Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Anyone have an iowa accel. scale 3rd edition....

That they are interested in selling? I am considering getting one, though they are pretty pricey new. Can this scale give you a good idea of options without an acutal IQ but just with CogAT scores, ITBS scores, etc?

THANKS!!!!!

Ok.... I bit the bullet and bought one. It wasn't that bad. Some sites had it for a ridiculous price!!!! Perhaps I'll sell it when I am done with it

That I would be interested in knowing. It is just MHO that skipping without all of the data including IQ isn't generally a wise choice. That may be influenced by our local school district doing just that, though, and seeing how erratic the outcomes have been with the kids who skipped without knowing where their IQs fell. There seems to be a much more consistently positive outcome for kids who have the IQ piece in place (of course along with all of the social, motivation and other pieces).

Too bad I didn't see this earlier- I have one that I barely touched and ended up not needing!

The scale doesn't really give you a good range of options unless you complete all the questions. However, the 3rd addition allows you to use the CogAT scores for ability scores. You can use the ITBS for achievement but should be at least two grade levels above the student's current grade.

So, does it basically consider a CogAT composite in the 98th to be the same as a WISC or SB FSIQ in the 98th and so on?

Under ability it just says:

Between one and two standard deviations above the mean (115-129) 2 pts

Two and three standard deviations above the mean (130-144) 4 pts

Three or more standard deviations above the mean (145-above) 6 pts.

Then "If the score is below 115, see Section III: Critical Items"

I have never seen a CogAT score but I assume that you get a number that looks similar to an FSIQ on the WISC or the SB?

You're right Dottie. I looked in the "what tests" section and it says tests with standard deviation of 15 or 16. So I assume since the form sample is covering both then it doesn't matter as long as it's within that range.

The "benefit" of the 3rd edition is the ability to use the CogAT. It also lists a few other tests in the ability section and even others in the supplemental tests that weren't there before.

Oh sorry, Dottie I think I made it unclear!T hey're not saying in any way you should compare the tests at all! They even say that a 130 on one is not the same as a 130 on the other. They're just using standard deviation as a way to judge how far the child is from "average" for that test in particular.

I don't know about Explore, I'll look it up and get back to you!

I can't figure it out about the Explore but it looks like no, they did not correct it. It appears to still be weighted the same if you're using it as an out of level test. They mention Explore 4 times in the book but there's no clear explanation of the levels. Good luck finding it somewhere to take a peek!

If I recally correctly, on version 2 they suggested that the kids with 1-2 SD scores of 115-129 only be considered for a skip if they had missed the cut-off to start school by a small amount (were among the oldest in the grade). Is that still the case?

I'm honestly surprised that anyone would recommend skipping a kid with an IQ at the 84th percentile.

I guess that the issue I take with using the CogAT in lieu of IQ is that it isn't a controlled test. Parents can pose as homeschoolers and get the test from a homeschooling organization, teach their kids the answers, and use those scores. We know at least one family that prepared their child in a manner of this sort to get into GT programming in school. Of course, anyone who is willing to do something of this sort probably doesn't have his/her kid's best interests at heart.

I probably also have a personal bias in that dd#2 who came at clearly gifted on the WISC (although with scores at the 99.9th and 97th on two different administrations of that test, so erratic), was just above that 1 SD point on the CogAT. That probably makes me less than fond of that test as it was used by dd's teacher to discount her IQ scores.