of course I would prefer to select someone who specializes in this, but would happily accept almost any re-test situation. When my DD was tested, there was no advance notice; she was just pulled from her classroom one day. I can't help but wonder whether a good night's sleep or even a different mindset might have made the difference of those disqualifying two points.

Also, I hear you on the processing speed/working memory thing. But this is just a weekly pull-out, and her current teacher feels that she should be in the program.

Our state board of ed has a list of acceptable tests on their website. DS bombed the district NNAT but everyone in the district has accepted his private SB scores for the purpose of enrolling in the gifted program with no questions asked. Further, it seems that they will take the highest scores from different tests, so for example they could take quantitative and abstract/visual from the SB and verbal from the COGAT or WISC. It is the right thing to do because a kid could test low for a variety of reasons, but a high score can't be faked. So if you don't like or can't find the info from the district it might be worth checking out state policies.

One boy in our school missed entrance into the G&T program using the WISC IV by a few points as well. His mom had him tested a year later outside and they would not accept his scores. She fought and fought the administration due to her instinct and also his teachers advocating for him to be in the program. Finally they allowed him to take the COGAT test(early) - which is now being used as part of a rubric for entrance - and he exceeded the necessary scores in all areas. The COGAT is not necessarily just and IQ test and it is administered through a private company as well as the MAPS test which is also being used as part of our rubric. Just a few suggestions.